Nebraska Football Tailgate Talk: A cold, dark night in Iowa City

The Nebraska football team will roll into Iowa to play their last regular season game while playing in a very chilly 22 degrees at Kinnick Stadium with kickoff at 6:30 p.m. The game will be televised on NBC. For those of you brave enough to watch it in person, God Bless you and drive home safely. Might be some light snow as you cross over the river back into the Good Life. As of my writing this article, Huskers were -6 underdogs.

Life IS good! Not only was it a gloriously sunny, late fall day in Lincoln when the Cornhuskers gave it good to Wisconsin but the Huskers are finally going bowling! I'll admit I was shocked from the start of the game with the Jacory Barney running the ball back on the kickoff (I couldn't believe he didn't take the touchback) to the amazing run game, and the score after score for the good guys. It felt like 2016, or 2012, or any time other than lately. Jacory Barney even took Freshman of the Week honors!
My favorite surprise of the day was the Heinrich Haarberg touchdown. I remember how much of a beating he took last year with little success. Not bad for a team that was battling the flu and strep bug.

And have yourself a day Emmett Johnson! He reminded me of Ameer Abdullah with his slippery runs and I could almost hear Chris Berman in my head with his iconic "whoop!" and then another "whoop!" as he maneuvered the field. Welcome to the game tight ends Nate Boerkircher and Luke Lindenmeyer. I'll get over the (again) giving up of too many big pass plays by the defense for now. I'm not convinced Coach Butler is the guy for the Nebraska football team but time will tell.

Nebraska football prepping to feast in Iowa City

They say you have the most improvement between game 1 & 2. For the Holgerson era, that was certainly true. His pressers are solid gold. It's no bs. He is a fan of accountability. For example, the reason Thomas Fidone only saw two snaps on Saturday was because tight ends Luke Lindenmeyer and Nate Boerkircher had been "improving" and were "dependable." Then the new OC followed it up by saying that he had just witnessed Fidone's best practice yet, so you may see more of him on Friday.

Dana's approach is working. His play calling has a great rhythm to it. And who knew we actually had a run game. I ran across a tweet that said he's the other side of nice guy Rhule - the Dark Rhule - if you will. I'm here for it! However, don't confuse nice guy Rhule with nice guy Coach Riley though. I'm far more impressed with our current head coach than former anti-Pelini coach RIley. I can't wait to see what Holgerson can do with the Wide Receiver room. I doubt they sack McGuire but now the Huskers can finally have a coach with skill, direction, a plan, and street cred at the helm.

What will Friday night in Iowa bring other than hand warmers and blankets? Who knows? I've given up trying to guess which team will show up. They may have a let down emotionally now that they are finally going bowling. Plus, the cold weather will factor into things. The leather on the ball is harder and it makes it slippery. Hands get cold and it's harder to catch it and hold on to it. We know Iowa will run the ball with elite runner Caleb Johnson. He's arguably the best back out there this year with over 2700 yards in his career (only a junior). He makes people miss and can get that burst and go the distance. The Blackshirts will have their hands full. We know Iowa will want to stop Big Red from running the ball. Their defense is still solid.

We know Iowa still has a great special teams group and this game is ALWAYS about field position. The gold and black also have a great punt returner and punter. As for Foley's group, It's refreshing to see how far Husker kicker John Hohl has come this season. Good on you son! Kickers are usually bigger head cases than baseball pitchers. Brian BOOM-schini has been stellar too.

Nebraska will have to try to slow Iowa's run game and force them to be one dimensional. I'll admit I don't know much about their QB other than his arm is not his strong point but he can deliver. Fortunately, there should be less pressure on the Blackshirts defense to control the game now that the Cornhuskers have found an offense. It was a nicer surprise than finding that Ben Franklin bill in the pocket of that winter coat I haven't worn since Christmas shopping last year. Sadly, the commentators for the Husker game will be more disappointing than no more gravy for the potatoes. Instead, I recommend listening to the radio broadcast. See below for instructions on how to sync it with the broadcast. We should be VERY thankful to have Greg Sharpe and Damon Benning on the call.

The drink shooter I'm recommending for the game is cranberry juice and wild turkey to keep with the Thanksgiving spirit and to keep you warm. This year I'm thankful the Huskers get to go bowling. Not because I'm spending the money to go to the game, but because it gives the team more practice time. Since the bowl drought, they have lost out on 105 EXTRA practices. That deficit is almost impossible to quantify. It's appalling to think Coach Frost opted out of a bowl game. I'm thankful for all of you that read my rants and put up with my weird takes.

If you want to contribute to a Nebraska football tailgating article, send me a photo or a recipe on the X at @kelian_NE. If you're going to the game, plan ahead and take some kind of warming device: heated vest, hand warmers, shooters. If you're hosting a watch party, make anything with cheese: cheesy potatoes, mac n cheese, or a cheese plate because it was SO great to pound on Wisconsin, the reminder and cheese will make you smile about it again. As always, GO BIG RED!