Brian Rosenthal: NU great Fryar a Big Red fan again Sunday
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It was pretty obvious where Irving Fryar’s allegiances were Saturday night.
“Can’t you tell?” Fryar said, wearing a No. 6 Western Michigan road jersey, white pants and a big smile.
Fryar, the Nebraska All-America wingback from 1983, was on the sideline supporting his son, Western Michigan senior cornerback Londen Fryar.
Yeah, a little bit strange rooting for the visitors, Fryar said.
“When he was getting ready to graduate from high school and thought he had an opportunity to play ball on the next level,” Fryar said of his son, “I really envisioned him being here, playing in front of the Big Red.
“But it didn’t work out that way. Fortunately for him, he’s doing well. I’m happy for him. He’s doing a great job. I’m proud of him.”
Count Fryar a Big Red fan again beginning Sunday. He said Tom Osborne made the right hire in Bo Pelini to do a job he never imagined necessary in Lincoln.
“Nobody would ever think saying Nebraska is in the rebuilding process,” Fryar said. “You would never put those two things together. But that’s what’s happening right now. Nebraska is rebuilding their football program.”
One shy
Mike Rozier, the 1983 Heisman Trophy winner, was also roaming the sidelines Saturday night.
If only Turner Gill had returned, it’d been a nice reunion of the Triplets.
“Turner’s a head coach,” Rozier said, excusing his absence.
But his team played on Thursday.
“Yeah,” Rozier said, “and he won, too.”
Gill’s Buffalo team roughed up UTEP 42-17.
Rozier was surveying the stadium after the Huskers’ grand entrance.
“This reminds me of back when I played my first game here,” Rozier said. “All the energy right now … we haven’t had this the last couple of years. I think we’re going to be back.”
Unity walk catching on
Pelini’s first blitz caught several hundred Nebraska fans by surprise.
Word late in the week of the Huskers’ pre-game unity walk from the team bus to the locker room apparently spread quickly. Fans lined both sides of a sidewalk on the east side of Memorial Stadium, ready for Pelini and the Huskers to emerge from buses and walk through the human tunnel.
Only Pelini, at the front of the charge, instead led the troops on a beeline to the stadium, cutting across the grass. Those fans around the sidewalk audibled and quickly swarmed to the action.
Those in the right position saw Pelini, as serious as ever, walking with his assistant coaches, followed by players in warm-up gear. Their path took them around the north side of the stadium and to the Gate 11 entrance on the northwest corner.
The ovation, as you might imagine, was quite warm. The cheers began when two buses could first be seen coming down Vine Street.
(It reminded me of the 2002 Rose Bowl, when the media also rode buses to the game. We received a similar ovation upon our arrival to the stadium. Obviously, nobody could see through the tinted windows).
Fans weren’t disappointed this time. Players were indeed on these buses.
Pelini wants to make the unity walk a staple for Husker fans.
“I would hope we could make it a new tradition,” Pelini said last week, “and that there will always be at least a few thousand people.”
The team buses will generally arrive about 2½ hours prior to kickoff.
Going deep
* Osborne looked as though he were coaching. He walked onto the field with a red clipboard and dressed in khakis and a white polo shirt — the same attire as Pelini’s staff
* Nice job with the Tunnel Walk video in showing some “new” old highlights.
* Why doesn’t Nebraska have male yell leaders anymore?
Reach Brian Rosenthal at 473-7436 or brosenthal@journalstar.com.
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