Red Report: NU aims to end road drought against elite
OPENING STATEMENT
“If someone said, ‘Name the top programs in college football,’ Nebraska would be in there.”
— Virginia Tech coach Frank Beamer
Saturday’s trip to Blacksburg, Va., to play No. 13 Virginia Tech offers Nebraska the opportunity to win its first road game against a top 20-ranked team since Tom Osborne was coaching.
The last road triumph of that sort came in 1997, when Nebraska defeated No. 2 Washington 27-14 in Seattle. It was the beginning of a national championship run.
Since that season, the Huskers are 2-14 in true road games against Top 25 teams. (There was a 28-27 win against No. 24 Texas A&M in 2006 and a 27-24 overtime victory over 23rd-ranked Notre Dame in 2000).
Nebraska was 2-2 on the road in Bo Pelini’s first year as head coach. The Huskers suffered a 62-28 whipping at No. 4 Oklahoma. There was also a near breakthrough — a 37-31 overtime loss at No. 7 Texas Tech.
“It’s about execution. You’ve got to execute,” Pelini said after practice Monday. “The fans aren’t playing. It’s 11 on 11. It’s done between the lines. You’ve got to execute.”
Virginia Tech’s Lane Stadium seats more than 66,000. Since joining the Atlantic Coast Conference before the 2004 season, Virginia Tech is 31-4 at home.
“I would say our fans are basically like Nebraska fans,” said Virginia Tech senior left tackle Ed Wang. “When we went over there to play last season, we got a great reception. They didn’t boo us or anything. That was really nice. I feel like our fans will be the same way.”
Asked about preparing for the noise at Lane Stadium, Pelini said: “We’ll get some crowd noise later in the week, but it’s not something that affects us very much.”
