All Huskers

Troy Dannen on the Tennessee-Nebraska Football Cancellation and More

Also from the Huskers' athletic director: What's happening in place of the spring game, how ticket sales are going for the game at Arrowhead and what the new-look turf will be like.

Joe Hudson

Nebraska Athletic Director Troy Dannen.
Nebraska Athletic Director Troy Dannen. / Dylan Widger-Imagn Images
In this story:

In an interview with HuskerOnline, Nebraska Athletic Director Troy Dannen dived into the cancellation of the home-and-home football series with Tennessee, what might happen in place of the Huskers' spring game, changes coming to the Memorial Stadium turf, and more. A few highlights:

  • Tennessee declined to reschedule its 2027 game in Knoxville against the Huskers. Nebraska wanted an eighth home game in 2027 to offset the financial effect of reduced seating capacity during the South Stadium rebuild. "We approached Tennessee and said, 'Hey, are you willing to push this back again? We did it at at your request last time so you could play that game at the racetrack (the 2016 Battle at Bristol), but could you push it back for us to accommodate this? And they couldn't, which I understand, no harm there."
  • Fifty thousand tickets were sold in the first week for the Huskers' 2025 football season opener against Cincinnati at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City. "I don't expect there will be any tickets by the time that game kicks off. ... It's going to feel feel like a home game in Kansas City. The numbers were off the charts early on, and I just haven't followed up in the last few weeks to see what's happened since."
  • Red is coming to the Memorial Stadium end zones, and maybe other places too. Dannen confirmed that the end zones will be red, resembling the design already in place at the Hawks practice facility. "I think it's a strong color, and when we put the the black letters in the end zones, I think it's a strong look." He said red is being underutilized. "We don't light the stadium at night from the outside. We should light it red every night. Red is an intimidating color and we should use it a lot more than we use it. I'm not talking uniforms. I told the governor I think the road signs on the exit off I-80 to the stadium should be in red, not in green, not in blue, but in red, so just things like that."
  • A scheduling alliance between the Big Ten and Southeastern conferences does not appear imminent. "We just came out of meetings in New Orleans this week with the SEC. That wasn't discussed. I would guess at some point it may come on the table but it's really not imminent as maybe some of the things I read about."
  • The spring game might resemble the NFL's redo of the Pro Bowl. "I think we'll see some skills competitions, a lot of what we saw in the Pro Bowl. ... If you watched it this year it was actually enjoyable to see people without their helmet and see who they are as a person and have a little fun, and so I think that's the direction this will head." He also mentioned women's flag football as a potential part of the day's events on April 26.

Hit the play button below to watch the full interview.

More From Nebraska on SI

Stay up to date on all things Huskers by bookmarking Nebraska Cornhuskers On SI, subscribing to HuskerMax on YouTube, and visiting HuskerMax.com daily.

Published |Modified
Joe Hudson
JOE HUDSON

Joe Hudson has operated a Husker-related website since 1995 and joined forces with David Max to form HuskerPedia (later renamed HuskerMax) in 1999. It began as a hobby during his 35 years as a newspaper editor and reporter, a career that included stints at the Lincoln Star, Omaha World-Herald, Philadelphia Inquirer and Denver Post. In Denver, Joe was chief of the copy desk during his final 16 years at the Post. He is proud to have been involved in Pulitzer Prize-winning projects in both Philadelphia and Denver. Joe has been a Nebraska football fan since the mid-1960s during his childhood in Omaha. He earned his bachelor of arts degree in journalism and economics at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in 1976. He resides a few freeway exits north of Colorado Springs and enjoys bicycling and walking his dogs in his spare time. You can reach him at joeroyhud@outlook.com.

Home/Football