College football is all about the experience, the sights and the sounds. And not just for the fans. The players, too.
Nebraska’s Memorial Stadium has been a staple for cranking up the noise, with 90,000 screaming fans packing the house for decades.Â
But it isn't the only raucous environment around college football.
From Wisconsin’s signature tradition to The House of Pain's "Jump Around" at Camp Randall Stadium to "The Big House" at Michigan to Texas A&M’s Kyle Field’s "12th Man," several former Huskers recall traveling on the road.
They tell their stories of hostile environments with us, and take some trips down Memorial Stadium memory lane.
Grant Wistrom (1994-97)
Loudest places to play on the road: “The main was always Boulder (Colorado). You knew it was going to be a rowdy environment. They were pretty good at the time, and everyone knows what we were. It was always a good matchup at the end of the year. Game after Thanksgiving that usually decided the Big Eight or Big 12. … You never got more one-fingered waves from 80-year-old women. … The fans, if they wanted to, sitting in the first row could pretty much kick you in the back. The seats are right on top of the benches and on more than one occasion a fan tried to come over the railing at us. We always enjoyed playing in Boulder, and it was always a lot of fun.â€
Memorial Stadium memories: “Going back to the Colorado game of my junior year (1996). I wasn’t really sure if I was coming back for my senior year. It was the first time ever I really sat back and tried to be aware of the crowd and the energy and the noise. Before, it was something I used to my advantage. The jump of the snap count or to feed off of it. But for the first time ever I wanted to be aware of it and soak it all in. That’s a memory I’ll take to my grave because I wasn’t sure if I’d ever get to experience anything like that ever again. I wanted to make sure I remembered it.â€
Tom Banderas (1984-87)
Loudest places to play on the road: “Always Oklahoma, for sure. One of the toughest road environments I can remember is I think ’86 and we had to go out to South Carolina for the toughest road game. I’d put that there. But we also played a couple bowl games in the Sugar Bowl in the dome and that gets loud in there. In my era in ’86, we came out in all red and lost to Oklahoma. The fans were just absolutely insane. I think it’s so much the ballgame and not the stadium. The particulars of the game itself would be the main thing.â€
Memorial Stadium memories: “When we come back against UCLA and (Steve) Taylor had the five touchdown passes. We were down in that game and then inevitably just ended up blowing them out. That was off the chain, that ’86 we were all red, they were No. 1 and we were No. 2 or vice versa. … You catch a touchdown or something even if we were playing K-State. The fans just love it. The Nebraska crowd was just out of control and loud and makes it for players out of state, like me, part of the reason I came up here. I ended up marrying a girl from here and this is home now. … It’s exhilarating for sure, and my own son asked me, ‘Dad, what’s it like coming out of that tunnel?’ and I just said, ‘I can’t explain it, son, you just have to experience it.â€
Josh Banderas (2013-16)
Loudest places to play on the road: “I’ll tell you first of all, when you are getting blown out in Madison, Wisconsin, the third-quarter “Jump Around†is a spectacle. It’s just fun and we were on the wrong end of it. But just seeing it and you take a step back and think, 'This is college football.' … At Ohio State, that’s a different kind of crowd, I guess. It felt more volatile, I guess. It was very much them trying to bully us as a crowd, while everywhere else is kind of loud, that’s what you are supposed to do when your team is on defense and things like that. But Ohio State felt very violent against us. It was an intense environment, no doubt."
Memorial Stadium memories: “I started off hot my freshman year with the Northwestern Hail Mary game. That is obviously off the chain when something like that happens, but that Oregon game (2016). That last little drive and then they play “Clear your throat†and everybody is rocking. It was a crazy environment and that place was shaking. You could feel it in your body and it wasn’t just audible. … Mine was different (Tunnel Walk) and my dad’s (Tom Banderas) too. We came out very last, so I have a very different Tunnel Walk experience than him. Other guys who run out first, or run out in the middle of the pack. Mine was more of a moment to myself I guess. The initial roar and the crowd is excited, but everyone’s out and everyone has kind of forgot about the gates and the tunnel. I just get to come out and see Memorial Stadium for what it is. I’m not the center of attention and I’m not in the front. I just get to watch Memorial Stadium be Memorial Stadium.â€
Chris Dishman (1992-96)
Loudest places to play on the road: “Back then it was a different environment because we were winning all the time. We traveled so well that most games were a home game. The only game that comes to mind that was kind of hostile and loud was the Arizona State game (1996) where they beat us. That game where they dedicated the field to (Coach) Frank Kush. That was by far one of the loudest games I remember being a part of. … The game of football has evolved so much. Back then we were such a run-dominant team that we quieted fans if we could get first downs. We knew if we went in there offensively, get first downs and move the chains it was going to quiet down the stadium pretty quick. Unfortunately, the ones we didn’t do that are the ones that stick out in your head as the loud ones.â€
Memorial Stadium memories: “It was so fun playing and I was so fortunate playing there in the run that we had. It seemed like one game it couldn’t get louder than this, and the next game it was. I can’t really say which game it was, but it was just an awesome feeling to play there.â€
Jared Crick (2007-11)
Loudest places to play on the road: "The big ones that come to mind are obviously OU (Oklahoma), Virginia Tech, U-Dub (Washington) up in Seattle, (Texas) A&M, Wisconsin and Penn State to an extent, even though I don’t feel like we got to experience the whole show at Penn State. That was when (Joe) Paterno just got fired and it was a weird deal up there. It was kind of ominous, to say the least, so I don’t know if we caught the full experience. … Those were no doubt about it some of the toughest environments to go in and play.â€
Memorial Stadium memories: “The loudest I probably ever heard it, when Alex Henery booted a (57-yarder, 2007 vs. Colorado), I mean that’s probably the loudest I experienced it. I remember my sophomore year when we played OU at home and beat them. … One of my sacks against (Washington) and the place went wild. It was enough to where I kind of had a headache. It got so loud after that, that I almost thought I blew one eardrum. I’m not trying to exaggerate for dramatic effect. The pitch of it was just so bad I literally thought I blew an eardrum. I’m sure it’s on Youtube somewhere, I mean I creamed the guy. It just sounded like someone was just screaming in my ear.â€
Brandon Reilly (2012-16)
Loudest places to play on the road: “Wisconsin is always pretty loud. Ohio State is big, but Penn State was loud. Penn State was a sweet atmosphere just because the stadium is so vertical and it traps all the sound in.â€
Memorial Stadium memories: “Obviously, I’m pretty biased, but Michigan State (Reilly had the go-ahead touchdown with 17 seconds left to beat MSU in 2015) was pretty loud. … Then when we beat Oregon at home (35-32, 2016) it was very loud. The other one was we were playing Wisconsin at home, and Andy Janovich took a run up the middle and scored and the place just erupted. For me, I’d say those were the three loudest moments at home.â€
Steven M. Sipple: Huskers' camp vibe suggests players are hungry to prove doubters wrong
Nebraska wide receiver Brandon Reilly (87) beats Tennessee defensive back Emmanuel Moseley (12) to score in second-quarter action at the Music City Bowl, Nissan Stadium, Nashville, Tenn., in December of 2016.