Huskers arrive in Ireland ahead of season opener against Northwestern

DUBLIN (WOWT) - It’s been a tough fall camp for the Huskers, and they’ve been pushing themselves in the lead-up to their big trip to Ireland.

Monday into Tuesday was a different sort of grind, traveling overseas overnight.

The team arrived at Aviva Stadium on Tuesday morning Nebraska time. 6 Sports was in downtown Dublin as the bus rolled in.

Still a few days out from the season opener in Ireland. The stadium — primarily for soccer and rugby — is a beautiful place located on the southeast side of downtown Dublin.

The last game was five weeks ago, giving them enough time to put in a new surface: natural grass. The Huskers played two games year on grass; they do the same this year, at least in the regular season and maybe another one in a bowl game? We’ll see.

Throughout the stadium, there’s a ton of Northwestern signs. Nothing for Nebraska because it’s a Wildcats home game.

The grounds crew was working on the field Tuesday and still need to paint it before the weekend.

We know through the years most of these games between Nebraska and Northwestern have been tight; last year was the anomaly.

Huskers Head Coach Scott Frost said he expects the game to be close again Saturday, and we can’t wait. It should be a good game in a great stadium with a great atmosphere: about 10,000 Nebraska fans are expected to be here rooting on their Huskers on Saturday afternoon.

SEEING THE SIGHTS

HOME OF GUINNESS

Many fans are here already and checking out other parts of Ireland. They will be making their way to Dublin, and without a doubt, the home of Guinness — Saint James’ Gate — will be on the list of places to visit.

Guinness does a great job telling its story: how the beer is brewed and the history of the company, including all the challenges they faced through a couple of hundred years in business.

6 Sports found Tyler Anderson from Fremont inside taking the tour.

“It’s very cool definitely,” Tyler said. “A must-see if you’re ever in Dublin, for sure come here and check out the massive scale that goes into this place and all that goes into making the Guinness from start to finish. Takes you step-by-step through the whole process.”

Tyler is having such a good time he says he’s coming back for the Notre Dame game here next year.

This is only the second game the Huskers will play outside the country, a very small number for a program with more than 1,300 games.

DINNER AT MANSION HOUSE

The Huskers ate dinner Tuesday night at Mansion House in downtown Dublin, and it’s been a neat experience.

The home of the mayor, Mansion House was at one time a massive piece of property and also the site of the very first Irish Parliament. Now, it’s a divided house with a restaurant on the side called “Around the Room,” which is where the Nebraska players’ dinner was served.

The street it’s on is historic and very busy — you can’t just pull the Huskers big bus up and drop off more than 100 football players there, especially with trains going back and forth. That’s not going to work. Instead, so instead they parked around the corner, giving the players a chance to enjoy all the history — take some pics — here in downtown Dublin.

The dinner tonight could in a way help the team on Saturday. Frost has said this week that he thought that last year, when the Huskers opened up against Illinois, they weren’t relaxed enough and that’s part of the reason why they lost the game. He doesn’t want that to happen again — he wants them to let it rip, and part of that is relaxing, not being locked in mentally every second of every day leading up to the game. So Tuesday night offered the Huskers a chance to relax and enjoy a great dinner after a long day of travel, and simply enjoy themselves before getting a great night of sleep. Then they should be ready to hit the practice field rested on Wednesday as they continue to prepare and work on the game plan against the Northwestern Wildcats here in Ireland.

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Digital Director Gina Dvorak contributed to this story.

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