Curt McKeever: Fans increasingly losing faith
Don Peters walked with the huff-and-puff pace of someone who’d just been awakened in the middle of the night by a call from the Bellwood Volunteer Fire Department.
But, no, this time it was barely past the lunch whistle.
“If I thought I was ... If I thought in the ... I’d never do this,” an exasperated Peters finally mustered. “I wouldn’t come. It’s sad.”
The proud 72-year-old resident of Bellwood wasn’t describing some life-and-death tragedy that had gotten the best of him. He was talking Nebraska football.
And before halftime of the Huskers’ game against Oklahoma State on Saturday, a man who’s been in the Memorial Stadium stands for the last 58 seasons, and was wearing a “Greatest Fans in College Athletics” sticker on his red shirt, had seen enough.
Normally when a Nebraska game is in progress, a person could get away with driving a pickup across the pedestrian overpass that rises above the railroad tracks on North 10th Street.
On Saturday, as the Cowboys were on their way to a 38-0 halftime lead, it was like New York City sidewalk rush-hour traffic, and Peters had to pull over to the side to avoid getting rear-ended.
There aren’t 500 people who live in Bellwood, but in a matter of seconds, Peters had spotted a couple other citizens, Mike and Lou Oborny, in the exiting throng.
“I could sit out and bawl. This is bull,” Peters said. “I don’t know what the hell I’m going to ...”
Well, perhaps that home project he’s been putting off?
“I don’t know,” Peters continued. “Or just drive off the bridge.”
Back at Memorial Stadium, Oklahoma State — a 3-3 team that had lost 41-23 at Troy last month, and one that had won just one true road game during Mike Gundy’s three seasons as coach — had done all the work it needed to end a 20-game losing streak in Lincoln.
By the time they’d finished off their 45-14 shellacking, the Cowboys had rolled up 551 yards, the most they’d ever produced against NU.
Halfway through the assault, they had 357 yards and had scored on six of seven possessions (the other was kneeling at the end of the half).
“I’m thinking, ‘Just put Kendall (Hunter) in and let me rest,’” OSU running back Dantrell Savage said.
At that point, Savage had rushed for 148 of his career-high 212 yards to make a parody of Bill Callahan’s contention about the parity that exists in the college game these days.
Some fans in the South Stadium had already unfurled a banner with a suggestion to Nebraska’s athletic director: Surrender, Steve Pederson.
Later, Savage told a story about an Oklahoma State fan who came up behind the Cowboys’ bench in tears.
“A guy I didn’t know just came up to me and said (thanks),” Savage said. “All this time coming up to Nebraska, he’d never won a game.”
Out on the pedestrian bridge, Peters had managed to slow his heartbeat to a more restful rate just in time to hear the echo of the public-address announcer giving the halftime score. At that, he wished me luck and jumped back in the pack.
Just across the west side of the stadium, Rick Vasina, a 42-year-old banker from Colon, stood by himself, headphones still on his ears.
Still listening to his beloved Huskers, even though he held no hope of a miraculous comeback.
“It really hurts me deep down inside,” said Vasina, with the calmness of someone who really wasn’t that surprised Nebraska was about to give up at least 40 points for the fourth time in five games.
How the times have changed.
Vasina was 7 when he went to his first Husker game. He can fire off the exact date: Oct. 28, 1972.
“I think they beat them like 34-0 that day.”
He got that right, too. As for ‘Them?’ It was the Cowboys.
Kind of ironic, huh, Rick?
“Yeah, I know,” he said, managing a chuckle. “Can you believe that?
“I cannot believe it’s 38-0 right now. Maybe Chase Daniel’s right? Maybe we do have a high school defense?”
Vasina then headed back inside the stadium to see if he could disprove what Missouri’s quarterback had said about the Blackshirts following last week’s game.
Surprisingly, Mark and Janan Pease were among those who decided to do something else with the rest of their day. Surprising because the Peases had invested a trip from Claremore, Okla., to watch the Cowboys.
So what’s an orange-and-black-clad couple doing strolling away from this scene before it’s completely unfolded?
“Because of the score,” Janan said. “Oklahoma State was so far ahead of them.
“Shocking? Yeah.”
Added Mark: “We really felt like Nebraska would beat us.”
And if you think they were worried that if they’d stayed longer they might incur the wrath of some unruly Husker fans, think again.
“I was speaking with a guy coming down the ramp,” Mark said, “and he told me, ‘We’re getting used to this.’”
Maybe that’s why another Nebraska follower who was leaving just after halftime was offering her tickets for Saturday’s game against Texas A&M.
I don’t think she was asking anything for them, either.
Reach Curt McKeever at 473-7441 or cmckeever@journalstar.com.
But, no, this time it was barely past the lunch whistle.
“If I thought I was ... If I thought in the ... I’d never do this,” an exasperated Peters finally mustered. “I wouldn’t come. It’s sad.”
The proud 72-year-old resident of Bellwood wasn’t describing some life-and-death tragedy that had gotten the best of him. He was talking Nebraska football.
And before halftime of the Huskers’ game against Oklahoma State on Saturday, a man who’s been in the Memorial Stadium stands for the last 58 seasons, and was wearing a “Greatest Fans in College Athletics” sticker on his red shirt, had seen enough.
Normally when a Nebraska game is in progress, a person could get away with driving a pickup across the pedestrian overpass that rises above the railroad tracks on North 10th Street.
On Saturday, as the Cowboys were on their way to a 38-0 halftime lead, it was like New York City sidewalk rush-hour traffic, and Peters had to pull over to the side to avoid getting rear-ended.
There aren’t 500 people who live in Bellwood, but in a matter of seconds, Peters had spotted a couple other citizens, Mike and Lou Oborny, in the exiting throng.
“I could sit out and bawl. This is bull,” Peters said. “I don’t know what the hell I’m going to ...”
Well, perhaps that home project he’s been putting off?
“I don’t know,” Peters continued. “Or just drive off the bridge.”
Back at Memorial Stadium, Oklahoma State — a 3-3 team that had lost 41-23 at Troy last month, and one that had won just one true road game during Mike Gundy’s three seasons as coach — had done all the work it needed to end a 20-game losing streak in Lincoln.
By the time they’d finished off their 45-14 shellacking, the Cowboys had rolled up 551 yards, the most they’d ever produced against NU.
Halfway through the assault, they had 357 yards and had scored on six of seven possessions (the other was kneeling at the end of the half).
“I’m thinking, ‘Just put Kendall (Hunter) in and let me rest,’” OSU running back Dantrell Savage said.
At that point, Savage had rushed for 148 of his career-high 212 yards to make a parody of Bill Callahan’s contention about the parity that exists in the college game these days.
Some fans in the South Stadium had already unfurled a banner with a suggestion to Nebraska’s athletic director: Surrender, Steve Pederson.
Later, Savage told a story about an Oklahoma State fan who came up behind the Cowboys’ bench in tears.
“A guy I didn’t know just came up to me and said (thanks),” Savage said. “All this time coming up to Nebraska, he’d never won a game.”
Out on the pedestrian bridge, Peters had managed to slow his heartbeat to a more restful rate just in time to hear the echo of the public-address announcer giving the halftime score. At that, he wished me luck and jumped back in the pack.
Just across the west side of the stadium, Rick Vasina, a 42-year-old banker from Colon, stood by himself, headphones still on his ears.
Still listening to his beloved Huskers, even though he held no hope of a miraculous comeback.
“It really hurts me deep down inside,” said Vasina, with the calmness of someone who really wasn’t that surprised Nebraska was about to give up at least 40 points for the fourth time in five games.
How the times have changed.
Vasina was 7 when he went to his first Husker game. He can fire off the exact date: Oct. 28, 1972.
“I think they beat them like 34-0 that day.”
He got that right, too. As for ‘Them?’ It was the Cowboys.
Kind of ironic, huh, Rick?
“Yeah, I know,” he said, managing a chuckle. “Can you believe that?
“I cannot believe it’s 38-0 right now. Maybe Chase Daniel’s right? Maybe we do have a high school defense?”
Vasina then headed back inside the stadium to see if he could disprove what Missouri’s quarterback had said about the Blackshirts following last week’s game.
Surprisingly, Mark and Janan Pease were among those who decided to do something else with the rest of their day. Surprising because the Peases had invested a trip from Claremore, Okla., to watch the Cowboys.
So what’s an orange-and-black-clad couple doing strolling away from this scene before it’s completely unfolded?
“Because of the score,” Janan said. “Oklahoma State was so far ahead of them.
“Shocking? Yeah.”
Added Mark: “We really felt like Nebraska would beat us.”
And if you think they were worried that if they’d stayed longer they might incur the wrath of some unruly Husker fans, think again.
“I was speaking with a guy coming down the ramp,” Mark said, “and he told me, ‘We’re getting used to this.’”
Maybe that’s why another Nebraska follower who was leaving just after halftime was offering her tickets for Saturday’s game against Texas A&M.
I don’t think she was asking anything for them, either.
Reach Curt McKeever at 473-7441 or cmckeever@journalstar.com.
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