College Football GameDay Experience continues with number six. Game day experience started with Iowa City (Iowa Hawkeyes) at number ten. It continued with Madison (Wisconsin Badgers) at number nine, Knoxville (Tennessee Volunteers) at number eight, and Lincoln (Nebraska Cornhuskers) at number seven. Experience number six continues with an experience unlike any other in college football. This is a laid-back and scenic city in the pacific northwest. During this week it is quiet, but on Saturdays not a voice can be heard as 59,000 crazed fans cause a ruckus in this stadium known as "The Autzen Zoo." This is Oregon Duck football and this is game day at Autzen Stadium in Eugene, Oregon.
6. GameDay in Eugene- Oregon Ducks (Autzen Stadium)
Coach Chip Kelly and the Oregon Ducks have been an unstoppable force for the past three years. They have won three conference championships and appeared in the Rose Bowl twice and a BCS National Championship. This year, the Ducks finally won there first Rose Bowl after 95 years against the Wisconsin Badgers. It's safe to say being a Duck has been fun as of late. The Ducks have been extremely successful at Autzen Stadium losing only two home games in the past four years. The Ducks have a current home sell-out streak of 79 games. This hostile crowd brings it for every Duck home game and it causes visiting teams to struggle tremendously because of how loud the noise gets in Autzen Stadium. Gameday in Eugene is not as crazy as it may seem though. Tailgating at Autzen Stadium is a different type of experience that you will not get anywhere else in the country. One of the coolest experiences is walking from the U of O campus and taking the path in Alton Baker Park to Autzen Stadium. Before you hit the path from campus, you walk on a bridge over the Willamette River. The path begins after the bridge, and about three minutes later you will see the Giant "O" and Autzen Stadium appear through the trees. It is such a cool experience as you get closer to the stadium and eventually cross over the famous foot bridge. It is a very scenic route to get to the stadium, so make sure you get dropped off on campus and walk to the stadium. You will not regret it. On campus make sure to check out Matt Knight Arena and historic Hayward Field. The tailgating is very laid-back compared to many other college football tailgating atmospheres. Many people take advantage of tailgating in the Moshofsky Center. The Moshofsky Center is where the indoor football practice field is. On game day, events and food places are set up on the field for fans.
After tailgating, Duck fans make their way into Autzen Stadium. This is when the fans evolve into a bunch of crazy lunatics. Yes, I said it and they really do not care what comes out of their mouths either. I can't say that Duck fans are the most classy fans in the country. Prepare for some bad language and a lot of bullish*t chants during the game from the student section. Also, I have heard some rather questionable things while sitting in the student section. Things that made me cringe and made me want to tell that person to read a book on what a touchdown or a first down was. Besides that small issue at times, Oregon fans overall are very passionate about their Ducks.
Pre game consists of the Ducks warm up to "Joker and the Thief" by Wolfmother. Autzen begins to get crazy, but the place completely erupts as the Ducks take the field. After the Duck Vision intro video is over, the best mascot in college football, Puddles the Duck, takes the field by riding on the back of a Harley motorcycle. After the Ducks enter the field, the students begin the chant by yelling Go! The rest of fans chant back Ducks! Prior to kickoffs, fans put up the "O" sign with there hands and chant OOOHHH!!!!! as loud as possible. Yes, I'm aware my soon to be Alma Mater has very original chants, but who cares. The student section does have the Chant for Chip Kelly "Big Balls Chip", which occurs after Chip Kelly goes for it on fourth down. Like Wisconsin, Oregon has their own tradition after the third quarter. The movie Animal House was filmed on the University Oregon campus, so it would only be fitting that the song "Shout" be played before every fourth quarter.
This place is loud and many well-respected coaches and players have even admitted to it being the loudest in the country. Head Coach Lloyd Carr said Autzen Stadium was the loudest stadium he had ever been in after the Ducks upset the Wolverines in 2003. College GameDay host Lee Corso said, "Per person Autzen Stadium is the loudest stadium that I have ever been in my entire life!" Lastly, Adrian Peterson quoted "It was like some sort of crazy torture in the movies. How do people do that so long without taking a breath? I think my ears are still ringing." This place in the quiet Pacific northwest literally becomes a zoo on game days. With the help of Phil Knight aka Uncle Phil, Oregon is becoming more and more nationally recognized because of Nike. Obviously the football uniforms have drawn the attention of many sports fans across the country, but Autzen is a special game day experience that you will not have at any other venue in the country. If you visit Autzen Stadium, remember this motto that is said prior to kickoff over the PA System, "It never rains in Autzen Stadium." So always expect it is not going to rain and don't bother wearing rain gear. Alright, I'm kind of joking... it rains sometimes. Stay tuned for game day experience number five, which will be coming out this week.
* Here is the link of quotes players, coaches, and the media have said about the environment of Autzen Stadium
http://www.oregongridiron.com/facilities_pages/autzen_quotes.html
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| Oregon vs Cal game day in 2007 |
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| Oregon vs Cal in 2009 |
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| Oregon vs Washington in 2010 |
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| Oregon vs Arizona State in 2011 |
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| Oregon vs Arizona in 2008 Games attended in Eugene: 9/29/2007 CFB Cal 31, Oregon 24 * ESPN College Gameday 10/11/2008 CFB Oregon 31, UCLA 24 11/08/2008 CFB Oregon 35, Stanford 28 11/15/2008 CFB Oregon 55, Arizona 45 9/26/2009 CFB Oregon 42, Cal 3 10/02/2010 CFB Oregon 52, Stanford 31 *ESPN College Gameday 10/21/2010 CFB Oregon 60, UCLA 13 11/06/2010 CFB Oregon 53, Washington 16 11/26/2010 CFB Oregon 48, Arizona 29 10/06/2011 CFB Oregon 43, Cal 15 10/15/2011 CFB Oregon 41, Arizona State 27 * ESPN College Gameday 10/29/2011 CFB Oregon 43, Washington State 28 11/19/2011 CFB USC 38, Oregon 35 11/26/2011 CFB Oregon 49, Oregon State 21 12/02/2011 CFB Oregon 49, UCLA 31 (Pac-12 Championship Game) Eugene, OR 9/15/2012 CFB Oregon 63, Tennessee Tech 14 9/22/2012 CFB Oregon 49, Arizona 0 10/06/12 CFB Oregon 52, Washington 21 10/27/12 CFB Oregon 70, Colorado 14 |
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