Nebraska players ‘itching to get the pads back on’ for game in Ireland

LINCOLN, Neb. (KLKN) – Husker fans are a little under eight weeks away from seeing the Nebraska football team in action again.

The Huskers head across the Atlantic Ocean for the Aer Lingus College Football Classic in Ireland to take on Northwestern on Aug. 27 at Dublin’s Aviva Stadium.

Nebraska fans who do plan to travel for the game have bought close to 9,000 tickets, and Northwestern fans have purchased around 3,000.

Game organizers are hopeful for a stadium over 75% full and want to get that Nebraska number to 10,000 tickets sold.

Monday is the deadline to purchase tickets through the Nebraska Ticket Office at Huskers.com/Ireland. 

But tickets will remain available to buy through Ireland’s TicketMaster outlet.

Those fans who make the trip can attend a Nebraska pep rally on Friday, Aug. 26, at Merrion Square in Dublin City Center, where coaches, band members and cheerleaders will be.

Husker linebacker Nick Henrich visited Ireland once before and remembered it as a fun trip full of new culture, but this time, he says it will be “all business.”

“Everyone’s kinda itching to get the pads back on and kind of ready to go,” Henrich said. “We know how important this game is to start out our season the right way, so I think everyone collectively is viewing this as a business trip.”

Both Henrich and running back Rahmir Johnson say they know how important it is to get a win in the Week Zero game.

“We’re focused on Northwestern,” Johnson said. “We know what happened last year. That’s in the past now. We’ve got to lock in and come together, focus on our skills and what we know we can do.”

The Aer Lingus Classic is similar to a bowl game, and gives fans a chance to explore the city their team is playing in.

“Instead of tailgating in your vans and pickups, you’re going to be doing it in the bars and restaurants,” said Padraic O’Kane, a co-founder of the Aer Lingus Football Classic and the CEO of corporate.ie, the Irish company promoting the game. “We’ve Irish-ized it, if you’d like to put it that way. The people from Dublin will join in, too. They want to be part of this.”