A group of bus driving friends helps bring the Fighting Illini to Memorial Stadium

As the Fighting Illini drove into Memorial Stadium on Saturday afternoon to take on the Huskers, a close group of four friends helped

them arrive in four different buses. 

The group of four, O.C. Serrell, Joel Armstrong, Mark Vail, and Howard Schwartz have been busing around just some of the Husker’s opponents throughout this year. They have been together for more than three years, and their shared experiences throughout those years have made them very close.

“I’m just proud to be a part of that and I’m proud to work with the fellas that I do work with,” said bus driver O.C. Serrell.

The drivers go and pick up the team from the airport as they arrive, and throughout the weekend they drive the opposing team to whenever they need to go in preparation for gameday. 

Sometimes they don’t get home until late on weekends because of all of the different flight plans for the opposing teams, and all of the different places they need to go throughout Lincoln. 

Even though sometimes the drivers get to go inside the game and watch the Huskers, the drivers say sometimes it’s much more fun being together and listening to game as a group inside the bus. 

“It’s kinda fun. We’ve played games before because we’re watching it on satellite on the bus and there’s always a time lag so you can start a game of you hear the fans and you’re watching the game and you have to guess whether they’ve made a touchdown, made a fumble what it is because there’s a 6 or 8, 10 second delay in the broadcast,” said Armstrong. 

So next week when Michigan State comes into town, as they drive into Memorial Stadium you can give this group of four friends a proper Husker wave in appreciation of their little-thought-of service.