Prior to kickoff of the 2005 game, the stadium announcer made an appeal for donations to help those suffering in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, which devastated parts of Louisiana five days previously. Donations were not accepted at the game because of a policy against official fund-raising. As the Longhorns entered the field, special teams player Karim Meijer carried a United States flag that was given to the team on Thursday by former Longhorn Nathan Kaspar who flew the flag during missions in southeastern Iraq. For this game only, the Longhorns wore throwback uniforms furnished by Nike as a way of honoring the past. The throwback jerseys were similar to jerseys worn during their 1963 National Championship season under Coach Darrell K. Royal. Football's origins in the Northeastern United States have created an expectation that it is a cold-weather sport, but the temperature at kickoff was 90 °F (32 °C) which is also the average temperature in Austin for the month of September.