Nebraska stars treating season opener in Ireland as business trip, not vacation

The Nebraska Cornhuskers are set to open their 2022 football season in Ireland this year, and their players are excited about the chance. While speaking at Big Ten media days, defensive lineman Garrett Nelson, tight end Travis Vokolek and defensive back Quinton Newsome spoke about their upcoming game against Northwestern that is going to be played in Dublin, Ireland.

Nebraska players on playing in Ireland

The Cornhuskers and the Wildcats are getting a special opportunity to begin their 2022 college football seasons, as the schools will play their first game of the season in the Aer Lingus College Football Classic. The showcase game will give players a chance to travel the world to play their sport, and bring the excitement of college football to Ireland.

Several Nebraska stars were interviewed on the Big Ten Network about the upcoming season, and were asked about what they were most excited for about the trip.

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“I don’t know too much about it other than a little bit about the golf part of it,” joked Vokolek. “I know there’s some crazy courses there that would be fun to play. But I’m really excited, I’ve never been outside the US. I’m really looking forward to it. Of course it’s a business trip for us, obviously we’re going over there to win a football game and we’re really excited about it.”

Nelson agreed with Vokolek about the trip being about the game first and foremost, showing his leadership role by staying focused on their mission.

“We don’t really want any time [to sightsee], we just wanna go win the game,” said Nelson. “We don’t care. We wanna go over there and win the game, come home. We could be in Japan, it could be in Ireland … it could be in Abu Dhabi, we don’t care. We wanna play and win the game, that’s what the fun part about it is.”

Nebraska and Northwestern were originally scheduled to play in Ireland last season, but were unable to due to COVID-19 complications. This year will be the second consecutive year that Nebraska takes on Northwestern in “Week Zero” of the college football season, with last year’s game resulting in a 56-7 win for the Cornhuskers — their only conference win of the season.

The upcoming game in Dublin will be Nebraska’s first game outside of the United States since they played Kansas State in the 1992 Coca-Cola Bowl in Tokyo, Japan. Next season, Ireland is set to host Notre Dame and Navy in the Aer Lingus College Football Classic.