Husker football is honoring first responders at the team’s spring game on Saturday.
Before the game kicks off at 1 p.m., more than 250 people who helped during recent flooding in Nebraska and southwest Iowa will take the tunnel walk, then form a tunnel for Husker football players to run through.
As fans enter the stadium Saturday, they will be greeted by Husker athletes, past letter winners, members of the athletics staff and the American Red Cross, who will be inside each entrance to Memorial Stadium collecting cash donations for flood relief.
Aside from the recognition of first responders and fundraising for flood relief, the fan experience for this year’s spring game should be familiar for past attendees.
The game will function mostly like a typical Husker game. The stadium’s clear bag policy hasn’t changed from last season, nor has a campuswide smoking ban instituted in 2018.
A drug-free pledge again will be held at halftime. In 2016, the pledge moved from the field into the stands as a safety measure, and that will continue this year.
Unlike most regular-season games, no lap tickets for children under 2 years of age will be given, meaning each fan will need a ticket. The Nebraska ticket office will open at 9 a.m.
The game is sold out, but tickets were available Thursday through StubHub for $11-$145.
Parking will be cheaper than a normal game day. Garages around downtown and campus lots will, for the most part, charge $5 for parking. Lincoln StarTran’s Big Red Express will operate a $5 one-way and $10 round-trip shuttle from SouthPointe Pavilions and North Star High School beginning at 11 a.m. and running 12:15 p.m. For more information about the shuttle, visit startran.lincoln.ne.gov or call 402-476-1234.
The Husker Nation Pavilion will open at Ed Weir Track at 10 a.m. and will feature inflatable games, an obstacle course, a quarterback toss, hoops tic-tac-toe, hoops hotshot, a baseball toss and a free balloon twister and face painter. Former Husker and current New England Patriots running back Rex Burkhead will sign autographs from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at the pavilion.
The game will be televised on BTN beginning at 1 p.m. Larry Punteney, Ameer Abdullah and Damon Benning will call the game.
Viral Walmart yodeling kid will perform the national anthem at Husker spring game
Viral sensation Mason Ramsey, known as the “Walmart yodeling kid,” will perform the national anthem at the Husker spring game on Saturday.
The 12-year-old Ramsey gained his 15 minutes of fame after someone posted a video to YouTube of him yodeling Hank Williams’ “Lovesick Blues” at a Walmart in southern Illinois last year.
The video now has more than 66 million views.
Ramsey released his debut album “Famous” in 2018. A single by the same name reached No. 4 on Billboard’s Hot Country Songs.
Ramsey has sold out six of 11 venues on his 2019 spring tour, including his performance scheduled for 8 p.m. Saturday at Lincoln’s Bourbon Theatre.
The official Nebraska football Twitter account announced his performance with a tongue-in-cheek post:
“Wash those Memorial Stadium blues away. Football is back Saturday!”
Wash those Memorial Stadium blues away. Football is back Saturday!
85,000 ➕ our friend @masonramsey will be there!
#GBR pic.twitter.com/5SeHBmCVQu— Nebraska Huskers (@Huskers) April 10, 2019
Nebraska Spring Game
When: 11 a.m. Saturday
Where: Memorial Stadium
Radio: B103 (103.1 FM)
