Main Page > 2008 Go Big Dead !!!
Hanging and "Hangin' around Town
Needless to say with all the beers and shots, waking up was a painful experience. Bone suggested that the Boys find a greasy Diner for some eggs and bacon to help with the hangin'!
Checking out the Campus
Walking around Campus, Mike and Bone finished outfitting themselves for the Game however, they simply could not find a Diner open anywhere. Again, Lincoln is no Ann Arbor! Heading back to the Hotel, the Boys had to plead and wheedle with the Marriott Staff at the Corn Husker to make them a very bland breakfast. Thoroughly disgusted, Mike and Bone decided to kill the few hours before the start of the Michigan Game. With The Nebraska Va Tech in the evening Mike and Bone would be able to see the RichRod toothless Wolverines choke against the Wisconsin Badgers (who were ranked 10th in the Country at the time).
Checking out the State House
One of the places that Nebraskan's are very proud of is their State Capital. Mike and Bone wandered down on a hot stuffy early afternoon with their heads still hanging very hard. It was really one of those "their ain't enough aspirin to help" hazes. Still, the Boy's soldiered onwards !
O Street, the scene of the previous evenings Crimes against Humanity !
After checking out the lobby of the State House, neither Mike nor Bone were overly impressed. By now it was approaching Game time for the Wolverines, so the Boys headed back to O Street and the Irish Pub to catch the Meechigan Game !
Go Big Red,,,, err Go Blue !!!!
Seeing a table with only one person, Mike and Bone invited themselves to sit with the guy. The utility worker from Oklahoma (imagine the irony) graciously let the Boys sit with him. HOWEVER, he was not rooting for Michigan, he was rooting for Wisconsin. Many Huskers still have a chip on their shoulders about the 1997 National Championship, and apparently the Wisconsin Quarterback grew up in Lincoln. Meanwhile Bone's buddy Si Prather, whom got the tickets for the Boys joined them for Corona's and appetizers.
It wasn't much of a game in the first half when the Badger had rolled up quite the beating on the Blue. Bone was ready to leave the Bar (and retch) due to the poor coaching and execution from DickRod's Spread Nothing Offence, when at the end of the 3rd Quarter, life erupted in the Michigan Offense, Michigan roared to life in the Big House and the Blue caught up and passed the Badgers to take the lead with only minutes to go. During the comeback Mike and Bone became increasingly loud and started chanting ""Hail to the Victors!" and "Go Blue!", suddenly the other patrons started cheering for Wisconsin, especially when the Badgers threatened to regain the lead at the very end. Sensing the atmosphere might turn ugly, Si, Mike, and Bone left the Bar the moment the Game was over,,,, besides it was Game Time !
Heading to the Game
As they walked to the Game, Si regaled the Boys with stories of his time at UNL and how he loved the Huskers growing up. The walk to Memorial Stadium was fast and easy, getting to their seats,,,, it was hard to sit in their seats however ! Being an old stadium the seat space was only 2/3 the size of the Big House seat size, which is ridicously small !
Mike is the guy dressed in Red !!!
Memorial Stadium was much different from what Bone remembered in the early 80's. It was much more of a "Multi-Media" event with music and huge screen televisions.
Cornholes !!!
But there was still much that was familiar, throughout the stadium, people were chanting Gooooo Biiig Rayyyyd!!! and as shone above, in-breeding was still rampant in Nebraska ! After 20 minutes of warm up, the Band took the field !
Practice makes Perfect
Go Huskers ! The Cornhusker Marching Band
Hanging Hughey's
During the National Anthem, two Hughey Chopper flew low and slow over the Field of play.
Game On !!!
The game started with Va. Tech simply owning the Nebe Blackshirt Defense, with touchdown drives in their first two possessions.
Lovely Lincoln Memorial Stadium
35-30 Va Tech, Too much Tyrod Taylor !
Despite having a defensive minded coach in Bo Pelini, Va Tech scored on six straight possessions in the second and third quarters and held off a late Nebraska rally to hand the Huskers their first loss of the season much to the Boys chagrin. For a while there was an eerie similarity to the Michigan Wisconsin Game, except this time, the home team lost. Nebraska trailed 28-10 late in the third quarter but rallied to cut the deficit to 28-23 with more than seven minutes remaining. But the Huskers (3-1) could get no closer, as a pair of really stupid penalties kept the decisive Virginia Tech drive going, resulting in the Hokies' final touchdown and with 2:28 left to give VT a 35-23 lead. Despite facing a two-touchdown deficit with less than 2:30 remaining, the Huskers refused to fold. Senior quarterback Joe Ganz, who finished with 278 yards, engineered a four-play, 80-yard touchdown drive that took just 56 seconds.
The drive was capped by a 17-yard touchdown strike to Todd Peterson to pull the Huskers within 35-30 with 1:32 left.
Alex Henery then took the field for an onside kick attempt that was secured by Virginia Tech tight end Greg Boone at the NU 43. The Huskers had two timeouts left and were able to force a Hokie punt. Brent Bowden, who shanked a 21-yard punt and watched Nate Swift return a punt 88 yards for his first career return touchdown on his two previous punts in the fourth quarter, lofted a 30-yard punt to stick NU at the 10 with 25 seconds left.
With no timeouts remaining and 90 yards standing between the Huskers and victory, Ganz again got Nebraska moving. He hit Niles Paul on a 21-yard pas, then found Peterson deep across the middle on a crossing route. Peterson hauled in the pass and crossed midfield before being stripped of the ball by VT cornerback Stephen Virgil at the Hokie 44. Virgil returned the fumble eight yards to Husker 48, and Virginia Tech quarterback Tyrod Taylor took a knee on the final play to secure the win for the Hokies.
Time ran out on a comeback !
Coach Tom and Bone
At the end of the Game Bone stopped to pay tribute to Coach Tom Osborn. Coach Tom reminded Bone of Bo and only rooted against him twice. In 1985 in the Fiesta Bowl when Tom played Bo and lost, and in 1998 vs., Tennessee where he won against a timid Peyton Manning.
Quiet Post Game
Walking back to O Street, all the Bars were jammed with Huskers and Hokies alike jamming into queues to grab a beer. The Boys decided to try the Cornhusker Bar, and headed on down to the Hotel. Even there the Bar was jammed beyond belief. By then it was already 12:30 AM CST. Mike and Bone had a 8:00 flight from Omaha, so they needed to get up around 5:00, so Si headed on home and the Boys wearily retired.
Trip, Post Script
The Boys were glad that they retired early, because 5:00AM came very fast ! Driving back to Omaha, half-asleep Mike and Bone barely chatted until the sun finally rose as they reached the outskirts of the City. getting to the Airport at 6:30 the Boys made it to the Terminal with only 20 minutes to go. From there they left knowing that O Street was still suffering the alcohol depletion due to the shenanigans of Mike and Bone !