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Utah @ Oregon: My Road Trip Report

Donate in the 2024 Fundraiser! Forums Utah Utes Sports Football Utah @ Oregon: My Road Trip Report

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    • #3285
      leftyjace
      Participant

      My girlfriend and I left Thursday night, stayed in Boise, and then went up through Portland to see some family before getting to Eugene Friday night. I thought our stay in Eugene was going to be uncomfortable after the front desk personnel at the Residence Inn we stayed at were all wearing Ducks gear, but they were courteous.

      Friday night we went out to a local pub just to see what the night life was like. Definitely a school town, and doesn’t have a lot to offer as far as refinement. But we had fun anyway. My girlfriend wore her red dress… it was obvious that we weren’t from around those parts. 🙂

      Saturday we started walking to the stadium about 2:30pm. We went to the tailgate lot and met my Uncle (a Ducks season ticket holder) and some additional family members. Everyone on the road to the lot was kind and courteous. I got stopped more times that I could count by Ducks fans welcoming us to Eugene and wishing us well. There were the expected shouted comments from afar by some idiots, but the good interactions far, far, far outweighed the bad the whole time we were there.

      After the tailgate we went in and checked out their Field House. It’s on the inside of the gates for their stadium and they have drinks and food available. They lay down a rubber surface over the turf of their practice field and turn it into a game party. Kind of like what happens in the South Plaza before the game – band plays, cheerleaders are there, the whole nine yards. Again, great fans that were welcoming and were happy to talk and interact.

      My Uncle gave me his seats – 15 yard line, south side of the stadium. Great view. Fans around us were wonderful. We were able to head up to the Club Level at halftime, and that was a lot of fun. Great lounge and area. We also went back up near the end of the game and watched a bit more surrounded by Duck fans that were having a hard time dealing with the loss – but gracious to us, for sure.

      With about 2 minutes left in the game we went down and made our way to the visiting section. It was great to sing Utah man with the team! The visiting section was great and it felt good to see how well we traveled.

      Speaking of how well we traveled – we really did. There was a LOT of Red everywhere and lots of Utah fans. The visiting section was completely full and there were spots of red throughout the entire crowd.

      After the teams cleared the field, people made their way down onto the field. This is something Oregon has done for years. We met my Uncle and the rest of my family on the 50 yard line for some pictures before heading to a restaurant for some food and a nightcap.

      Sunday morning we got up early to drive back. People were still warm and friendly, telling us we had a great game and we have a wonderful team. Very complimentary of Utah all the way around. A lot of them wished us well and told us to run the table and represent in the CFP.

      All in all, a fantastic experience for my first regular season road trip! I never expected to have that be the victory it was, nor for it to be so sweet while in the visiting house. I’m so glad I went and will definitely be making it out for more road games in the future.

      On the field after the game In the stands Tailgating! Feeling out of place dressed up on a Friday night in a grungy college town - but still had fun!

      EDIT: I tried to link to some pictures on my FB page but that didn’t work out…

      • This topic was modified 9 years, 1 month ago by leftyjace.
    • #3290
      Tony (admin)
      Keymaster

      Nice story. Thanks for sharing that. I tried to see if we can embed facebook pics but they’re coded funky. Probably not going to hapen.

      Soooo every regular season game you’ve traveled to we’ve blown out our opponents? You’d better start booking the rest of the away games my friend.

    • #3388
      Virginia Ute
      Participant

      Sounds like a fun trip. Can’t wait to make it out to Eugene at some point. You picked a good year to do it. Lucky man.

    • #3416
      Anonymous
      Inactive

      I wish a could find a trip report for the Michigan fans I sat behind in the NEZ. I know for a fact they did not have a good time and were not impressed by our fans or our stupid drums to begin the 4th quarter. It wasn’t just me heckling them, they were getting it from every direction.

      • #3425
        hayes6
        Participant

        Why am I not surprised you were a dick to our guests?

    • #3419
      Tony (admin)
      Keymaster

      Two of my coworkers were in the NEZ in their Michigan garb. Said they were treated well, but some other Michigan fans were a little more rowdy than they were. There were some words exchanged and a little posturing between those Michigan fans and some in the NEZ.

      That drum thing in the Michigan game was terrible. The next game was a big improvement.

    • #3462
      leftyjace
      Participant

      Another interesting thing to note.

      My girlfriend left her phone in the bathroom in the field house. We had given up on it when it wasn’t turned into guest services by the end of the game.

      Just as a last ditch effort I called her phone while we were driving home on Sunday. Someone answered. It was an Oregon fan who had found it. They shipped it back to my girlfriend. I sent them a small rewardfor being so cool about it and taking the trouble to send it back. But… They didn’t have to do that.

      Needless to say, I was grateful.

    • #3463
      Tony (admin)
      Keymaster

      They took her phone back to Oregon or wherever they came from and didn’t turn it in to lost and found? That’s odd.

      • #3502
        leftyjace
        Participant

        Well, we were in Oregon, so…

        Apparently they turned it off to save battery, put it in their pocket, and forgot about it… Hey, it got sent back, I’m not going to complain too much.

        • #3507
          Tony (admin)
          Keymaster

          I was brain dead when I typed that.

    • #3472
      Astute Ute
      Participant

      I had a great time as well, most fans were very polite. We stayed at Cascade Springs, nice long walk through a wildlife bike path type thing. Alot of I can’t believe you came out here to watch your team get beat in Autzen. I really wish I could run in to those guys. We went to a bar in Eugene was told to go F myself a couple of times by a couple girls and some other fans. Who then bought us shots. Lots of hand shaking, could not have been more surprised. I thought there crowd was quiet. I’m saying this before they started getting stomped.Fans Pouring Out

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