utah 23, air force 16

October 24, 2009, Saturday. Because we are determined to throw ourselves wholeheartedly into being Utahans, we went to the U's homecoming football game against Air Force. I had swung by the Rice-Eccles Stadium on Tuesday to get tickets ($28 per) - so exciting, my first big college football game!

We'd heard on the radio that the UTA (Utah Transit Authority) was going to be running extra trains from our neck of the woods up to the stadium, so we thought we'd try that instead of fighting traffic and searching/paying for parking. Tickets were $4/per person round trip and the train dropped us off right at the stadium.



Although most of the crowd - about 45,000 in attendance - was awash in a sea of red, our seats were right by a bunch of Air Force cadets who'd road-tripped in from Colorado Springs. This kept things entertaining: whenever they got excited about something down on the field, they'd fling wrapped slices of processed cheese into the air like frisbees. The nearby Ute fans didn't care much for being smacked in the noggin with cheese, so a couple cadets were escorted from the stands for a while. (Security let them come back for the last quarter and the OT - I guess because Utahans are just nice.)


Even though our seats were in a corner and way up high, we had a great view of both the game (despite it not being that exciting until the Utes scored during overtime) and the storms which struck the nearby mountains with lightning before briefly drenching us in the first quarter. Neither team had much of a passing game, but here are the highlights: Air Force made a lot of first downs but couldn't seem to score; Utah had difficulty making their first downs but managed to score enough to win (eventually, 16-16 into overtime); and we did see the second longest pass reception for a touchdown in Utah's history - very exciting.


Afterwards the crowd was polite and orderly (as there's no beer allowed in Rice-Eccles, except for the cans of PBR the Air Force cadets snuck in) as we filed out of the stadium and onto our waiting trains ... until we picked up a bunch of soccer hooligans* on their way to Real Salt Lake's last regular season game. It took us about an hour to get back to our car at the light rail station's parking lot, plus drive-time home, although I suspect the commuting time during the week is much shorter.

Despite the less than dry weather, the less than thrilling play, the no beer at college venues and the longer than we expected travel times, we had a great time. And H is a little itchy to see better college ball, so I'm off to the ticket office tomorrow to try get seats for next Saturday's game against Wyoming. Go Utes!!!!
PS - BYU got totally blown out in their game this weekend against TCU, so our random decision to become Utes fans rather than Cougars fans is paying off. Note to selves: must buy more red outerwear!

* Loud and raucous (a la "the game hasn't started but I'm already drunk"), singing songs from their printed playlists (these are very well-organized soccer fans) and hooting into their kazoos, they kept us entertained for several stops before disembarking for the Rio Tinto Stadium. Not very hooligan-y in actual fact, just noisy and boisterous. BTW, final score: Real Salt Lake 3, Colorado 0 ... RSL earned the last MLS playoff spot - home game TBD!