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This article isn’t meant to be a declaration of any kind. It is just a thought I had last week when I wrote Friday Flakes on the fact that Memorial Stadium did not make it into EA Sports Top 25 hardest places to play for opponents.
First, we need to be upfront with the fact that Memorial Stadium currently is not one of the 25 hardest places to play for opponents. Like most things in life, things could change simply by winning. But as of today, it probably should not be in anybody’s top 25.
I’ve been to many Nebraska football games at Memorial Stadium. Probably Just like most of you who are reading this article.
Terms that I would probably use to describe various environments at Nebraska football games could be as follows:
Tired.
Bored.
Uninterested.
Juiced.
Angry.
Friendly.
Passionate.
Indignant.
Wrathful.
Motivated.
We all know that those 11 a.m. non-conference games against teams like UTEP and Northern Illinois are almost always going to bring out the “happy to be here, hopefully we win by more than 20 then maybe we can beat traffic before heading to Gateway Mall” vibes.
The 2:30 kickoffs are full of “ugh it’s going to take up my entire day” vibes.
We also know that those 6 p.m. or 7 p.m. kickoffs are more likely to have the “thank goodness we got to tailgate all day long” type of vibes.
But not always.
I have been to enough night time kickoffs that sometimes I would describe them as “well I think we need to be louder so I’ll do my best” type of attitudes. It is better than the 11 a.m. games but it still isn’t what it should be.
To be fair — Other times Nebraska fans absolutely show up raring to go.
I would describe the 2014 game against Miami as “rage filled.” It was infectious.
I would describe the 2009 game against Oklahoma as probably my favorite environment I have been a part of at Memorial Stadium. It was like the fans felt like they were a necessary part of Nebraska finding a way to beat the Sooners on the way to a 10-3 win.
There was also the 2011 win over Ohio State when Nebraska came back down 27-6 in the third quarter. The Rex Burkhead jump cut touchdown catch was a great moment. The atmosphere was awesome. Especially during that comeback.
There have not been a lot of games at Memorial Stadium since that 2014 Miami game where I would say that the crowd played a factor and showed up for the game.
I would almost venture to say that the atmosphere has been moody. Like the fans are sitting around just waiting for something good to happen. And until that happens — then they are going to sit on their hands.
I get the 11 a.m. kickoffs. I think that affects every single college football atmosphere in the country. They are snoozers.
However, it’s the 2:30 p.m. , 6 p.m. and 7 p.m. night time kickoffs where your fanbase needs to shine and too many times Nebraska falls short.
As I have said, losing surely has a lot to do with that.
What would need to change? Obviously, serving alcohol would help. But what else?
The music needs to be updated? Do we need to keep hearing AC/DC and Motley Crue over and over again?
The tunnel walk probably needs to be changed. It is way too drawn out right now.
Maybe stop treating the time between stoppages as opportunities to make Nebraska fans sit through an informercial. I am starting to yawn just thinking about it.
I’m not sure what the answer is but changes need to be made to the game-day experience that doesn’t have to include tearing down a huge part of the stadium.
The mindset shift needs to be toward the younger generation as far as the game-day atmosphere goes. Yes, that would include a generation younger than me.
You might say however, is that it’ll push out the older folks who have been supporting the program for generations. Yes, but the other side of the coin is that we will have a game-day experience that is starting to feel closer to a retirement home than a college campus.
Who knows. Maybe winning can cure it all. It would be nice to find out.
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