One of my best friends, Greg, is a huge Stanford fan. As we don’t have a team here at UC Santa Cruz, every sports fan has their own reasons for the college football team they root for: their parents’ alma matter, proximity to their hometown, a school their friends go to, etc. Greg’s favorite college team is Stanford. Even though Palo Alto is about an hour drive from Santa Cruz, he’d never been there to see a game before. This year, as seniors, he decided it was the last chance. I love college football, and was more than happy to join.
So early Saturday morning, Greg and I, along with a few other friends made the drive up to Palo Alto. None of us were feeling particularly great, after staying up late the night before, celebrating a friends birthday. And as the game started at 12:30, we had to get a very early start. But excitement soon overshadowed fatigue, as Greg spent nearly the entire drive bragging about how good Stanford was, and how easily they would blow out Oregon.
I was also going to be rooting for Stanford, as they were huge underdogs and more local, but Greg’s continual ‘smack-talk’ was growing insufferable. We all knew Stanford had no chance. Oregon was ranked #7 in the country and riding a 7 game win streak, including a huge win against USC only a week earlier. They were a legitimate national championship contender, if they could win the rest of their games. Greg eventually admitted he was only talking so much smack because he knew it wasn’t looking good for his team. Stanford was unranked, with 5 wins and 3 losses. Though they were undefeated at home.
We got to Palo Alto at around 11:30. We drove through some of the campus, which I’d never seen before. It was beautiful. We parked (for free!) in a shady eucalyptus grove. There were tons of tailgates going on, some with Oregon fans, some with Stanford fans, and some with a friendly mix. It was a perfect day for football- sunny and just under 70 degrees. The atmosphere was amazing, everyone was decked out in their team colors, talking excitedly about the upcoming match. We could feel the excitement as we walked through tailgate after tailgate on the way to the stadium.
(Outside the stadium)
From the distance, and when walking around the outer concourse, the stadium looks old and earthen; somewhat like the Rosebowl. However, the interior of the stadium was completely remodeled in 2005, and looks brand new. Upon emerging from the tunnel, I was greeted by views of a stadium completely different than what I expected.
(First view of the stadium's interior)
We were sitting in general admission, so we got there pretty early to grab the best possible seats. We sat just to the right of the goalposts, in the endzone, about 10 rows up. It was an amazing view, considering the tickets were only $12. I enjoyed my $5 hot dog and $5 soda while watching the players warm up. The stadium slowly filled up, and by kickoff was about 80% full. It wasn’t completely full until midway through the first quarter, and we wondered if perhaps the Stanford students were doing some last minute midterm studying.
(Oregon players warming up)
(The famous Stanford band doing a rendition of the "Oregon Trail")
(The Cardinal charge onto the field)
(A quick pregame prayer)It soon became obvious that we’d picked an amazing game to go to. Stanford returned the opening kick 80 yards, and never looked back. They exploded for 10 points in the first 5 minutes, and led 31-14 at the half. It was surreal. They were dominating Oregon in every facet of the game, led by senior running back Toby Gerhardt who was having a career day. I couldn't believe it. Greg only said "I told you so!" a couple dozen times. I think he was in shock.
(One of Toby Gerhardt's 38 rushing attempts)
(The Duck tries to get the Oregon fans involved)
(Stanford's early lead)
(The quarterback, #12 getting hit as he throws to the corner of the endzone, looking for #83)
(The pass was caught, spectacularly, for a touchdown)Stanford continued putting the pressure on Oregon in the second half, and seemed to put the game out of reach several times. Oregon was always a step behind though, keeping the game just close enough to remain interesting. They scored two consecutive touchdowns late in the fourth, to cut Stanford’s lead to 6, 48-42. This caused panic from Greg, who appeared to have several heart attacks in the final few minutes.
(Getting a little too close for comfort, at least for Stanford fans)The biggest play of the game, was the onside kick that came next. Oregon had all the momentum, and if they were able to recover, they would have just over two minutes to march down the field and win the game. Fortunately (for those of us wearing red) Stanford recovered the kickoff. They ran the clock down with three more Gerhardt runs, before kicking a clinching field goal with 15 seconds left.
As time expired, the Stanford student section on the other end of the stadium spilled out on the to the field, meeting the players in a giant crush at centerfield. Greg and I looked at each other. “Should we do it?” It was an easy choice. We scrambled down to the front of our section, and through a gate onto the field. Once on the grass, we sprinted out towards the mass celebration at the center of the pitch.
(The student section spills onto the field)
(Taken while running towards the middle of the field)It was a surreal moment. I’m not really a Stanford fan, but I had been cheering passionately for them throughout the last 4 hours. I had just witnessed a huge upset. The decision to charge the field was completely natural. Greg, our friend Adi, and myself made our way to the center of the field, and joined in the celebrations. Players were mingling with fans, the band was playing, and everyone was cheering and celebrating. We congratulated and shook hands with some of the players and high-fived fellow incredulous fans. We walked over to celebrate with the band for a while. We spent the next 45 minutes just taking it all in. It’s special enough to be able to go on the field at a major sporting event, but 1000 times cooler when surrounded by hundreds of other jubilant fans and victorious players.
(Greg, bottom left, shakes hands with one of the players, as Adi looks on)
(Adi, myself and Greg)People starting tossing footballs around; kids were playing tag. Everyone had cameras out, snapping pictures. Players were being carried off on fan’s shoulders. Fans and cheerleaders were dancing to loud and upbeat songs from the jubilant band. We walked around, checking out all parts of the stadium, and soaking in the carnival like atmosphere. Greg was hoping to tear down the goalposts, but there were around 20 police officers and security staff in each endzone to prevent Greg and like-minded individuals from doing just that.
(Greg's adversaries)
(View back towards the endzone we were sitting in)
We reluctantly left the field after almost an hour, to start the drive home. It was an amazing experience. It was a perfect day, the game was amazing with almost 100 points scored, we saw a huge upset, and we got to storm the field. Happily running onto that turf was an almost out of body experience. It was a great day. I want to go back and see another game already...
(The stadium after most fans had left the field)To see my entire album of 75 pictures from the game, click here. The link should work.
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