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Answering The "Homecoming" Questions
Another Streak Falls, But Some Questions Remain
October 09, 2005
Another longtime Nebraska streak fell to the wayside on Saturday, although this one didn’t go as easy as some others may have fallen. For the first time in 37 years Nebraska lost their Homecoming game. Despite a heroic comeback attempt the Huskers fell just short at the hands of the 15th ranked Texas Tech Red Raiders. Although the nature of the loss may temper some of the outcry that followed the Huskers drop from the ranked of the ranked, it none the less has raised a couple of questions. Questions like; “How can we schedule a Homecoming when we haven’t been on the road yet?” and “Why did we schedule a ranked team instead of a cupcake?” Both valid questions, but also easy to answer. The answer to the first question is very simple; because the tradition of “Homecoming” has nothing to do with the football team’s travel schedule. Homecoming was developed as a celebration to bring former alumni back to campus in hopes of keeping up school moral and, not coincidentally, keeping alumni interested in financially supporting a university. It’s the former students who are coming home, not necessarily the football team. The scheduling of a football game to coincide with the ceremony is merely a matter of convenience to ensure valuable donors won’t be out of town following the team. The Huskers’ first designated Homecoming game was their 1911 match against Michigan. That season ending contest did indeed coincide with a return trip from Lawrence, Kansas the week before. The following year, however, Nebraska’s Homecoming game against Kansas followed a visit from Doane the week before. In fact, over the past 94 years that Nebraska has acknowledged Homecoming, the game came followed a another home game 26 times. That was true seven times during the winning streak (1969, 1975, 1977, 1979, 1995, 1999 and 2002) As for the unwritten rule that you don’t schedule a powerful team when you’re scheduling a Homecoming, that may make sense but isn’t always the rule. Even for the Huskers. During their 36-year Homecoming win streak the Huskers have faced a ranked opponent eight times. Three times the opponent was ranked the same or higher than the Huskers and, oddly enough, Colorado holds that distinction each time. The Buffaloes were ranked #2 in 1994 when the #3 ranked Huskers downed them 24-7. In 1992 both teams held the number 8 spot in the AP poll with Nebraska prevailing 52-7. In 1977 Colorado was ranked seventh in the nation only to see the number 18 ranked Huskers upset the Buffaloes 33-15. The list of previous Homecoming opponents during 36-year winning streak ,(NU rank/Opp rank)
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| Answering The "Homecoming" Questions | ||
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| 10/10/2005 | As a sophomore in high school I... | Kevin Horn |
| 10/10/2005 | Best game this year, I have to admit.... | Ron |
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