Favorite Football Road Trip

[Chin Diesel]

Best road trip had to be @USF that got UConn in to the Fiesta Bowl.

I travelled down to Tampa with my 7-8 year old son. We woke up early and got to Busch Gardens right as the gates opened. It was his first time being tall enough to do the big roller coasters. Dad never accounted for the fact that he might get scared out of his mind. We went on the old wooden coaster first. We got about 20' up the initial ascent when he freaked out screaming. He buried his head in my shoulder and started pounding me on the chest. When we hit the first drop, it was game on. He was scared so bad. The whole ride he wouldn't look up. I was dad. We get off the coaster and he starts running down the exit ramp yelling at me. About halfway down, he turns around and says, "That was fun. Can we do it again?". It was still early so we went right up the entrance line, got in to the front car and he had a blast. And from there the day kept getting better.

My sister from Orlando met us there. She lived in Tampa for a while and had a bunch of USF friends. We tailgated with them and they were very gracious. As Teggarts FG went through, all the UConn fans went nuts. I would think it was 1500-2000 fans there. Players came to the stands and everyone was chanting "BCS".

So yeah, that was a good road trip.

 

[uconnell]

I was a sophomore at the time. What instrument did he play?

Trumpet.

 

[DoctorWho85]

Trumpet.

So the mortal enemy of my section haha. I played saxophone and there was a friendly rivalry between the two sections. I can't believe that was 12 years ago.

 

[RoadTrip]

Lot of interesting spots, I think Clemson is going to get on my list first chance I get because if I do it early in the year I can tie it into a golf trip. My son went to Annapolis so not sure if Army/Navy is really a road trip but I enjoyed four of those. Other than that I have only been to BC, Rutgers, Maryland, Penn State, and Temple. Time to expand the road trips.

 

[huskypantz]

That was one of the scariest drives of my life.

We drove through canada on the way there in an RV. We had some snow but sounds like you had it much worse.

 

[CTMike]

We drove through canada on the way there in an RV. We had some snow but sounds like you had it much worse.

I'm pretty sure we left CT just as the blizzard was really settling over the northeast - that early morning stretch through NY was white knuckle stuff.

 

[RedSoloCup]

I take that back I have been to an away game with UConn. I was with the UCMB for the first bowl game in UConn history, Motor City Bowl. I remember being on a bus for 20 hours because it was basically a blizzard in Ohio, but I couldn't have had a better time. I got to on a trip for free, got to see UConn win their first bowl game and got to see Detroit. I mean one of those things weren't as good as the others, but overall it was probably one of the best trips

Loved that game in that we overpowered Toledo so badly I even remember UCMB overpowering the 12 people they brought to form a 'T' and play music.

Good job there!

 

[DoctorWho85]

Loved that game in that we overpowered Toledo so badly I even remember UCMB overpowering the 12 people they brought to form a 'T' and play music.

Good job there!

I remember at half time the entire Toledo band was talking a lot of smack saying how they were gonna destroy us the next half blah blah blah. I never saw so many people avoid eye contact with us as I did at the end of the game

 

[Da_Aisijimo_Gou]

I remember at half time the entire Toledo band was talking a lot of smack saying how they were gonna destroy us the next half blah blah blah. I never saw so many people avoid eye contact with us as I did at the end of the game

In 1999 and 2004, you should have seen all of the Pukies hide their faces post both Final Four Huskies' victories. No comparison!

 

[formerlurker]

Hands down, traveling to ND with my brother and 3 other great friends. The win was the icing on a cake that included Planes, Trains and Automobiles type hijinx.

Halfway from O'hare to South Bend it got pitch dark and our designated driver only had his prescription sun glasses. I shat my pants and broke a knuckle trying to grab the steering wheel when he barely missed hitting the backend of a semi that switched lanes in front of us.

Fast forward over a drunken pre game night in legendary ND bars, the most hungover tailgate ever and the greatest UCONN FOOTBALL win in history.

The day after the game we stop to refuel the rental outside of the airport. I ask one of my buddies to go inside and get me a gatorade while I pay for and pump the gas. He pretty much tells me to go F myself so I start the pump and walk in to get my drink. While paying, I notice the vast offering of adult magazines and proceed to buy my drink and the latest edition of JUGGS. I ask for a bag and walk back out to the car. I pop the hatchback and proceed to put a leftover 5th of Jack Daniels in the paper bag with the JUGGS magazine. The bag then gets tucked in my friend's backpack.

Best part of the trip was going through a different airport security line than him and getting through first. I had told everyone near me in line what I had done and we all watched two female TSA stop him, pull him aside and check his bag.

Out comes the paper bag. First they pull out the booze and he just looked baffled. Then came the JUGGS.

It was like watching a silent movie. Not knowing what he was actually saying to the TSA agents but imagining what a baffling idiot he must have sounded like might be the funniest thing I've ever experienced. And I got to enjoy it all with 10-15 random strangers.

 

[DarthGrumpy]

I have been to very few college football games outside of the Rent, Memorial Stadium in Storrs (may those stadium sets rest in peace) and some game here and there. So...

1) Notre Dame (not the UConn game, went with a friend in the early 90's who was looking at ND and got to see them lose to Stanford).
2) West Point (UConn game), I am a Navy fan (long story); but, a football game at Army in the Fall along the Hudson is hard to beat
3) Michigan (visiting Ann Arbor for work, saw them play Purdue)
4) Stanford (also visiting for work, saw them play Washington in the old stadium)

That's it. I do want to see a Penn St game at some point along with this year's UConn trip to Annapolis and hopefully a Bowl Game soon in a decent location.

 

[Ldandy]

I've been to a lot of places and enjoyed most of them win or lose. A few stick out.

Good

UNL- Great fans. Very respectful of opponents and generous to visitors. Plenty of tradition makes for great atmosphere.
Bama- See UNL.
Wisconsin- Lively stadium. 5th Quarter was cool.
Army- Steeped in tradition and a beautiful place to visit.
The Rose Bowl- Very cool to see at least once.

Bad
ND- I was thoroughly underwhelmed. South Bend was kind of dumpy, and despite all of their tradition, game day was mostly meh.
Syracuse- A sweltering hot box named after an air conditioning company. Had to walk half a mile in lot, to take a bus, to walk what felt like a mile to the stadium.
RU- Fans were incredibly rude, making off color comments in full earshot of young children, including their own.
Pitt- SMDH. I've witnessed "adults" harass children. Thankfully the majority of Pitt Fans dress up as yellow chairs for most of their home games.
NW- Pretty campus, great school. Game day consisted of nerds jingling keys, and rich people drinking wine.

Would like to visit
LSU for a night game.

Regret missing
Dublin, Ireland

 

[Chin Diesel]

@Ldandy- LSU at night is insane. Been there for a couple of games. Craziest was against Florida in 2007. 150k on campus. 50k showed up without tickets; just there for the atmosphere. There were multiple tailgates where fans were grilling whole gators (Think pig roast but an alligator instead of a hog). It was bananas.

 

[Nostical]

Here's my answer to your question. I've been to two tailgates and night games at LSU, saw Ricky Williams score 5 TD's at Texas, went to an SEC Championship game (Tenn v Auburn--Peyton Manning's final college game), a whiteout at Penn State, and a spectacle at Auburn--- but none of them compared to UConn at ND, Michigan, or every one of our Bowl Games. As a long time rabid Husky football fan, it was much more emotional for me during the kickoffs of UConn vs ND, Oklahoma, South Carolina, and Michigan, and the reason is simple. Not too long ago I never thought I'd ever be seeing the Huskies playing in such storied venues against such giant programs.

 

[Ldandy]

@Ldandy- LSU at night is insane. Been there for a couple of games. Craziest was against Florida in 2007. 150k on campus. 50k showed up without tickets; just there for the atmosphere. There were multiple tailgates where fans were grilling whole gators (Think pig roast but an alligator instead of a hog). It was bananas.

Very cool. Would like to check that out. I wouldn't mind visiting The Grove at Ole Miss either, just to check out the "scenery."

 

[Ldandy]

Here's my answer to your question. I've been to two tailgates and night games at LSU, saw Ricky Williams score 5 TD's at Texas, went to an SEC Championship game (Tenn v Auburn--Peyton Manning's final college game), a whiteout at Penn State, and a spectacle at Auburn--- but none of them compared to UConn at ND, Michigan, or every one of our Bowl Games. As a long time rabid Husky football fan, it was much more emotional for me during the kickoffs of UConn vs ND, Oklahoma, South Carolina, and Michigan, and the reason is simple. Not too long ago I never thought I'd ever be seeing the Huskies playing in such storied venues against such giant programs.

That's fair. I think the majority of fans would feel the same way. As an aside which Whiteout did you attend? Hopefully our fans were respectful and showed you a good time while tailgating.

 

[JELLO]

I think I've been to all the bowl games, certainly Notre Dame and Michigan stand out as great road trips, especially the train trip from Chicago to South Bend . I love the Fiesta Bowl even though we lost, Birmingham was a dump but we beat South Carolina. I really have to say my best road trip was actually to Baylor. I'm not sure our fans remember but we are one of the few schools that would beat RG3 twice, both in Waco and in east Hartford. The reason Baylor stands out in my mind was beat n RG3 and driving from Waco wasteland back to Dallas to the opening of the Jerry DOME. ThEn Sunday I went to the opening of the Jerry JonesDome, got to watch the Giants whoop up on Dallas.

 

[BlueMAB]

1) Notre Dame
2) USF for the game that sent us to the Fiesta Bowl
3) The Motor City Bowl
4) Papa John's Bowl
5) West Point

Honorable Mention (not ranked higher because we lost)
Michigan
Fiesta Bowl
Meineke Bowl

 

[31GuardTrap]

2005 Capital One Bowl. Iowa beats LSU as time expires. Drew Tate hits Holloway with a 56 yd pass to end it. Watching 30k plus LSU fans go from beyond annoying to dead silent in the blink of an eye was fantastic. Oh and then there was the NY Eve's bash the night before with LSU and Iowa chicks. yeah..that was fun.

2011 Fiesta Bowl. The feeling of ...am I really here for UConn vs Oklahoma? The disbelieving look on OU fans' faces at halftime when they were "only" up by 10.

UConn @ Michigan. I have been a huge Michigan fan since the 80's. This was surreal.

UConn @ Maryland. As my friends called it..."The Angry UConn chants directed at Edsall day". Lost my voice in the 1st half. Maryland fans were awesome. they got it. They understood why we were so angry. That win ended my hatred for former HCRE.

2015 UConn @ UCF. I was there in 2013 to witness the 66-14 beat down. Payback was glorious. Oh and I met Chin Diesel at the pre game tailgate.

 

[CTMike]

2005 Capital One Bowl. Iowa beats LSU as time expires. Drew Tate hits Holloway with a 56 yd pass to end it. Watching 30k plus LSU fans go from beyond annoying to dead silent in the blink of an eye was fantastic. Oh and then there was the NY Eve's bash the night before with LSU and Iowa chicks. yeah..that was fun.

2011 Fiesta Bowl. The feeling of ...am I really here for UConn vs Oklahoma? The disbelieving look on OU fans' faces at halftime when they were "only" up by 10.

UConn @ Michigan. I have been a huge Michigan fan since the 80's. This was surreal.

UConn @ Maryland. As my friends called it..."The Angry UConn chants directed at Edsall day". Lost my voice in the 1st half. Maryland fans were awesome. they got it. They understood why we were so angry. That win ended my hatred for former HCRE.

2015 UConn @ UCF. I was there in 2013 to witness the 66-14 beat down. Payback was glorious. Oh and I met Chin Diesel at the pre game tailgate.

That Maryland game will always be special to me because it was my "bachelor weekend" trip and it was hot as balls and my buddies dressed me up in a penguin suit for the game. Ah, good times.

 

[UConn76]

Easy for me. It was the Notre Dame game aboard the Husky Express.

Can't agree more...that trip (and the OT win) was epic..

 

[Redding Husky]

I've been to:

Oklahoma at Nebraska
Nebraska at Oklahoma
UConn at SMU in 1989 and 2013 (not really a road trip; I live in Dallas)
UConn at Baylor

The Baylor crowd in Waco was very polite to my family as we curb-stomped them.

The Nebraska crowd in Lincoln was more fun than the Oklahoma crowd in Norman.

I didn't go into the stadium in Baton Rouge, but walking around the stadium before a Georgia-LSU game was crazy.

I went to Super Bowl XIX in Palo Alto (1985) with the Dolphins-49er's. That was obviously my most memorable football trip. I paid $125 for an end zone seat half-way up the stadium (row 40 out of 80).

 

[Drew]

Been to countless games at Missouri. Was a young baby but was in the crowd for the "Flea Kicker" game Nebraska @ Missouri.

Been to even more at Nebraska (excited to be going back this year for Nebraska/Oregon in Lincoln). Saw Colin Kaepernick's first college game in 2007 and remember the fear in the crowd when Nevada went up in the second quarter. This was also the same day App State beat Michigan and was the first game of Bill Callahan's last year at UNL.

Only UConn road games I've attended came in the past two years.

First one ever was 2014 UConn @ Army (Yankee Stadium)

2015 UConn @ Missouri (tons of fun with @agaaaymilkman and @cttxus despite the boring game. Met Anthony Sherman in the parking lot and didn't realize it until they showed him on the big screen)

2015 UConn @ Temple (hilarious because of how awful we were).

Been to 3 different bowl games in Charlotte, saw Larry Fitzgerald at Pitt and most recently saw Duke vs Cincinnati with that epic ending.

2009 Gator Bowl Nebraska/Clemson in a matchup of first year head coaches Bo Pelini and Dabo Swinney

2013 Capital One Bowl Nebraska/South Carolina --> Great game but USC fans suck

2014 Gator Bowl Nebraska/Georgia --> Game was an absolute monsoon. Tommy Armstrong hit Quincy Enunwa on a 99 yard TD pass and the UNL fans were going berserk.

Planning on getting to minimum the ECU game this year. Hoping to hit @BC and @Navy as well. Could possibly swing @USF but might be tough with other plans already in the works for that weekend.

 

[DoctorWho85]

Been to countless games at Missouri. Was a young baby but was in the crowd for the "Flea Kicker" game Nebraska @ Missouri.

Been to even more at Nebraska (excited to be going back this year for Nebraska/Oregon in Lincoln). Saw Colin Kaepernick's first college game in 2007 and remember the fear in the crowd when Nevada went up in the second quarter. This was also the same day App State beat Michigan and was the first game of Bill Callahan's last year at UNL.

Only UConn road games I've attended came in the past two years.

First one ever was 2014 UConn @ Army (Yankee Stadium)

2015 UConn @ Missouri (tons of fun with @agaaaymilkman and @cttxus despite the boring game. Met Anthony Sherman in the parking lot and didn't realize it until they showed him on the big screen)

2015 UConn @ Temple (hilarious because of how awful we were).

Been to 3 different bowl games in Charlotte, saw Larry Fitzgerald at Pitt and most recently saw Duke vs Cincinnati with that epic ending.

2009 Gator Bowl Nebraska/Clemson in a matchup of first year head coaches Bo Pelini and Dabo Swinney

2013 Capital One Bowl Nebraska/South Carolina --> Great game but USC fans suck

2014 Gator Bowl Nebraska/Georgia --> Game was an absolute monsoon. Tommy Armstrong hit Quincy Enunwa on a 99 yard TD pass and the UNL fans were going berserk.

Planning on getting to minimum the ECU game this year. Hoping to hit @BC and @Navy as well. Could possibly swing @USF but might be tough with other plans already in the works for that weekend.

That's a pretty impressive list

 

[Drew]

That's a pretty impressive list

Thanks. Not football but I was also in the stands for McGwire's 62nd home run against the Cubs. Seen some pretty cool stuff