2019 Experience #5, Rice-Eccles Stadium- University of Utah

My last stop of 2019 brought me out west to the beautiful state of Utah and Rice-Eccles Stadium where the Colorado Buffaloes took on the Utah Utes. Finally getting out of the state of Michigan to see a game, i ended up at a familiar sight, the U of U. I have a history with this place as my mother graduated from the University and i am usually in the state to visit family about 3 times a year. Because of these factors, i have an affinity with Utah Sports, and specifically, the Utes Football team. I have been to Utah games before so this 2019 experience was really nothing new to me. The thing that separates a Utes tailgate experience from the other 4 that i have visited this year is actually the lack of a traditional ‘Tailgate.’ While there certainly is a main tailgate that takes place right in front of the Stadium (Probably a tad bigger than that of CMU but definitely smaller than that of MSU and UM) it fails in comparison to many other power 5 tailgates. This is due to the University’s location right in the heart of Downtown Salt Lake City. There are simply more things to do and Bars to hit up as opposed to going to a tailgate, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing, just very different. Rice-Eccles Stadium is probably one of the better venues i have ever been to. The 45,000 seat stadium(currently in the process of a near 5,000 seat renovation), is famous for hosting the Opening and closing ceremonies for the 2002 Winter Olympics and first opened in September of 1998. It has about a half and half Bench/Seat ratio and is home to one of the loudest student sections in the nation, the MUSS. Concessions are abundant and Bathrooms are easy to find. the one complaint i have, and, frankly, have always had, is the narrowness of the concourse. It is so hard at times, especially after the conclusion of games, to maneuver around all the congestion, this due to the extremely narrow concourse. My night was thankfully capped off with a Utah win though so the claustrophobia after the game did not bother me too much. all in all, a gameday experience at the University of Utah is a really fun, unique one that i feel most college fans would enjoy (if you go in November you best not forget your coat). Go Utes!