IT PROMISED TO be excessive in every way and fittingly, the day started at Temple Bar.
For the Northwestern Wildcats and Nebraska Cornhuskers supporters, that is where their ‘Tailgate Party’ was hosted. From noon onwards a sea of red and purple was interwoven with fake ginger beards and tricolour wigs. An All-American St Patrick’s Day.
Meanwhile, Fox Sports’ opening game sequence featured animated Irish dancing mascots to the backdrop of a shamrock shower. Begorrah.
The natural inclination is to raise an eyebrow. Was it the best way to portray this diverse island to the 16,000 Gridiron enthusiasts who flew in this week? Is that really what we’re about? Turns out, emphatically yes.
Dublin, Ireland. 🏈🍻😂 pic.twitter.com/tFd5hSM9wl
— Gridiron (@Gridiron) August 27, 2022
Hours later a technical glitch at the Aviva Stadium caused their till systems to crash. Pints were free and patrons were availing. There was so much beer that the empty cup pile reached a storey high. A monument for the pintmen. It’d bring a tear to Paddy Losty’s eye.
Make no mistake, such festivity had to be part of it. Ireland might host a healthy NFL fanbase but the only chance of truly selling the college game was to build around the pageantry. Watching giddy fans trying to do the robot to the tune of The Wild Rover, you’d have to say it was mission accomplished.
They imported a party. When you add up both teams’ total, 510 players and staff made the trip. This is the first of a five-game deal in place for the series dubbed the Aer Lingus College Football Classic. It was postponed and nearly derailed by Covid.
That cloud still lingers, with the economic benefit downgraded to “at least” €40 million having previously been reported to be €63 million. It was not close to full but the crowd there was in full voice and created a terrific atmosphere.
And as expected, they were all Irish.
“I’m pretty Irish,” explains Keith Bruch, a Northwestern follower at Temple Bar who flew in on Thursday. “This is great. Usually, we tailgate for hours in the US before games. It’s just about beers and a party.”
Why did he make the journey?
“We’re season ticket holders, we’re football fans and it is a great opportunity for anyone in the US to get to Dublin. We’ll get to London after and make a trip of it.”
College football has travelled the globe since Ireland first hosted a game over 30 years ago but for several reasons, this fixture is different. Firstly, this was no exhibition. It is the first Big Ten Conference game abroad since the 1993 Coca-Cola Classic in Tokyo, where Wisconsin defeated Michigan State.
That game went to Japan for the price of some airplane tickets and $800,000 for the athletic department pumps at each school. What did it cost to bring Saturday night’s competitors to Dublin?
As the Dub ‘hats, flags and headbands’ salesman on Landsdowne Road said when asked how he managed to get his hands on American college gear, don’t you worry about that. All promoters would confirm is that Northwestern is not doing it for less than the revenue they would get from a home game.
The Coca-Cola link is still strong. The Waterford Crystal manufactured Keough-Naughton trophy presented to the Wildcats after their victory carried the name of Don Keough, former head of the company and the first inductee into the Irish America Hall of Fame. The other surname was that of Martin Naughton, who fostered Irish studies programmes in the U.S.
The entire gameday experience was transported to Dublin 4. Cheerleaders, marching bands, the works. Chants of ‘Go Big Red’ rang out from the Nebraska-faithful who showed up in droves.
“Nebraska is always an incredibly passionate fanbase. In the state, there aren’t any other American football teams. Lincoln, Nebraska on gameday becomes one of the largest cities in the state. Northwestern is a good programme but in Chicago, you’ve another Big Ten programme there and an NFL team,” explains Huskers diehard Rob Korbitz.
“There are a lot of Irish Catholics in Nebraska. I’m here with my brother and my step-brother. My step-brother’s older brother lives up the street. I probably wouldn’t have come but it was a great chance for us all to get together.”
As for Xs and Os, in the build-up to the game talking heads were predicting a low-scoring affair. Northwestern were almost two-touchdown underdogs while Nebraska had a new-look offensive unit that were expected to take time to click.
It took all of about three minutes. Recent quarterback transfer Casey Thompson threw a touchdown pass after going 5 for 6 on the opening drive. The game total was shattered by the third quarter. It was a scoring bonanza.
There were future stars on display too. Northwestern tackle Peter Skoronski is a projected first-rounder for the 2023 NFL draft. Watching a man that size maul people with such speed is a sight to behold.
Peter Skoronski making defenders disappear.... pic.twitter.com/pDDQAl5uKK
— Cole Cubelic (@colecubelic) August 27, 2022
Ultimately, the tie hinged on an onside kick fiasco. The Cornhuskers blew two double-digit leads during their 31-28 loss. They were up by 11 with nine minutes remaining in the third quarter when head coach Scott Frost called an intentionally short kick-off that Northwestern recovered. The Wildcats scored less than two minutes later and finished the game with 14 unanswered points.
Frost is already under considerable pressure after underwhelming recent campaigns. The Big Ten is big business. They recently announced a new $7 billion media rights deal that will string the conference’s top football games across three major TV networks each week from 2023. The live US TV audience was estimated to reach 3.5 million. It is a considerable glare.
It was a fitting result for Wildcats head coach Pat Fitzgerald, one of the longest-serving coaches in the National Collegiate Athletic Association, who was celebrating his 200th game. His grandparents were emigrants, his grandmother hailing from Nurney in Co Kildare. Post-match he spoke about exploring that lineage this week.
“It was really emotional for me. My wife and I came over and got a chance to meet my cousin and his family, to go out to Nurney.
“The job the genealogist did. I mean I saw the ticket for the boat my grandmother and grandfather came over on. From that to going out to the family farm to seeing generations of our family. Where they were laid to rest, where my grandmother was baptised, where she went to church, school, the list goes on.
“To have my dad here with me, my dad being able to be in Ireland for the first time. To see where his mother was born…”
Fitzgerald cited the colour the travelling supporters brought while stressing how this series can recognise the history of Irish emigration.
“It is an honour to represent my family here in Ireland. I am very grateful and thankful. I am proud of my Irish heritage and of our ancestors. My dad and I were talking last night, just thinking about what his mom and dad had to do to come over to America on a boat.
I hope this game becomes something special for college football, for Ireland and I hope for the Big Ten.”
And if such appropriate sentiment doesn’t do it for you, there was plenty of entertainment elsewhere post-game. Last week, Scott Frost had to walk back comments after claiming Cornhuskers’ offensive linemen work so hard that they vomit 15 to 20 times at training under their new line coach.
The North remembers. Wildcats line coach Kurt Anderson took to Twitter late Saturday night, revelling in their triumph.
“And to think we only puked four times all camp.”
A day with something for everyone. Roll on next year.