Nebraska's Red Balloon Tradition Just Isn't As Cool When The Huskers Are Down 40

A national powerhouse going on the road to embarrass an unranked opponent is nothing unusual in college football, but when you throw in a silly college football tradition, things can get interesting. That's the situation Nebraska fans found themselves in on Saturday as No. 5 Ohio State came to Lincoln to destroy the Cornhuskers.

See, Nebraska has a tradition where they release red balloons into the sky when the Huskers score their first touchdown. That's all well and good when you're beating up on Northern Illinois or South Alabama, but when the Buckeyes come to your house looking to make a statement, you are stuck with a bunch of adults standing around holding balloons for two hours.

A similar thing happened last year against Michigan State, but Nebraska won the game. Apparently there was a debate over whether the balloons should be released after the first score or the first touchdown. Luckily, they didn't have to have that debate tonight when Dedrick Mills ran it in from nine yards late in the third quarter.

The students voted on whether or not to keep the tradition earlier this year, narrowly deciding to continue. If they voted again this week, perhaps the student body would more carefully consider what was at stake.

Here's Goldfinger.