Is it a big deal? I think so.
There will not be the familiarities that you are used to at home. You won't have your bed. You won't have your friends and family (I know, I know . . . your teammates are your like family, but you know what I mean). You won't have your usual pre and post game routine. You won't have 86,000 people yelling for you.
You will have 70,000+ people yelling against you.
The veterans have done this before. They know what they're doing. But the freshman might have a rude awakening. This isn't like playing your cross city rival in high school football. It can be intimidating and daunting.
This is where the coaches come in. One of the best sports movies of all time is Hoosiers. Do you remember the scene where Gene Hackman pulls out the tape measure and they measure the height of the basket? 10 feet. Just like at home. They should do that on Friday. Get the whole team (or just the freshman) out on the field and get a long tape measure and measure from goal line to goal line. 100 yards. Just like at Memorial Stadium. Just like on the practice field. It's football. That is essentially what Carl Pelini said in today's press conference. The field looks the same as it does at home. The only thing that changes is the stands and the color in the seats.
It's football.
Playing on the road can be intimidating, but it also could be motivation. You want people on your team who will feed off of the crowd, both the positive crowd at home and the negative crowd on the road. You want those people who will thrive in those situations.
Will Taylor Martinez shine on Saturday? I don't know, but he'll get his chance to if he can handle the crowd and realize that it's just football.
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