Seth A.
Yelp
Can't believe I made it to an Oregon football game here in Eugene, OR. Hitting the done button and purchasing my ticket for just $15 on TickPick, it was a surreal experience knowing I'd get to watch a game at one of the most reputable college football schools in the country.
Although it was the first game of the season and the Ducks were playing an inferior opponent and favored by 43 points against the University of Idaho, just to be in the stands witnessing the game live was good enough for me.
I'm surprised Autzen Stadium only holds 54,000 seats. That's pretty small for a major college football program. For instance, Michigan's stadium holds over 100,000 fans. But still, Oregon and Autzen Stadium is well known for being one of the most loud and energetic stadiums in the country.
According to what I read, Autzen Stadium is designed like an amphitheater, and it's this type of arena setting that really encloses the crowd noise and makes it difficult on opponents to communicate and gives the home Ducks a big advantage.
I would say for this game against Idaho, although almost every seat was occupied, I was anticipating some intense energy at least at the beginning of the game, (before the anticipated blowout, lol).
In actuality, Oregon fans may not like me for saying this...but I wanted more. I wanted rowdier. I wanted to feel chills from insane crowd cheers. Instead, I felt a little underwhelmed. That could have been because their opponent, Idaho, is a small school that no one respects. Maybe if the opponent were a familiar foe or rival, things could have been different.
Like I said at the beginning, regardless of how the game played out, I was on Cloud 9 just to be watching an Oregon game in real time.
Extra details...
- For parking, I paid $8 on Ticketmaster (without any extra fees) to take a shuttle bus over to Autzen Stadium from the VRC - Valley River Center Mall. Yellow school buses departed from the backside section of the mall. Autzen Stadium is 2.5 miles away and the ride takes 10 - 15 minutes. They drop you off right in front of the entrance gates.
- My seat was in Section 16 on the home side of Autzen Stadium. This was parallel to sitting in one of the end zones. But here's the thing...for a 4pm game on the last day of August, the sun was brutal, and it was staring me straight in the eyes. Plus with it being 95 degrees outside, I decided to sit somewhere else.
I noticed there were a few open spots with good vantage points from the last rows in Section 36 which was on the opposite side from the sun. I walked around to Section 36 which was a 10x better viewing spot with the sun at my back.
Plus, from the last couple of rows, the looks down onto the field were fantastic. I suggest Section 36.
- Unless you purchased a premium ticket, most of Autzen Stadium is sitting on benches, not actual individual seats, but that's typical of college athletics.
- Here was the best part to attending the game...when it ended, the play by play stadium host announced over the loudspeaker that fans were allowed onto the field! What??? Yes!!! Anyone and everyone could walk onto the actual playing field! This was a dream come true for me! Did I take a photo touching the legendary O in the middle of the field??? Of course I did! What a way to end a wonderful college football game day experience.
- Btw, although Oregon was a 43 point favorite against Idaho, yet it was actually competitive with the final score being 24 - 14 win for the Ducks. It was not a blowout and fans stuck around till the final plays.
- One poor aspect was...since I decided to hang out on the field afterwards, when I returned to the shuttle bus line to go back to the mall, I must have waited 75 minutes to finally board an unoccupied bus. Wish they could have done better about the insane line.
Overall, I am so thankful for the opportunity to be at an Oregon football game. It was my first time in Eugene. And it was Oregon's first game as a member of the Big 10. Thank you for having me and Go Ducks.