Happy Halloween!

In case you missed it, Nebraska earned their Blackshirts back this weekend in the HUGE 24-3 win over Michigan State!  

In light of this historic moment, I am sporting a full (legit) uniform today of my favorite Blackshirt of all time:  #98 Grant Wistrom.

Happy Halloween, and Go Big Red!

Blackshirts

In a locker room celebration that ignited the fire growing in the Defense's belly yesterday, Carl Pelini handed out the coveted Blackshirts as many suspected and anticipated. 

Great article in the Washington Post today celebrating the momentous day in Blackshirt history:  http://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/colleges/no-9-nebraskas-defense-looks-blackshirt-worthy-after-shutting-down-michigan-state/2011/10/30/gIQArojKWM_story.html

I was thrilled to see Nebraska move back into the #10 spot in the BCS, where we started the season and where we deserve to be at this point in the season.  Now in a 3-way tie with Michigan (#15) and Michigan State (#17) in the B1G Legends Division, the rest of the season is starting to look like a repeat of the 3-way showdown in the B1G to determine the Rose Bowl Champion. 

This weekend will leave one of the 4 remaining undefeated teams (LSU, Alabama, Oklahoma State and Stanford) with a loss after what should be the National Championship game between LSU and Alabama will knock one of the SEC giants off of their throne.  In the third overtime on Saturday, Stanford saved themselves from moving down the ranks as well.  USC deserved to win, and I doubt Stanford will make it through the rest of their season without a loss; if they do, they will surely lose in their bowl game.  All odds are looking good for Nebraska to stay in the Top Ten and make a BCS bowl if we win out.  Just 4 regular seasons and a championship game stand in our way...

Michigan State

The Pride of All Nebraska! 

No, I’m not talking about the Cornhusker Marching Band (the official Pride of All Nebraska), but rather the Blackshirts Defense.  Heroes of the game, they definitely earned their shirts back in the monumental 24-3 upset over Michigan State this afternoon.  Nine weeks into the season without earning the Blackshirts back, I sure hope Bo and Carl bestow the honor on this year’s D after a well earned performance.

Game day started early when I hit the road just after 7:00 AM to meet my friend, Sean, in town from Chicago to co-host a tailgate event with my company, SHI.  Midway to Lincoln, we hit a swell of traffic, and it was obvious that the 11:00 AM kickoff was an early one for everyone on the road.  We parked in the North neighborhoods, stopped by the Husker shop in the parking garage to outfit my friend Sean for his FIRST college football game ever (about time now that he has moved from Vancouver!), and trekked across the bridge to an awesome tailgate under the Viaduct (thanks, Stacy!). 

Sean's first college football game ever...all decked out in red!

With Shane "Big Country," my SHI counterpart in Omaha.

A quick stop at my family’s tailgate in the Champions Club with an 18^th birthday wish for my cousin Ali, and I headed to my seat on the West Stadium for a perfect view of the game.  Passed the ESPN trailer on the way!  When I took my seat, I was reminded what a family Nebraska fans are.  I learned that my ticket was sold by my neighbor’s grandmother who is currently in the hospital; the rest of my neighbors asked how she was doing, and I was reminded yet again this season that there really is No Place Like Nebraska.

The fans were decked out today!  The front of the student section serendipitously spelled out "B-O-N-E-Y-A-R-D", and Sparty and Lil' Red sparred throughout the day.  Just a great day for football.

Nebraska’s game plans FINALLY worked.  Carl Pelini could not have put together a better defensive scheme, and the kids could not have executed more perfectly against it.  Everything clicked.  4 sacks, a game setting interception by Thurell, only 187 total yards allowed, and holding at least 3 red zone presses to just one Field Goal.  Incredible.  David, Meredith, Compton, Greene and Stafford were ALL standouts.  FINALLY! Those kids played their hearts out.  Even the secondary looked good this week, and I’ve been picking on them all season.  Had a few more of those tips become interceptions, and we would have had a blowout on our hands. 

Maher set us up with each punt and kickoff with near perfect consistency.  After watching a few short punts by Michigan State’s kicker, I felt luckier than ever to have such strong talent and consistency in our kicker.

Burkhead was unstoppable on Offense.  Against a Top 5 ranked rushing defense, Nebraska was in complete control.  Martinez looked calm and confident despite a few loose passes, but I was proud of how they played today.  Beck called a GREAT game.  24 points against one of the nation’s top defenses is pretty solid! 

At Halftime, Sean visited my family's tailgate at the Champions Club, and I met and shook the hand of Tommie Frazier on the way into the club.  Can check that one off of the bucket list. :)

I was so impressed with the Husker fans’ hospitality toward our Spartan friends.  As I was leaving the game, I thanked a group of fans for coming, and I overheard one of them say “These Nebraska fans are almost TOO nice.  We are not used to this.  Perhaps we could learn something.”  I think the B1G is starting to take notice of our fans, or at least I hope so.  A friendly competition is much more fun than an aggressive one.

At the post-game tailgate, I ran into my college roommate, Michaela, her husband, and their 6-week old!  Only in Nebraska is the world small enough that you bump into one of your best friends in a sea of 85,000+.  Their precious daughter was gorgeous, and it was the icing on the cake of a perfect day.  Loved her brother's Halloween costume getup as well!

With this win, Nebraska has just 4 games left standing between us and the B1G Championship.  Today was a milestone in our season and a necessary win if we plan to head to Indiana in December.  With 2 tough road games against Penn State and Michigan along with 2 challengers in Northwestern and Iowa at home, it will not be an easy feat.  With tonight's Ohio State upset over Wisconsin, the B1G plot thickens.  After today, though, I have never been more proud of our team or more confident in our ability to play – and win – through the conference championship game.

Minnesota

Minnesota Game 8, and I finally know what it’s like to be Bo Pelini.  Well, sort of.  I definitely know what it’s like to view the game from his vantage point!

On my first solo trip of the season, I landed a sideline Press Pass on the field thanks to Travis Morgan of KMTV Channel 3 in Omaha.  Absolutely  incredible.  It changed my entire experience as a fan, and I now have a sincere appreciation for how difficult it is to read plays from the sidelines when you are literally on the sidelines.  So much easier to spot routes and see the open wide receiver when you are 50 rows up in the stands!

I flew into Minneapolis on Friday night and realized quickly that I was not alone in following my ‘Skers when I spotted a Nebraska fan with the same Husker sticker on their laptop when we landed at the airport. My friend and coworker, Ryan, and his girlfriend, Katie, picked me up, and we headed to Uptown for dinner at one of the hotspots in the city:  Chino Latino (www.chinolatino.com).  The atmosphere was buzzing by the time we rolled up to the bar for our signature margaritas and dry ice martinis.  Great concept spot, as they serve food and specialties from places around the Equator.  Feeling adventurous, we tried the habanera jalapeño poppers with dinner, and we could not drink fast enough!!!  Thank goodness my team played the weekend a little more conservatively than I did my dinner.  We turned in after dinner for what we knew would be a LONG day of football on Saturday.

I awoke to Katie baking banana chocolate chip muffins, and I was in Heaven.  Talk about hospitality!  The weather turned out absolutely perfectly; not at all how I anticipated my travels to the coldest state in the B1G would turn out.  We threw on our game day gear (Nebraska, Minnesota and Michigan State…quite the trio!) and a fleece to cover up my pride once I hit the field, and we headed to the Nebraska Alumni tailgate at the McNamara Alumni Center. 

It was Homecoming week at Minnesota, so we were greeted by the gorgeous floats down Greek Row on our drive in.  Even caught the Alpha Phi one! J  Ryan dropped us off at the tailgate, and we grabbed a couple of drinks and a few photos with Goldy Gopher’s helium replica before I met Travis at the Press entrance to the Stadium under the “Dodge” county entrance.  The students were decked out in all gold:  paint, glitter, sequins, and even shiny spandex pants!  Given the projected spread on the game, I was impressed that their spirit was still strong.

Since I had purchased a ticket for the game and no longer needed it, we scouted a second ticket from a Nebraska fan so that Ryan and Katie could go as well.  Little did we know, the ticket from the Nebraska fan was a counterfeit!  I was never more disappointed in a Husker in my life.  The nerve.  Luckily, they still made it into the stadium and were able to enjoy the game right along with me.

I entered the stadium and walked into a nearly empty stadium, catching my breath to take it all in.  WOW.  I have only ever watched a Nebraska game from the sidelines once, and that was my Homecoming game my senior year at UNL in 2005 when I was on the Homecoming Royalty Court.  At that game, I sat behind the players’ bench, though, so the ability to roam the field and stand at the end zone was definitely not an option.  It was tough to play it cool, but I managed to pull off my new role like a pro. 

I watched the Huskers come out of the tunnel about 10 yards away:  AWESOME!

I was instructed to hang on Travis’s hip, and he explained my duties for the game:  game film logging.  How cool!  Basically, my job was to timestamp and outline the major plays of the game.  No longer was I moonlighting as a sports analyst, I was actually contributing as one!   I watched end zone completions, running touchdowns, and tackles a mere 5 yards away from me.  Every hit had sound, every penalty against Minnesota (and there were quite a few!) came with heckling from the fans behind us, and every big play was that much sweeter.  I could not help but feel like I could make a career out of this (if the sales thing doesn’t work out, of course). 

Entering the half up 34-0, we looked strong.  Half of my logs were on David tackles – man, he is really something.  Burkhead ran the ball well in the first half, and Martinez looked in control.  Exactly how Nebraska should be playing against the least challenging team in our Legends conference division.

At Halftime, we headed up to the Press Box where I rubbed shoulders with newscasters, analysts, and columnists from near and far.  The view of the stadium and of the campus was the best I had seen yet. 

I loved that they decorated every corner of the Press Box (including the bathrooms!) in the "M" for Minnesota; reminded me of those Cowboys at Wyoming!

By the second half, I was a logging machine.  Didn’t even need Travis’s cues!  Unfortunately, my logs were much less exciting, as Nebraska started rotating to 2^nd and 3^rd strings, and we did not execute as well on plays.  In fact, the Gophers outscored us in the second half 14-7!  While it was great experience for the players, we need to use games like this to work on play calling and execution. The final score was 41-14, hardly the spanking I expected we would give to Minnesota on our first trip to the Great Lakes state.

I caught up with Herbie on the field and took in the last moments of freedom on the field.  What a killer experience!

Our football journey continued after the game as we headed downtown to grab dinner at Ike's.  On the walk from the parking garage to the restaurant, I managed to pass the local Husker bar, Lion's Pub…what are the odds?  Full and happy, we rounded the corner to the Michigan State Alumni bar, Whisky Park, to watch the Spartans take on Wisconsin in what would turn out as one of the most exciting games of the season in all of college football.

Since Ryan is as passionate about Michigan State football as I am about Nebraska football, I figured I would return the favor of supporting his team by cheering them on.  Boy, am I glad I did!  As the game progressed, it became obvious that this one would come down to the wire.  When the refs ruled the Hail Mary complete for the game-winning touchdown, the entire bar absolutely ERUPTED.  Tequila shots flowed and the DJ turned the place into one giant dance floor.  I was impressed to say the least.  These fans are serious, and my excitement for their visit to Lincoln 7 days later grew all night long. 

We celebrated long into the night and made one more stop before we cabbed it home for more banana and chocolate chip muffins.  I swear I am going to have dreams about those.  Our football coma continued on Sunday with mimosas to kickoff the Lions – Minnesota game and some good bar food at Cowboy Jacks to finish it.  Ryan even let me drive his car when we did the round robin car pickup in the morning.  Minneapolis is a beautiful city.  A mix  between my city life in Chicago and the suburban life of Omaha, I could understand why so many folks love living here.  Come winter, though, I might change my tune.

With 3 B1G teams in the top 15, Nebraska’s home game against Michigan State will likely decide the fate of our season.  If we win and win out the rest of the season, we face Wisconsin (barring any upsets) in the Big Ten Championship game December 3^rd.  If we lose, we may knock ourselves out of BCS Bowl contention all together.  If Husker fans thought the Badger game was high pressure, this one might put them over the top.  Tomorrow’s 11:00 AM kickoff in Lincoln is sure to make a statement about Nebraska’s viability for the second half of our season.  Wow, are we lucky this one’s at home.