Cooper Axe, a freshman Business Administration major from Fort Collins, Colorado, says being a Husker fan is a chance to be part of an extended family. "This community is so amazing and energetic, being able to add to that spirit is what makes me a proud Husker fan," he said.
EAKIN HOWARD, Journal Star
UNL students Kaleb Baumgartel (from left), Cooper Axe, Luke Engebretson, Braeden Aherns and Brock Farasyn throw the bones next to the Husker Legacy Statue at Memorial Stadium. They are usually among the first students in the student section so they can get front-row seats to cheer on the Huskers.
"We'll stick together in all kinds of weather for dear old Nebraska U."
The closing lines of Nebraska's fight song "There Is No Place Like Nebraska" are well known among Husker fans, many of whom have endured all kinds of weather cheering on the football team.
What the fight song didn't address is something many fans hadn't endured until recently. A string of losing seasons and a bowl-game drought has now reached five years, regardless of the outcome of Friday's season-ending game against Iowa.
Despite a frustrating season that has seen the Huskers lose eight games, all by single-digit margins, tens of thousands of devoted fans will once again enter Memorial Stadium to cheer on the Big Red.
Among those fans are the students who sit in the southeast corner. Only a few graduate students would have been enrolled in 2016, the last time the Huskers went to a bowl game. Few underclassmen were born when NU claimed its most recent conference championship, in 1999.
Yet those student voices — not to mention their attire — stand out at every football game. To them, being a Husker fan is a privilege, one that's worth celebrating no matter what the team's record is.
In their own words, this is what it means for them to be a Husker fan through thick and thin.
Photos: UNL students stay loyal to Huskers despite rough seasons
Cooper Axe, a freshman Business Administration major from Fort Collins, Colorado, says being a Husker fan is a chance to be part of an extended family. "This community is so amazing and energetic, being able to add to that spirit is what makes me a proud Husker fan," he said.
UNL students Kaleb Baumgartel (from left), Cooper Axe, Luke Engebretson, Braeden Aherns and Brock Farasyn throw the bones next to the Husker Legacy Statue at Memorial Stadium. They are usually among the first students in the student section so they can get front-row seats to cheer on the Huskers.