Nebraska Football Tailgate: early road game or “homegate” against Bucky

LINCOLN, NE - SEPTEMBER 10: Fans line up awaiting the arrival of the Nebraska Cornhuskers in front of the stadium before the game against the Wyoming Cowboys at Memorial Stadium on September 10, 2016 in Lincoln, Nebraska. (Photo by Steven Branscombe/Getty Images)
LINCOLN, NE - SEPTEMBER 10: Fans line up awaiting the arrival of the Nebraska Cornhuskers in front of the stadium before the game against the Wyoming Cowboys at Memorial Stadium on September 10, 2016 in Lincoln, Nebraska. (Photo by Steven Branscombe/Getty Images) /
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What Nebraska football fan doesn’t love a good tailgate? So here’s how you can do it from home while you watch the Huskers take on Ohio State.

I was inspired by my leftover candy bucket as I wrote this piece so bear with me as I ride this sugar high. Yes, it’s kind of frightening when you think about the fact that in the past two years since Nebraska football has played Ohio State, that other team hasn’t punted. Yet. I think this is our year for that to happen. Yes, I’m starting small. Huskers will make OSU punt!

All the Halloween magic is gone and all that’s left is the regret of eating too many sweets and suffering through another 11 am kick off. PLEASE don’t let that happen next week for Illinois!

It’s time for Nebraska football to be weighed and measured. Thank goodness not literally! But the Huskers will face a daunting task Saturday as they lineup across a Buckeye team that got pounded on two weeks ago by Purdue. OSU will come out on fire and want to drive down the field and get into the end zone, a lot. The three Musketeers on our defense, Mo Barry, Luke Gifford and Mick Stoltenberg, will need to be Gobstoppers and keep the Buckeye run game from materializing.

Nebraska football will need to try to keep OSU one dimensional like they did to Northwestern and Minnesota. I’m not going to sugar coat it, we can’t afford to give their QB time to pick our weak secondary apart. (Hopefully he’s got a case of the Butterfingers.)

Big Red has it’s own tasty M&M duo of Martinez and Morgan. Our quarterback and best receiver will need to pair up a lot to keep Nebraska competitive. Perhaps if OSU double teams JD Spielman, this can happen. It would be Almond Joy all around. Spielman certainly caused problems for Bucky last year.

Nebraska Cornhuskers Football
Nebraska Cornhuskers Football /

Nebraska Cornhuskers Football

Don’t Snicker at the prospect of our receivers getting lots of points. I want our Nebraska running back, Devine Ozigbo to Skor a lot too! We need his legs and attack because the other guys are rather physical. I look for Maurice Washington to see some playing time too. Those quick Skittles of his get him out of some jams for positive yards after the catch (another key to the game for the Huskers).

Things to do with the candy leftovers: whip up some brownie batter and after pouring half of it in the pan, put in either a layer of Kit Kat bars, broken pieces of Reese’s peanut butter cups, Snickers or Milky Way bars and then top with the remaining batter and bake. The end of this game may be more bitter than sweet so some breakfast goodies should be handy as well.

My homegate recipe is great for right out of the oven or even cooled off. Sausage and Cream Cheese Biscuit Bites. I played around with the recipe from Plain Chicken and this is what I recommend. Cook 1 Lb of sausauge in a large skillet. Drain the fat. Stir in 8 oz. cream cheese, 1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce, and 1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese. I used Grands biscuits and cut each biscuit from the tube into 4 pieces and placed in a lightly sprayed mini muffin pan. Top with the sausage mixture and bake for 13-15 minutes until golden brown. Bite size or fun size depending on your mood!

Get those Bloody Mary cocktails ready, the red beers, or screwdrivers if you’re going all in. I’m always a fan of creamy things in my coffee so there will be Bailey’s, and lots of Hot Sex.

I want to see our Husker coaches be the Smarties in this matchup. Keep the offense rolling, improve upon the defense and keep special teams in their lanes. It’s the formula to the Nebraska PayDay!

I’d love to see Big Red make OSU’s win streak end, or make their Starburst. Yeah I reached for that one. My bad. The sugar is starting to wear off.

Can Adrian Martinez keep Huskers in Ohio State game?. dark. Next

Feel free to share your tailgate/homegate photos and recipes with me at Kelian_NE on Twitter. Get up early, get your breakfast buffet ready and cheer on the Huskers. As always, GO BIG RED!