Tales from the Heart of Huskerland

I'm getting sick to my stomach waiting for this game tonight. My guts are tied in a knot and I gotta tell ya. It feels great. It feels like it's been a long time since I've felt this way about a game. The last time was probably 2 years ago when Nebraska was 8-1, ranked 16th in the College Football Playoff Poll and was heading into a Big Ten West showdown with Wisconsin in Camp Randall. That's the last time Nebraska truly played in a big game and we all remember how that turned out. Sure, we beat #7 Michigan State last year, but it was a pretty meaningless game. There wasn't anything on the line. Tonight there is everything on the line. The Big Ten West and an outside shot at the College Football Playoff are still a possibility. And the winner of this game will take control of the Big Ten West. Going into this season I knew Wisconsin would be our biggest threat to the West, because I knew Iowa would pull an Iowa. (Don't worry Iowa fans. Only 30 more yea...

In the words of Taylor Martinez: "I like playing at road games." I like them so much I try to go to one every year. It's a continuation of a family tradition. We always tried to go to a road game annually. We went to the 1998 Orange Bowl, laughing and cackling as the Blackshirts abused Peyton Manning so bad that he still has trouble bringing it up in therapy. Of course, I was also 3 years old and asleep by the 3rd quarter. I was probably just laughing at the Orange Bowl mascot. It's gotta be annoying forever looking out of the side of your eyes like that.  Then there was the time we went to the 2002 BCS National Championship Game. We got whooped that time 37-14 by Miami. I don't really remember much about that game. I just remember getting nachos at halftime and the Miami fan who threw a flaming marshmallow at our car. Classic Miami. But Jason? Why are you bringing this up today? We have a home game against Purdue in a couple of hours!...

It’s always fascinating how complete strangers can become best friends in mere minutes when surrounded by a common interest as strong as Nebraska football.  Growing up, my parents always had two season tickets.   Sitting in those same seats year after year helps you get to know these people. You don’t always know their name, but you always look forward to hanging out with them every fall. One such person was the Lady from Fairbury. She was always tickled by the fact that those red Fairbury hot dogs were the official hot dog of Nebraska football. Around 2008, our family season tickets moved to Section16c, Row 88 and we were placed next to the Lady from Fairbury and her husband. I can’t remember her name but she was around 55 years old with silver hair and had the strength of an ox. I know this because immediately after Alex Henery made his go-ahead 57-yard field goal against Colorado in 2008, she scooped up my 8 th grade and 165-pound body and hoisted me high in the ai...

This has been a pretty strange week for Nebraska football hasn't it? Well I'm not going to talk about national anthems, because I'm sick of it. I'm ready to get back to football. By now I've just learned to get behind Mike Riley. He's a pretty level-headed, smart and mature dude.Whatever he decides is probably right. I trusted him to make the right call when Keith Williams was arrested for pulling a Keith Williams. I also trusted him to make the right call about these national anthem protests. And he did. In off the field issues Mike Riley is undefeated. And isn't that what really matters? No, of course not! On Saturday we're set for a "revenge" game against Illinois. ILLINOIS. Losing to Illinois (And Purdue) is like losing to Glass Joe in Mike Tyson's Punch Out. That's not even supposed to be possible! If you don't get that reference kids, ask your Google. All things considered we're pretty lucky the universe didn...

Before Nebraska plays Northwestern tonight let's rewind to November 2nd, 2013. Nebraska had just beaten the Wildcats on a Hail Mary. I was a freshman student then and all my friends wanted to go back to campus, but I just had to go meet up with my dad. I met up with him at the Railyard, drank a Coke and we talked about the miracle we had just witnessed and how it was going to set that 2013 team back on the right track to win the division and earn a trip to Indy. This probably seems peculiar. After a witnessing the first game-winning Hail Mary in Cornhuskers history, most students would probably want to go party, but I wanted to go talk about it with my dad. Growing up, it was the single most-discussed topic around the dinner table. For all of us. My dad, mom, brother and sister. My parents held 2 seasons tickets that we would split up each year, every road game we lined our basement bar with snacks out the wazoo and we attempted to attend a road game every year. That nigh...

There's a thread a lot of people are running through this game. A program with a rich history of success and virtually no recent success vs. a team with a bunch of recent success and virtually no history. Old School vs. New School. On one side we have the Oregon Nike Models, a team that changes its uniforms so much that I'd be shocked if they came out in the same uniforms for the second half. On the other side we have the Nebraska Cornhuskers, a team that changed it's uniform once in 2002 and it resulted in the end of 4 decades of dominance. Those 2002 uniforms will not be pictured here as they are too obscene for children's eyes. Now we just stick to the classics. Except for that one game every year where we try to look "cool" with alternate uniforms and impress recruits, but just end up looking like rejected Marvel superheros. The only thing missing is a cape. I've actually got a lot of respect for Oregon. You've got to have respect for...

I hate to do this. I really do, but I'm going to have to throw the flag. "Personal Foul on Nebraska. 15 yards for targeting our hearts." In my last blog I wrote about the magic of season openers and what we witnessed against Fresno State was truly special. In a night dedicated to the life of Sam Foltz, we all experienced something I've come to truly love about Nebraska football. Call it a sense of community, family or a sense of togetherness. It was on full display last week and it's definitely not the first time Husker Nation has come together like this. I bring it up today, a week later, because on the morning of September 11th I'm reminded of a Nebraska game against Rice played on September 20th, 2001. On that day, firefighters and service men marched with flags ahead of the Huskers through the Tunnel Walk. The stadium roared. I'm also reminded of a day in the April of 2013 in which a 7 year-old cancer patient rumbled 69-yards into the end-zo...