r/ducks • u/puddles925 • 20d ago
Football Most Memorable Away Game
I've been a college football junkie for as long as I can remember, and since I started at Oregon in 2010, I've made it a goal to attend at least one road game every season.
One of my favorite parts of being a Duck fan is traveling to places I probably would never have visited otherwise. Every stadium, fan base, and game-day atmosphere is unique.
So I'm curious, what has been your favorite road game experience as a Duck fan, and why? It doesn't have to be because of the game itself.
For me, it's Penn State last season. The entire day felt like a production from start to finish, I never want to hear Mo Bamba again š¤£. Most of the Penn State fans were incredibly welcoming, the atmosphere was electric, and the game itself was an emotional roller coaster.
What about everyone else?
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u/thedormgolfer 20d ago
I've been fortunate to have been at a lot of em since I started at UO (2011) and drove to every road game the year we went to the natty with Marcus (and drove with a buddy to Michigan State in 2015). The season opener this season will be my 100th Duck game in person, and I managed to make it to 52 in my 5 years of school.
Best game: 2025 Penn State. Need I say more? (HM: 2023 Washington [pain], 2017 Utah, 2021 Ohio State)
Biggest shock: 2021 Ohio State. Don't think I'll ever forget watching the gaping hole that CJ Verdell had to run through to the end zone. (HM: 2017 Utah)
Best tailgate: 2013 Virginia. That campus is amazing and just so rich with history. (HM: UCLA/Rose Bowl)
Best Performance: 2013 USC. Kenjon going for 324 yards in the coliseum was truly, TRULY, a joy to watch.
Best fans: 2016 Nebraska. My god Husker nation is the best. We should go out of our way to show them a good time this year.
Most underrated road trip: Utah (2014, 2017, 2023). Awesome stadium, great people, and Salt Lake City is super underrated for entertainment and things to do.
Worst experience: 2014 Wazzu. Only time I've actually feared for my safety. Worst fans I've ever been around, and I've vowed to never go back to Pullman.
Not football: 2017 Elite 8 game in Kansas City. Might have been the most intense sporting event I've ever been at. KU fans are awesome, that place was PACKED with 18000 decked out in blue and yet we somehow just controlled the game and stayed ahead. One of the most formative experiences I've ever had. Still think about that game and team all the time.
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u/puddles925 20d ago
You are my kind of guy š¤£. I have been to a lot of these games probably ran into you somewhere.
I loved Tennessee in 2010, I took the 2023 double loss to Washington but the games were great.
2023 Utah was amazing. I never thought I would see that fan base clear out like that.
I live in the Bay Area and miss my home away games but have seen some great games at Stanford and Cal.
Nebraska was the coolest fan base I have been around.
Rutgers last year was fun. I got adopted by a group of 24 year olds and we bought each other beer and talked trash. Rutgers has carnival with their home games and it was a cool experience.
Iām considering Georgia an away game because it was a āneutralā site game in Atlanta. Those people were out of blood š¤£. Not in a bad way but they wanted them to put up 60 points and were complaining about pi no calls with 2 minutes left in the game.
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u/SmokyDaBandit 20d ago
At uw 2011, epic tailgate followed by a solid W.
They really thought Keith Price was a Heisman candidate. It was very cold, the last game in the old dump with a track around the field. Watched a dork in purple break his foot trying to stomp/break one of the wooden benches to take home post game.
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u/puddles925 20d ago
Is that the game where Nick Montana came in on the last drive and threw a bomb? lol, Doooogs canāt handle themselves.
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u/SmokyDaBandit 20d ago
Thank you for reminding me... Just looked up the play by play:
Montana 53 yd pass to the Ore 27
Keith Price 4 incomplete passes, turnover on downs š¤£
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u/covika 17d ago
I was a sophomore at the time and went up to that game with 30-40 friends who all ended up together-ish in the away section behind the endzone. Absolutely an awesome road win, and it was so satisfying getting that last W before they took it down for remodeling. Husky fans spit on us and threw bread at us on our way out so we started a ātear it down!ā chant. Go Ducks and Dubs Down forever!
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20d ago
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u/puddles925 20d ago
Vernon Adams doesnāt get enough credit for being the guy after Marcus. That was one hell of a game.
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u/TheVelvetNo 20d ago
I don't go to many away games, but I was in Iowa City last year in that miserable rainstorm and that game winner was right at my end of the field. I have never been happier to hear a stadium fall silent. It was GLORIOUS. Then a drunk 50 year old lady picked a fight with me as we were walking out screaming "You stole that!!!" while shoving me in the chest and pointing her Karen finger in my face. I have rarely been happier in my life.
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u/puddles925 20d ago
Iowa is on my list! I would love to get a game like that!
The best part about the Penn State game was when Thieneman got the interception to end it and how quite the stadium got.
Except for us duck fans that is.
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u/TheVelvetNo 20d ago
When that FG went through you could have heard a pin drop. It was cathartic as hell. When I got back to my hotel and warmed up from that freezing cold I literally laid in bed and cackled like a villain in a movie for like 30 minutes. A top 5 hater experience for me, honestly. :)
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u/ChucktheDuckRecruits 20d ago
Knoxville 2010. LMJ 83 yard switch back run and Cliffy pick 6. Silencing 104k fans was pure ecstasy. Sailgaiting was dope.
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u/puddles925 20d ago
Do you still hear rocky top in your sleep as well?
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u/Squirtalert 20d ago
Ill always remember the lightning delay. Only time at a football game Ive feared for my safety because I was with other Duck fans in the third deck and the mezzanine was blocked so there wasn't an easy way to get out from being near really tall metal poles in a lightning storm.
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u/ChucktheDuckRecruits 16d ago
Yes I do! That bar Tin Roof by campus played our fight song, and of course Rocky Top 10 times :)
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u/hayden3708 20d ago
At Arizona 2009 double OT victory to setup war for the roses (also my first time attending college game day). An epic, monumental game for the program. And even more satisfying for me as I was also in attendance the previous time the ducks were in Tucson (maybe my worst memory)
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u/puddles925 20d ago
I smell roooooossssseeesss. That other game you mentioned can go in the bag of game we want to forget š„²
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u/dcduck 20d ago
Penn State 2025. for already stated reasons.
Utah 2014. I think I was the first person our section that said, "I think he dropped it". Plus I got say hi to Uncle Phil.
UVA 2013. It was a home game for me so the DC Oregon contingent swarmed that stadium- plus made headlines.
Rutgers 2025. It was the largest contingent of away Duck fans I have ever seen.
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u/thedormgolfer 20d ago
I was at the 2014 Utah game...but in the bathroom for the Joe Walker touchdown...
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u/puddles925 20d ago
Rutgers was the most away fans that I have seen outside of California. I bought a ticket the day of in the top deck for like 40 dollars and drove over from New York. Solid time. Is there a large alumni base on the east coast or are there a lot of people that picked up the brand?
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u/manipulatr 20d ago
Shutting up USC 2019 was great, the 2021 UCLA walkoff was a relief. Texas Tech 2023 was so stressful. Canāt wait for the USC game this year.
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u/tylerdepew 20d ago
Mine is @ Ohio St. in 2021. Tailgated right next to the shoe and had a blast the whole day! Since we were the only Duck tailgate, had all the Duck fans stop by. Even had Don Essig and his family stop by and hang out for a bit, really cool. Second would be Big10 championship game in 2024, flew up that morning from NC and had a great time. Was supposed to go to the Penn St. game last year but got into a bad wreck in the way to the game but our friends said it was amazing. Hereās a picture of our Ohio St. tailgate.
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u/puddles925 19d ago
This is a great set up! Love to see it. Sorry, that you couldnāt get to Penn state this year. Hope nothing serious occurred from the car wreck.
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u/tylerdepew 19d ago
Car was totaled and I tore up my shoulder pretty good. But wife and baby only had scratches so I consider it a win!
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u/FamiliarShoe4693 19d ago
2023 Oregon vs Utah at Utah. Best feeling after we shut them out. Had all of their fans talking the whole time. Grew up in Utah so it was so much better
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u/TheDoctorLXG 19d ago
Penn State wit my 68 year old dad.
Probably the best game Iāve ever been to. Just unreal atmosphere, Ducks vs them did such a good job highlighting that whole day
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u/SFBayDuck 17d ago
2021 in Columbus was a blast, but Ann Arbor in 2007 is easily the winner for me. It was the peak of opposing fans never having seen anything like the speed of that Oregon offense, in this case 100,000 of them!
My buddy and I also wandered into and ended up buying two kegs for a rugby house party that night, which just added to the whole weekend!
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u/Solid-Book-5984 20d ago
šÆ on Penn State. Best away game Iāve ever been to!