The Orange Bowl moved to a new night and a new site, and although Nebraska and Virginia Tech played an entertaining game, something was missing–fans.
The 63-year-old bowl abandoned tradition this season, and attendance suffered. Nebraska’s 41-21 victory Tuesday night drew a crowd of 51,212, the smallest for an Orange Bowl game in 50 years.
There were more empty orange seats than Big Red fans at 74,916-seat Pro Player Stadium–the game’s site for the first time. Only about 3,000 Nebraskans turned out, compared with 15,500 for the Hokies.
“I’m not blaming anybody, and I’m not upset at anybody,” coach Tom Osborne said Wednesday. “But it’s too bad for the Orange Bowl’s sake that we didn’t have better representation.”
The two-time defending national champions had hoped to play No. 1 Florida State in the Sugar Bowl, but Nebraska lost to Texas in the Big 12 title game.
“You get used to national championship games,” Osborne said. “We thought we were going to have (another) and it didn’t happen.”
The game was the first Orange Bowl played in December. The bowl alliance required the changes for the game, which has its turn in the title rotation next year.
