It's not exactly "College Gameday," the trendsetter of college football pregame shows, but "BTN Tailgate" was the next best thing for Husker fans on Saturday.
Hundreds of fans dressed in red showed up hours before the Nebraska-Illinois game to check out the Big Ten Network’s new college football pregame show.
“BTN Tailgate,†which will travel to a different Big Ten campus each week, set up shop this weekend at the Ed Weir Track in the shadow of Memorial Stadium. Spread out over the greenspace were multiple inflatables and games of cornhole. Up front were big screens playing Husker highlight reels and the live broadcast of the BTN pregame show from a mobile stage.
David Root and his grandkids always drive 2½ hours to get to Lincoln for the games, but his usual routine took a turn once they heard about the BTN appearance and homecoming festivities.
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“We usually go to five or six different tailgates and just walk around, but today with all the floats here we had to stop and take a look,†Root said. To him, the "BTN Tailgate" had a family-friendly atmosphere that attracted lots of young kids.Â
Diehard Husker fan Rich Mustion said he noticed far more people -- kids included -- outside Memorial Stadium hours before kickoff.
“Everybody showed up two hours earlier than they normally do,†Mustion said. “Usually I’m here four hours before the game, I drive here from North Platte. The parking lot where I normally go was already full when I got here.â€
BTN kicked off its new pregame show at Michigan State last week, but fellow tailgater Thom Wolfgang thinks the stop in Nebraska will be tough to beat.
“It’s going to be huge,†Wolfgang said. “Every Saturday that they play here is huge, but to have this special event going on, for somebody who’s a first timer, their first Husker game, this is an experience.â€
Michele Carr, who brought her daughter Asey to the tailgate for her first Husker football game, agrees that Husker fans made the tailgate what it was.
“Being from Nebraska I’m a little biased, but our fans are just incredible. They all showed up and when they did a tribute to Sam Foltz earlier on, everybody got quiet and it was just great.â€