• Photo Showcase: South Dakota State football
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On a warm, windy November day in 1999, Matt Einspahr's girlfriend took her eyes off the Nebraska-Kansas State football game, looked up from the bleachers at Memorial Stadium and spotted a plane circling overhead, pulling a banner across the sky:
“Amy, will you marry me? Matty Einspahr.”
Einspahr grew up trekking to Memorial Stadium on Saturdays. He's been to 100 games. Still owns season tickets.
But he doesn't live in Nebraska. Hasn't since he was in diapers. His home is Brookings, S.D.
“The only other team in the world that would get me to wear a color other than red in that stadium is South Dakota State University,” Einspahr said.
Guess who's playing Nebraska on Saturday?
By football standards, it's a colossal mismatch — the No. 6 team in the country against an 0-2 team from the Football Championship Subdivision, a lower rung on the NCAA ladder.
But to the underdog and its fans, Saturday represents a unique opportunity.
“It's almost like a bowl feel for us, if you can imagine a bowl game in the middle of the season,” said Matt Fuks, SDSU alumni association director. “No matter what happens, everybody's excited to go do this.”
“I think it's going to be tremendously fun. Probably right up till kickoff.”
Over the years, Nebraska has played host to dozens of underwhelming football teams. But not since 1964 (when the University of South Dakota played in Lincoln) has a nonconference softy come from so near. Brookings, population 18,504, is just a 270-mile drive from Memorial Stadium.
As states, Nebraska and South Dakota have plenty in common. But only one has a nationally recognized football power.
“Nebraska was always kind of our home team,” Einspahr said. “They're the prominent team in the region for a lot of South Dakotans. There's all kinds of people in our town who are big-time Husker fans.”
Nebraska never would have played the Jackrabbits before 2004. That's when SDSU jumped from Division II to Division I-AA (now it's called the FCS).
SDSU, along with old North Central Conference schools like the University of Nebraska at Omaha, always considered themselves a cut above most Division II schools, Fuks said. They had better records and bigger fan bases. Saturday afternoons meant more to them.
Ask a “Jack” about athletic tradition and he'll rattle off a list of accomplishments. Conference championships. NCAA tournament wins. Even alumni in the NFL.
When SDSU left its regional bubble and joined Division I, it invigorated the fan base. But there was a caveat.
Once a year, South Dakota State would schedule one road trip to a major Division I program. In 2008, SDSU traveled to Iowa State. Last year it went to Minnesota. Next year it's Illinois.
Why?
September home games are a cash cow for schools with big stadiums, like Nebraska. The Huskers could schedule an Football Bowl Subdivision peer, but it would demand a larger check and, usually, a return home game.
South Dakota State asks only for a payday. In this case, Nebraska shells out $375,000.
“We need to do games like this to help make the athletic budget, especially the last couple years when the economy's been tough,” said Einspahr, who helps the SDSU athletic department raise money.
Occasionally, David slays Goliath. The Jackrabbits almost beat Minnesota last year. On Sept. 11, South Dakota — SDSU's rival — actually knocked off the Gophers. A week earlier, North Dakota State shocked Kansas. But Minnesota and Kansas aren't Nebraska in 2010. Jack fans come to Lincoln with low expectations.
“You anticipate taking a beating for the check,” Fuks said.
It doesn't mean you can't enjoy it. Back in Brookings, Jackrabbits apparel is flying off the shelves, much of it purchased online.
“A lot of the comments on the orders were, ‘Ship ASAP. I want it for the Nebraska game,'” said Derek Peterson, director of the campus bookstore.
“We may not be a huge section out of the 80,000, but you're definitely going to see a blue and yellow presence.”
South Dakota State, which has 1,561 alumni living in Nebraska, sold out its allotment of 3,000 tickets.
Many more fans, Fuks said, have purchased from ticket agencies. He expects at least 5,000 at Memorial Stadium — and 800 at a pre-game tailgating event at Lincoln's Embassy Suites.
Matty Einspahr, meanwhile, has spent much of the past week talking Nebraska football in Brookings.
Born in Omaha in 1969, Einspahr was a month old when his dad bought a Ford dealership in Brookings. Now Matt is general manager — and a major supporter of Jackrabbit athletics.
His wife has worked for the athletic department. He considers the coaches friends.
“I've had so many calls this week, ‘Hey, Matt, what do we need to experience in Lincoln?'”
Einspahr and his wife will be there Saturday.
For the first time, they're taking their 7- and 9-year old daughters. Einspahr remembers what it's like to be a kid at Memorial Stadium — to navigate the concourse, enter the arena and lay your eyes on the sea of red.
“I can't wait to see their reaction,” Einspahr said.
He could just as easily be talking about Nebraska's opponent.
Contact the writer:
649-1461, dirk.chatelain@owh.com
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