Almost two weeks after the Big Ten announced a reshuffled schedule for the 2021 football season, Nebraska football has another update. The Huskers will no longer be making the trek to Ireland.
🚨 SCHEDULE UPDATE 🚨
Our season opener against Illinois will kickoff in Champaign.#GBR /// #TheGoodLife pic.twitter.com/24BwoudGb1
— Nebraska Football (@HuskerFBNation) February 17, 2021
The matchup with Illinois is still on and is still scheduled for the Week 0 slot, but it is now set to kick off in Champaign, Illinois.
“We are disappointed that we will not be able to travel to Ireland to open the 2021 football season in Dublin,” Nebraska athletic director Bill Moos said in a statement. “The trip would have been a memorable experience for the young men in our football program, so I feel badly they won’t have this opportunity.
“There was also a high level of excitement and interest in the game among our great fan base, and I know many of them were looking forward to making the trip to cheer on the Huskers. Anthony Travel and Irish American Events have been a great partner throughout this process, and we will continue to explore the possibility of taking Nebraska football to Dublin in the future.”
Nebraska and Illinois originally announced the Ireland trip in October 2019. The game was set to be played at Aviva Stadium in Dublin, Ireland, as part of the Aer Lingus Football Classic. Moos was still hopeful the game could take place overseas when he spoke about it in December, but noted that the Huskers were still discussing it around ticket demand and the travel required amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
“It is desperately disappointing that it is necessary to cancel the 2021 Aer Lingus College Football Classic but public health must take precedent,” said Neil Naughton, Chairman of the Aer Lingus College Football Classic. “These games offer huge publicity potential, practical economic benefits, and a genuine expression of the close ties between Ireland and the United States. We have made great friends with both the University of Illinois and the University of Nebraska and I look forward to welcoming them back to Ireland in the not too distant future and giving their travelling fans the welcome Ireland is so famous for.”
Those who have already purchased tickets will be contacted by their purchase provider in the coming days.
Nebraska’s full schedule for the 2021 season:
8/28 – at Illinois
9/4 – BYE
9/11 – Buffalo
9/18 – at Oklahoma
9/25 – at Michigan State
10/2 – Northwestern
10/9 – Michigan
10/16 – at Minnesota
10/23 – BYE
10/30 – Purdue
11/ 6 – Ohio State
11/13 – SE Louisiana
11/20 – at Wisconsin
11/26 – Iowa
