Nebraska Confirms They Did Explore Adding An Eighth Football Home Game – Will Play At Oklahoma in 2021

The rumors were flying earlier today that the Huskers were trying to weasel out of playing replace Oklahoma on the 2021 schedule. Given that the game would mark the 50th anniversary of the “Game of the Century” (there is only one GotC, don’t try to give me any crap about another college football game coming close to it) it caused a significant uproar.

Most of us know that Nebraska’s football program is in a very different place than Oklahoma’s right now, but trying to shed this game was a bad idea. Check out Husker Mike’s open letter to Bill Moos. The Husker program is sliding rapidly towards irrelevance and a move like this would only serve to add grease to the speed of that decline.

Is it possible that Brett McMurphy might have saved Nebraska football? This afternoon McMurphy was on Unsportsmanlike Conduct on 1620 the Zone and he mentioned at the end that Andy Staples of The Athletic called him and said that if the game goes on as scheduled that that is in fact what McMurphy has done.

The response, almost universal, from the fanbase was deafening to say the least. To Bill Moos’ credit, this was probably the best way to unify a somewhat fractured fanbase.

It was an eventful Friday for Nebraska football fans and the media. Hopefully things can settle down for a while. Maybe we will learn that things weren’t actually close to changing but that they were in the “exploration phase.”

If the game was actually close to getting the axe then Brett McMurphy might have actually saved Nebraska football.

Here is the full statement from Nebraska Football Athletic Director Bill Moos:

“The University of Nebraska is looking forward to playing Oklahoma in Norman on September 18^th. Due to the economic devastation caused by the COVID-19 pandemic to Husker Athletics and the local community, our administration did explore the possibility of adding an eighth home game this fall. That option would have helped us mitigate cost-cutting measures and provide a much-needed boost to our local economy. Ultimately, the decision was made to move forward with our game at Oklahoma in 2021. We have the utmost respect for the University of Oklahoma, and this storied rivalry, and I know our fans have been excited about this series for a long time. Go Big Red!”