David Max Gives His Tuesday Takeaways on the Northern Iowa Game

Things are looking up for the Huskers and the game day experience.

Nebraska 34 - Northern Iowa 3 /

The Game

My big three stats; time of possession, turnovers and scoring drives over 50 yards was a split. Scoring drives over 50 yards - winner. Turnovers - tie. Both teams turned it over on failed fourth down conversions. Both teams had an interception. The Raiola one was close. Time of possession plus 16 minutes to Northern Iowa. Long scoring drives with little time off the clock made up the difference.

Nice to see my Kearney and Ainsworth connections do well. Went to high school in Ainsworth and graduated from Kearney State. Heinrich Haarberg showing his versatility and Carter Nelson getting his first touchdown as a Husker.

The Experience

Getting into the game: Line was not quite as long into Gate 1 as last week but it went slower. We got to watch the fly over from outside. There are six gates at Gate 1 and only two were open. Time to spend some of that Big 10 money on a few more ticket takers and security checks.

Cashless Concessions: Seemed to go a little better. Once we did get into the stadium the line didn't back up to the restroom walls like before. Maybe because there were still a lot on people waiting to get in. The in stadium vendors were more plentiful and I did add a real dollar bill tip as I passed my credit card down a long row of strangers. I would encourage this practice as I would bet that tips are way down for the vendors that walk the stadium steps.

Stadium WiFi: Slight improvement in that I could see the FanXP option on my phone but could not connect. Maybe by the end of the season it will be as advertised before the season started.

Tunnel Walk: Always enjoyable and the Will Compton psych 'em up speeches are a welcome addition.

Come a Running Boys: The couple from Oregonians for Nebraska in front of us got the T-Shirt this week.

Marching Band: The Alumni band joined and the alumni baton twirler has not lost a step.

Nebraska Marching Band with Alumni /

Third Quarter Light Show: The drone light show didn't happen. Must have been wind issues.

Overall the experience is improving just like the team. I would make increasing the number of ticket takers to get fans into the stadium sooner a top priority. I won't be there on Friday so if someone could send me a picture of how many gates are open at Gate 1 that would be great (bigredmax @ yahoo.com).

Next up is Illinois in the Big 10 opener. My prediction: Nebraska 31 - Illinois 17. Last week I had Nebraska 35 - Northern Iowa 10. Hope the pattern continues.

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