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Nebraska
Husker Football
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Saturdays during the
fall mean one thing for me: college football. Since I'm a big
Nebraska fan, it was a little tough living in Chicago, where Big Ten
games
are generally broadcast instead of Big XII. Of course, things
aren't any better in Cleveland. At least the Big Ten is a
big,
tough conference like the Big XII and has lots of games that are fun to
watch. In Chicago, there were a couple of official Nebraska "watch sites" where I was able to catch most of the Husker games that weren't nationally televised, but I haven't yet found any in the Cleveland area that are close to where I live. There's a Buffalo Wild Wings down the road, however, that I'm hoping will carry them since they tend to carry most college football games. I also like to listen to them on the radio, which is easy thanks to the internet. |
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College Football Links
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are tons of Husker sites on the web, and
many more sites on college football in general. Below are a
selection of
those I tend to frequent. |
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Huskerpedia must be
the most comprehensive Husker site on the web. It includes
news
stories, information on schedules and opponents, links to other sites,
and anything else you could think of. |
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| Huskers.com |
Want
to get the scoop on
Nebraska's new coach, Bo Pelini, and the new (and hopefully improved)
defense? This is the official site for Husker athletics and will
give you all the information you need. Just select "Footabll" under the
"Teams" heading. |
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This site provides lots of
recruiting information and other analysis, not just for football,
but also for other sports. |
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| Each
week during the fall, "Big
Red Wrap-Up" takes an hour-long look back at the previous weekend's
game. Host Kevin Kugler and a rotating cast of local sports
reporters analyze each game. The show is broadcast on TV in
Nebraska but those of us who live elsewhere can listen to archived
versions on the internet. |
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What can I say? ESPN
is,
arguably, THE place for sports, and they've got a pretty good site.
They have the latest news, updated scores, and analysis by
all
sorts of folks. |
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archive has nearly every college football
statistic you can think of. Interested in the score of the
Central Florida vs. Eastern Kentucky game in 1995? How about
the
National
Champion in 1927? Those bits of trivia are here, as is much
more. |
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Game Photos
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In 2004 we invited Eric
and his wife, Lisa, to come to Nebraska to experience Husker football.
Lisa wasn't interested, however, but Mike
was more than happy to come again, having had such a great time in
2003. We elected to attend the Nebraska
versus Baylor game, one that we were almost
assured
to win. Before the game we walked around Lincoln a bit and
tried
on some headgear at the Nebraska
Bookstore (see photo), but ended up cheering on the Huskers
sans cornheads. Baylor
scored first, but Nebraska rolled to an easy victory - one of the few
in an overall painful season. Final Score: NU 59, Baylor 24. |
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Sometimes the best seat in the house is right in front of the
TV.
Especially in November. That's what we decided in
2003 when
the Croft family went out to Denver to celebrate Thanksgiving with the
Graces (my Aunt, Uncle, cousins, and their families) and watch Nebraska
play Colorado
at Boulder on ABC. It was a classic rivalry game with the
lead
shifting back and forth between the Huskers and the Buffaloes.
Fortunately, the fourth quarter was all Nebraska, so we
didn't
have to listen to any gloating from the sole Buffalo fan in the family
(Jesse - who actually attended the game) after the game was over. Final score: NU 31, CU 22. |
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In
2003 we decided that we should share the Husker football phenomenon
with some of the other members of the Yerian clan. Since both
Mike
and Chris
were living in Chicago at the time, we invited them to go with us to
the Nebraska
versus Penn State
game. It took place in September and the weather was great;
the
photo at the right was taken at my parents' house in Omaha before we
headed to Lincoln. Nebraska's rushing game dominated the time
of
possession and the Blackshirts held Penn State to just 44 yards rushing
on 21 carries, giving Nebraska its third win of the season. Final score: NU 18, Penn State 10. |
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Unfortunately, 2002 was a rebuilding (i.e., bad) year for
Nebraska, with NU ending the season at 7-7. Despite that,
Lisa
and I went back to Lincoln for what was probably to be the Huskers'
most difficult game that season:
hosting #7
ranked Texas. It was a chilly night (close to
freezing) but a
great evening for football. It was also a great game between
two
very evenly-matched teams.
Unfortunately, thanks to an interception on the
second-to-last
play
of the game, Texas was able to hold onto their lead to pull out a
victory. Final Score: Texas 27, NU 24. |
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As
part of a
"Bachelor Weekend" before my wedding, my brothers surprised me with a
trip to Nebraska's spring scrimmage, known as the Red/White game.
This is the only time you'll see empty seats in Memorial
Stadium
in Lincoln - and there were still probably 25-30,000 people in
attendance (for a scrimmage!) The weather couldn't have been
better. Pictured here are Brian (my brother) and Dan (a friend). |
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Despite
having gone to college at Notre Dame, Lisa adapts well to being married
to a Husker fan. (This has been especially true since
Nebraska
beat Notre Dame both in 2000 and 2001.) Here we are at the
Nebraska vs. Oklahoma State game on October 2nd, 1999.
This
fine day was nice and sunny, but definitely on the cold side (as
evidenced by Lisa's earmuffs, purchased that morning at the Nebraska
bookstore). It still qualified as great weather for football. Final score: NU 38, Oklahoma State 14 |
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With navy and
gold and "Touchdown Jesus" in the background, you know this is a
photo of Notre Dame, not Nebraska. College football is fun no
matter where it's played, and since Lisa's a ND alum, we went to
a game there in 1999. Despite the rain (which started later
in the evening) it turned out to be an outstanding game, with a classic
Notre Dame come-from-behind victory over USC. Final score: ND 25, USC 24 |
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Here we are at the
1998 Nebraska vs. Missouri game in Lincoln.
Although not
highly ranked that year, Missouri put up quite a fight, taking a 13-6
lead into the locker room at halftime. Nebraska got its act
together
in the second half, however, to win the game. Final score: Nebraska 20, Missouri 13 |
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I've only gone to one Husker bowl
game, but my brothers and I chose the right one to go to - the
1995 Orange Bowl in Miami. After many years of
losing in the
postseason (seven, to be exact), the Huskers beat the Hurricanes at
home to break the nation's longest home winning streak and to win the
1994 National Championship. It was one of the best Husker
games
I've ever seen, capped off in the fourth quarter by a dominating
defense and two touchdown runs by fullback Cory Schlesinger.
It
was the first of three national championships Nebraska would win in
four years. Final score: Nebraska 24, Miami 17 |
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This
page was last updated on June 18, 2008.
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