Kinda expanding on LanderPoke's recent post about the 15k attendance...
In truth, there were about 10-12k actually there. Returning home from a big road win in Fresno, and on the cusp of Bowl eligibilty on a beautiful November day, you kinda expect more... It's sort of like they hitched it all on the BYU game then got brutalized and couldn't come back... I dunno. Now I'm going to, as a WYO fan, sound a little like the pot calling the kettle black... but I just gotta say that the atmosphere there was pretty rinky-dink. I expected more given their recent success. Since 2012 they are winning at a .620 pace (62-40) while we are 43-54.
We walked the entire parking lot an hour before kickoff and observed no more than 5 tailgates and ZERO buzz or pregame atmosphere. I get it, it's Utah, and a combination of culture and laws does not promote tailgate culture, but geez, no kids tossing balls around, no bbq's, really nothing. Wyoming has come a long way in this category. Then, at the gate, NO scanners. They just glanced at our printed StubHub tix and waved us in. I felt as though I could have been holding a ticket for a 1989 Ricks College game and they would have let me in. Our stadium is better. Theirs is fine, but the facility has some issues. When you sit on the "B" side its a long walk to concessions and a restroom.
I know this ramble seems like a diss on USU, but what I'm really trying to say is that WE deserve a better team. I mean, let's say that FBS football is divided up into 3-4 tiers based on facilities, gameday atmosphere and tradition. We're closer to second tier and they're closer to third tier. The two Universities have a lot of similarities; Land-grant Ag Universities set in smaller "college towns" with not too dissimilar surrounding populations in the Rocky Mountain West.
So it just ticks me off to go there and see them seemingly passive about their program. I'd give my left nut to have their record since 2012 and I KNOW that we would be bringing more than 10-12k people in on days like yesterday. We deserve a better team.
Edit/Add: I forgot to mention that the Bull they use as their logo looks like something you'd get from the clip-art pack available for purchase with WordPerfect X3.... Our branding (pun intended) is so much better.
In truth, there were about 10-12k actually there. Returning home from a big road win in Fresno, and on the cusp of Bowl eligibilty on a beautiful November day, you kinda expect more... It's sort of like they hitched it all on the BYU game then got brutalized and couldn't come back... I dunno. Now I'm going to, as a WYO fan, sound a little like the pot calling the kettle black... but I just gotta say that the atmosphere there was pretty rinky-dink. I expected more given their recent success. Since 2012 they are winning at a .620 pace (62-40) while we are 43-54.
We walked the entire parking lot an hour before kickoff and observed no more than 5 tailgates and ZERO buzz or pregame atmosphere. I get it, it's Utah, and a combination of culture and laws does not promote tailgate culture, but geez, no kids tossing balls around, no bbq's, really nothing. Wyoming has come a long way in this category. Then, at the gate, NO scanners. They just glanced at our printed StubHub tix and waved us in. I felt as though I could have been holding a ticket for a 1989 Ricks College game and they would have let me in. Our stadium is better. Theirs is fine, but the facility has some issues. When you sit on the "B" side its a long walk to concessions and a restroom.
I know this ramble seems like a diss on USU, but what I'm really trying to say is that WE deserve a better team. I mean, let's say that FBS football is divided up into 3-4 tiers based on facilities, gameday atmosphere and tradition. We're closer to second tier and they're closer to third tier. The two Universities have a lot of similarities; Land-grant Ag Universities set in smaller "college towns" with not too dissimilar surrounding populations in the Rocky Mountain West.
So it just ticks me off to go there and see them seemingly passive about their program. I'd give my left nut to have their record since 2012 and I KNOW that we would be bringing more than 10-12k people in on days like yesterday. We deserve a better team.
Edit/Add: I forgot to mention that the Bull they use as their logo looks like something you'd get from the clip-art pack available for purchase with WordPerfect X3.... Our branding (pun intended) is so much better.