Good day friends and football fanatics and welcome to TGS ULTIMATE TAILGATE ROADTRIP! Thank you for joining us on the 2nd stop in a recurring series of articles brought to you various writers and perspectives here at The Tailgate Society that will be covering a different marquee game each week of the college football season (as well as bowl games & playoffs). One rule we will stick to in these pieces is that the games must take place in a state that a current TGS Member lives in. Here at the Tailgate Society, we love all things football: the pageantry, the rivalries, the controversies, the Cinderella stories and of course – the upsets.
The Oregon Ducks fly over to Laramie September 16th to face the Wyoming Cowboys (tickets are expected to go quick, so do yourself a favor and get them ASAP). Week three of college football will be lit, especially if you’re a Cowboys fan. Considering their quarterback has been rumored to go first overall in the 2018 NFL Draft, how could fans not get excited to see the Ducks land in Laramie?
Coach Bohl enters his fourth season as the head coach of the Pokes. He’s #BuildingSomethingSpecial and won’t let Oregon get in the way of that. The Cowboys lost some key players to the NFL, but Bohl knows how to utilize the talent on the team. I trust this man who built a dynasty to do it again at Wyoming, which is why losing players to the league doesn’t worry me. Predictions last season had Wyoming finishing last in the Mountain West, proving predictions don’t mean much at the end of the day considering Wyoming won their division. I wouldn’t bet against a team who caused two upsets against ranked teams and then hosted the Mountain West Championship game. The Cowboys and Bohl are seeking out that conference title and looking to go to another bowl game, making the Oregon game a place to show their determination.
Oregon finished last season with a record 4-8, they haven’t had a season this bad since before I was born. This could be the season they win the day with their new head coach, Willie Taggart. The Ducks have goals of making it to the college football playoff this year (though, in all honesty, it takes more than one season to return a team to its former glory. We’re talking taking a 126th ranked defense out of 128 and turning it into a useful defense). They’re obviously looking for redemption this season, but that 7,220 feet will give them a challenge and maybe some altitude sickness early on in their season.
I’m not saying it’s a little challenging to come up to the Laramie from sea-level and play sports. I’m saying you feel like you literally cannot get enough oxygen in your body when you come to Laramie from sea-level to compete. Teams bring oxygen tanks for sucking down oxygen during timeouts, Oregon likely won’t be an exception.
So, you’ve committed to attend this game and you don’t live in Laramie. No worries, there will be activities before the game to get you excited. Start your weekend Friday night downtown in Laramie with a farmer’s market, live music, food, and obviously, beer. When Cowboy fans get ready for a good match up, the city of Laramie pitches in to ensure a quality experience since a good portion of the state attends.
What will day of tailgating look like? Obviously, in the War Memorial parking lot and spots for fans of both teams will go quick. I’m giving you free, unsolicited advice when I tell you that you need to get there the day before if you plan on bringing an RV to tailgate. Typical day of tailgating begins when you wake up, but pace yourself, kickoff is late afternoon. Open container permits go into effect a noon of game day in the tailgating area. Oh, and this is the first year that alcohol will be sold in the stadium, so if you forget to bring your beer to the tailgate, fear not, you can find beer in the stadium. Now you can sing the Beer Song with a beer in your hand at the stadium. What a time to be a Wyoming fan.
Be sure to check out the first stop of this amazing Tailgate experence right here as Shaun Curren takes you to Atlanta for the Florida State vs Alabama game.
Then head up to Iowa as Alex Gookin takes you to Ames for the Iowa vs Iowa State game by clicking here.
Leave a Reply