There is no place like…here
Today is a big day in the state of Nebraska. It marks Day 1 of the Bo Pelini Era - yes, we define the years based on who the head football coach is. I will not be at tonight’s game, but even if I didn’t know it was happening, I’d feel that it was Gameday on the University of Nebraska campus. My dorm building is eerily empty and has been for several hours - everyone left for the stadium long ago to either tailgate or get in line. The area surrounding campus is completely inundated with cars. Actually, the entire city of Lincoln has been overtaken by the usual deluge of traffic that comes with home football games. Therefore, I’ve made the decision to stay inside. If I don’t get the payoff of being part of the Sea of Red, I don’t want to dodge all the foot traffic around the 80,000+ seat Memorial Stadium. (The Sea of Red)
So here I sit, one of the few people left behind in my dorm, looking forward to a new season and a new era of Nebraska football. The last few seasons have been a lot of letdowns, piled one on top of another. Arizona State quarterback Sam Keller transferred to Nebraska to start for us last season, and was a letdown, leading the team to a disappointing 4-5 record to start the 2007 season. Then-junior Joe Ganz stepped in at QB1 for the Kansas game, and had a terriffic game, but his 400-passing yards, 39-point performance wasn’t enough because Kansas stomped all over the Husker defense.
Under Ganz, the Huskers went 1-2 to end the season, but things were looking up. Husker Nation (mostly) rejoiced when head coach Bill Callahan was fired. I was particularly giddy and a little bit mean about it.
When Bo Pelini was hired away from LSU to be the new Husker head coach, optimism soared among Husker fans, at least the ones I know. I still remember the cheer he got when he made his first appearance on campus. He was maybe 40 feet from me at a Husker basketball game; people slowly started to realize he was there, and pass the news along to their neighbors, before a PA announcement of his presence brought a thunderous roar from a home crowd hungry for some victory.
Pelini’s previous experience here at Nebraska makes me confident he’s ready to do things the right way again; that is, to win games. When winning happens…there is no place like Nebraska.