By the time the tickets were found, it was approximately two fifteen. We were full of caffeine, and ready to get intoxicated. We made a quick trip back to the car to drop off our Nittany Lion looking apparel and change into our Husker attire. We also each grabbed a full cup of Blue Beast. In addition to the beers we had with our Penn State friends, this made for quite a reasonable buzz this early in the afternoon. This also contributed to our ravenous hunger. While looking for Beaver Stadium, we noticed there was a Hooters in downtown State College. This was quickly settled on as the restaurant of choice for food, refreshing alcohol, and the great college football games we were missing.

Upon arrival and changing back into our Husker attire, the Nittany Lion faithful had already started to drink and get rowdy. I must say even if some of them were asshats, they have amazing tailgates. The entire field was littered with navy and white, and enough was spent on Anheiser-Busch products to pay entire ranks of their employees. This particular gentleman decided to celebrate the pregame by taking a cornstalk and ramming it against the ground. He was even nice enough to pose for a picture for us. I don't remember his name, but I think it was Maliki.






This is a picture of downtown State College. The red backed gentleman is Andrew. We all decided to wear our St. Louisians for Nebraska T-shirt we had purchased in Columbia, Missouri the previous year when the Huskers came down and rearranged the Missouri Tigers. It was ironically enough supposed to be a token of good luck and victory. I'm not sure why I took this picture but it is possibly the most aesthetically pleasing one out of all of them. Maybe it was because my camera was giving me problems all day in the 80+ degree heat and I wanted to make sure it was working. A more likely explanation is that I was drunk and had no reason.







The first of what would be many pictures from Hooters. This is far and away my favorite, and more to the point is the only one I remember having been taken. I decided to do the solo mack on the hottie of the hotties. Andrew went for quantity and ended up looking like the pimp daddy of the century. Chris, who is married, settled for a picture that would be mildly acceptable should his wife Monica catch wind of it. Note the full pitcher in the foreground. It would soon be a fallen soldier. And it would not be alone.









Since Hooters was quite crowded, we shared the table with a Penn State fan and a fellow Husker fan. This is Kelli, our waitress, posing with the both of them. Unfortunately the Blue Beast and the pitchers of beer rendered me unable to remember either of their names. I don't know what order these pictures were taken in, but this appears to be one of the last. Note my inability to keep the camera straight. This will also be a recurring theme throughout the day.












This is Kelli posing with Andrew and our Husker buddy. I apparently had this obsession with taking pictures of Kelli posing with us, posing by herself, etc. Blue Beast sure makes you randy. Let me take this time to tell you that the Hooters in State College has amazing food, especially if you dig coronary attacks. The five of us gorged on 100 or so wings and these nachoesque snacks that had all the toppings of nachoes but were really curly fries reminiscent of Arby's. Yummy stuff. I attribute the wild stomach ache I had later that night to those french fry nachos. Or maybe it was the quart of Blue Beast.








This is my second favorite picture at Hooters. A bystander or a Hooters girl must have taken this one, although I'll admit I don't know it from memory. This one is only notable because of the phantom arm that is coming from me and going vaguely in Kelli's direction. At this point I am not sure what it was doing. Probably better that way actually. Just for the record, the bill we racked up was $70. We gave Kelli a $30 tip. Thinking about it now, she definitely deserved it. Comes out to about $4 per picture I think.










Kelli again posing with our Penn State buddy. He looks at this point like he wants no part in this picture or associated with the maniac who kept taking snapshots of our waitress. Kelli looks bright eyed and happy as ever, probably in full realization that drunk people who keep taking photographs often leave good tips. Maybe she just wanted to get us the hell out of there as quick as possible. The finger is again in full effect on this photo.











Kelli by herself in this one. For any women reading this site (like you would or something), might want to skip down to the next paragraph. Ok, just us guys now? Great, I'll continue. This is perhaps the best cleavage shot of the day. I wasn't shooting for it, I just lucked out. I'm surprised I got any part of them considered how messed up I was and that's assuming I even took the picture and was not face down in wings and french fry nachos at this point in the afternoon. Unfortunately, this is the last shot of Kelly. It is not, however, the last shot taken in complete drunkenness.








Neither is this. However, the finger is a very prominent part of this photo. This, if I recall correctly was at the height of my lushdom. I can't remember if I just wanted to get a parting shot of Kelli or if I wanted to capture the Hooters experience. Regardless, this is the last Hooters memory.













The trip back to the tailgating from Hooters was semi eventful. Apparently I had developed a drunken obsession to share the Husker cheer with any and every Nittany Lion fan I came across. Here are two actual excerpts of conversation between myself and two different Nittany Lion coeds:
1) Ken: Go Huskers!
PSU Coed: Fuck the Huskers!!
Ken: (loudly) Fuck you!!
2) Ken: Huskers are taking this one!
PSU Coed: Why did you guys even come here?
Ken: Why did the Germans come into France?

I think a Husker fan took this picture. The only thing notable about this was that I didn't have a drink in my hand. I am honestly surprised I was walking erect. I had finished my bottle of Blue Beast (or was close) and Andrew and Chris were getting into the sweet spots of theirs. Andrew is in good cheer, and Chris is beginning to imagine he was B.I.G.gie by the looks of things. I was trying to look like a gangster in spite of my permagrin. At least my hat didn't make me look fagly in this one.


Like I said, there was a lot of cool fans but there were a lot of asshats. These were some of the asshats. The Burger King there on the right was even wearing one. At least Heavy D on the left has a Yuengling in hand to display decent beer tastes. These guys talked shit before I even had the chance to. They were baseless, reasonless, and loud as hell, convinced that Penn State was going to take Nebraska out behind the woodshed. In short, perfect tailgaters. The fact that their team backed their potty mouths up was the most painful thing ever. I promised them if Penn State won I would put this picture of them losing all dignity up on my site, so here goes, guys, congratulations. As an avid Virginia Tech fan, however, I did talk some crap about them losing Kevin Jones, the Big East Rookie of the Year, to the Hokies. Unfortunately, the effect was lost because they were too drunk to remember him and I was slurring my speech so much I likely was not speaking recognizable English.



Here we are with some proud Husker fans. There is something about a crowd of people all wearing red and white, drinking and tailgating, in full realization that in a few hours the Nebraska option is going to destroy some hapless team and send them back home wishing they were still in their momma's womb. I decided I was going to break out the Arm of Victory in this one as opposed to the Phantom Arm, mostly because the Husker hottie in front of me might not have been as forgiving as a Hooters waitress for being the recipient of it. The fact that that much reason was running through my head was a sign I was sobering up. Chris was chilling out as B.I.G.gie again, and Andrew was apparently praying to the alcohol gods in proper form, with both hands folded on his drink.





One of the coolest pix of the day. This is us with Curt Dukes immediate family: his lovely mom and sister. We also met his dad fifteen minutes before this picture, just as we entered the stadium. He might have been the one taking the picture for all I know. If any of the Dukes family is out there and remembers, PLEASE let us know so I can give credit where credit is due. Unless it was just some random bystander, then I don't care. Regardless, these were good people who didn't even mind that three drunken sots wanted to have pictures taken with them. Later, after the game, when Chris was good and hammered (more on that later), he tried to fix Andrew up with Curt Dukes' sister. She declined as she was already taken, and let me speak on behalf of the bachelors of America that this is a very sad fact.