Nebraska football teases the return of decades old tradition

One of the longest standing Nebraska football traditions is apparently making a return for Saturday night's game against the Colorado Buffaloes. Said return is just the latest about face that Troy Dannen has done just months after taking over the athletic director position from Trev Alberts just before the NCAA basketball tournament.

Before there was an official announcement, the Nebraska Huskers twitter account teased the return of the red balloons on Thursday afternoon. This comes about a week after Dannen himself tweeted a picture of a single red balloon, making some wonder if a return was in the works.

The releasing of the red balloons after the first Nebraska football score of a game is a tradition that went back to the 1960's. While the technical tradition is any score, most Husker fans have long made it so that the balloons are not released until NU scores a touchdown.

The balloons are handed out in the stadium and then every fan holds onto the balloons in their seats until the score is made. That was until 2022.

Nebraska football apparently has its big tradition back

In May of that year, then-athletic director Alberts announced he was ending the balloon release. He cited a shortage of helium due to sanctions against Russia as the reason. However, environmental groups had exerted considerable pressure to cease the tradition.

After the big tease, the school confirmed that it's bringing back the balloons for the Colorado game. It said it will be handing the red balloons out for free. However, NU has also said there isn't a guarantee that this tradition is back for good, nor is it neccesarily something they'll do every game.

Certainly one reason for bringing the tradition back is that the Huskers' game against Colorado is a very big deal. A win could be a statement about how "back" the Cornhuskers are in the Matt Rhule era.

There is also the fact that Nebraska football is honoring long-time assistant and then head coach Frank Solich who is being inducted into the college football Hall of Fame later this year. It is also honoring the 1994 National Championship team.