The home of
the Huskers since 1923 and the location of a continuing NCAA-record consecutive
sellout streak that reached beyond 300 games in 2009, Memorial
Stadium provides one of the most exciting game-day experiences in all of
college football.
The streak
of consecutive sellouts started on Nov. 3, 1962, when 36,501 attended the
Homecoming contest against Missouri. The last non-sellout came Oct. 20, 1962,
when the Huskers and Kansas State drew 30,701.
In the fall
of 1922, a drive for $430,000 in stadium construction funds was undertaken by
faculty, students, alumni and friends of the University of Nebraska. The quota
was over subscribed. The stadium was named Memorial Stadium to honor all
Nebraskans who served in the Civil and Spanish-American Wars; the 751
Nebraskans who died in World War I; the 3,839 in World War II; the 225 in
Korea; and the 422 in Vietnam. Construction was completed in a few more than 90
working days and Memorial Stadium was dedicated on Oct. 20, 1923, at the
Homecoming game in which Nebraska was held to a scoreless tie by Kansas.
Nebraska's
continuing NCAA record of consecutive home sellouts passed the 200-mark in 1994
with a Homecoming win over Colorado on Oct. 29, 1994.
The stadium
underwent dramatic changes in the 2006 campaign, with the addition of more
than 6,500 seats in the North Stadium, bringing the historic stadium's
capacity to 81,067. The impressive changes, including one of the largest
in-stadium replay screens in the nation - have been evident on game day.
Memorial
Stadium underwent some more impressive changes in the summer of 2009, with
the addition of two new HuskerVision replay boards and a ribbon board running
across the overhang of both the east and west sides of the stadium. The
additions will add to the already electric atmosphere inside Memorial
Stadium on game day.
Nebraska's
2009 contest with Louisiana-Lafayette marked the NCAA-record 300th
consecutive sellout at Memorial Stadium, and also set a single-game attendance
mark of 86,304 fans on Sept. 26. Overall, the Huskers set a single-season
attendance mark by averaging 85,888 fans per game in 2009. NU's sellout streak
reached 304 games with a 17-3 win over Kansas State on Nov. 21, the final home
game at Memorial Stadium in 2009.
As part of
the expansion, Memorial Stadium gained a glorious new North end with the
addition of the Osborne Athletic Complex. The cutting edge project not
only included a new home for Nebraska football, as the coaches' offices and
player locker room moved from the South Stadium to the North Stadium,
it also included the Charles and Romona Myers Performance Center.
The new performance area provides every one of Nebraska's more
than 600 student-athletes all the elements to maximize their performance,
including a new strength complex, athletic medicine center, hydrotherapy pools,
and nutrition center, all on one level.
The project
also included the Hawks Championship Center, which features a
120-yard field with an identical FieldTurf surface to the game-day surface in
Memorial Stadium, giving the Huskers a second indoor practice area
across the outdoor grass practice fields from Cook Pavilion.
The Hawks Championship Center is connected by a skybridge to the
Osborne Athletic Complex.
In all, the
$50 million project provides an unmatched practice and game-day
atmosphere for student-athletes and fans at Memorial Stadium.
Inscribed on
the four corners of the stadium are the following words, written by former UNL
professor of philosophy Hartley Burr Alexander:
Southeast:"In Commemoration of the men of Nebraska who served and fell in the Nations Wars." Southwest: "Not the victory but the action; Not the goal but the game; In the deed the glory." Northwest: "Courage; Generosity; Fairness; Honor; In these are the true awards of manly sport." Northeast: "Their Lives they held their countrys trust; They kept its faith; They died its heroes."
