Hokies vs. Huskers: Lincoln Trip Report

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Virginia Tech's high drama season continued on Saturday with its win over Nebraska (whew!).  This post has my onsite report of the scene in Lincoln, including the town, the people, the tailgating, and the game.  All in all, a great college football destination, where our group soaked in thrilling win with tons of Hokies, thrown in the middle of a crazy college football weekend. 

The Scene in Lincoln

The drive from Omaha to Lincoln was as expected - cornfields.  Lincoln itself is a decent college football town.  The University of Nebraska doesn't only dominate the town of Lincoln (like VT does Blacksburg), you get the sense that it dominates the state. 

• The people of Nebraska could not have been nicer.  You would not believe how many Husker fans went out of their way to welcome us to their state.  First class all the way.  We need to return the favor in Blacksburg.
• Saturday was gorgeous in Lincoln.  With a 7 pm local time game, we hit the bar and restaurant district to promptly spend 5 hours sitting on terraces, eating, drinking, watching upsets, and sharing good cheer with Huskers and Hokies (is there a better way to spend a Saturday?).  By the way, be glad you are not a Wahoo today.
• For as much wide open space as there is in Nebraska, there sure are tight quarters for tailgating near Memorial Stadium.  Swarms of red Husker fans are crammed in tight parking lots, underneath overpasses, and between cars and fences.  Luckily we had connections through some distant Nebraska relatives who had a tailgate with all the essentials (meat on grill, drinks, TVs, game day chatter) all right near the stadium.  Again, Husker fans were great hosts.
• Tailgate highlight was probably on the walk into the stadium, when a young Husker came up to my Brother and offered to trade his Nebraska t-shirt off his back for a Hokie T-shirt - on the spot.  Of course, we obliged.  Pretty funny.
• Memorial Stadium, while faded in parts, exudes tradition.  Huskers had supposedly planned a ‘blackout' but apparently most didn't get the memo, so the crowd was mostly a sea of red.  The crowd is generally an older crowd (you can tell there are many 20-30 year season ticket holders), reminding me of scenes like Michigan and Alabama.  The seats are close to the field which is intense, but overall I thought it somewhat subdued.  And trust me, our ‘enter Sandman' entrance at Lane has of spoiled.  The Husker team entrance is a whimper in comparison.

The Game

If you've been reading my posts, many themes continued.  This VT season is gonna be filled with nail-bitters.  Bud Foster in 4 games has already shaped his latest vintage defense.  And while improved, the VT offense is simply going to frustrate at times (this week's them was "red zone issues").  Here are my thoughts on the game, (keep in mind I watched the game live and heard no TV commentary):

• BeamerBall arrives in Lincoln:  The VT section where we were was behind the end zone where Nebraska attempted its first quarter punt.  And let me tell you, we could see the block coming.  There simply weren't enough red jerseys to pick up the Hokies rushers.   So while we gave up the 4^th quarter punt return (still amazed at the jets that Husker punt returner turned on), and our kick-offs were consistently short, BeamerBall clearly gave VT field advantage and points in the first half.
• "It's Not Like We Were Playing New Mexico State":  this was one of Joe Ganz post game comments.  He and several other players quoted in the Lincoln newspaper at how fast and disruptive the VT defenders were, especially the front seven.  "Couldn't get in any rhythm" was the theme, clearly a result of Worilds, Martin, Graves, etc. pitching fits in the DLine. 
• The Huskers have some good offense players and Ganz is a solid quarterback.  They had some drives and scores last night.  But there were long stretches of the game where they looked totally inept against VT.
• Offense Making Strides (?):  This is a glass half full deal.  7 scoring drives should have us giddy.  Rushing lanes for Evans and Lewis at times were enormous.  And Tyrod did connect on some pass plays.  But overall it looked like the Huskers employed the same defensive philosophy as UNC, which was to rush Tyrod in lanes, keep him bottled, and force him to pass.  TT hit some and missed some, and I believe he's going to see teams all year limit the plays he makes with his legs, so he needs to ‘hit' these when they appear.  A positive is that he avoided turnovers, probably the difference in the game.
• Again, take 35 points on any Saturday, but the VT crowd in my section was still grumpy over play calling.  The VT playbook just seems awful thin and predictable.  This is especially apparent in the red zone.  But hey, it's all about results, and last night was a positive result.

Finally, most Huskers singled out Macho Harris as the best player they'd seen all year.

I'll post some pictures later in the week.  Thoughts about the game?

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