Ben and I continued our SEC Stadium Tour by visiting Kentucky for Auburn's game up there. It was a Thursday night game, which we haven't done before, so that was pretty weird, and it was also weird to be driving north to go to a football game. I felt like I was going the wrong way all day.
Kentucky has just re-vamped their stadium (this is the first season in the "New Commonwealth Stadium"), and it's a nice stadium. They could put a little more effort into the concessions offerings, as Ben and I found out because we didn't have time to grab dinner before the game. Seriously, we left our hotel (approximately 10 miles north of downtown Lexington) three hours before game time, planning on grabbing something to eat along the way and getting into the stadium about an hour before kickoff. Except we got stuck in horrible traffic on our way, had a terrible time finding parking, and ended up not having time to eat before going into the stadium (which meant we had to eat stadium food for dinner). As I said, though, once we got in, the stadium was nice.
We sat one section to the right of the official "visitor's sections," mainly because I'd rather be looking straight on at the end zone than be in the corner. But we were close enough that there were lots of good Auburn folks (and the band!) near us. The Kentucky fans around us were also pretty nice, engaged us in (friendly) conversation, etc. However, when they found out we were from Knoxville and Ben was actually a Tennessee fan, they got a little bit rude. Seriously, if you guys hate UT so much, why did you checkerboard your end zones?
Before the game, the couple behind us was making fun of the other UK fans because they don't show up for the game until the end of the first quarter. And it's true! The stadium was pretty empty until at least midway through the first quarter. But as it turned out, the guy behind us who was making fun of the other fans left the game at halftime! UK was 13 points down at the half and (obviously) still very capable of making a comeback. There were fans leaving when they were down by 6! We also saw people leaving near the end of the game when they were only down by 3 and had possession of the ball! It was kind of like the football twilight zone.
I never leave a game before it's over, but even if I were an "early leaver," there's no way I would've left this game. I mean, you weren't really sure who was going to win until there was less than a minute left in the game! Ordinarily I would be kind of depressed that we only beat Kentucky by 3 points, but their team is actually pretty good this year, and they have a great quarterback and a really good running back in Boom Williams. They defended Peyton Barber really well, resulting in the second game of the season in which he didn't rush for 100 yards (he had 92). On a Thursday night on the road, I'll take a 3-point win. Yes, we gave up roughly 500 yards of offense, but we also had 400 yards of offense...and a crucial turnover.
Weagles this week go to Ricardo Louis (7 catches for 154 yards); Sean White (passed for 255 yards); Kerryon Johnson (161 all-purpose yards); Peyton Barber (108 all-purpose yards); Carlton Davis (interception in the end zone that really made the difference in this game); Rudy Ford (14 tackles, including 1 sack); Kris Frost (11 tackles); and Justin Garrett (game-clinching sack on UK's last fourth-down effort).
After the game, we walked the two miles back to our car, sat in a little bit of traffic (although traffic was considerably lighter (1) that far out from the stadium; and (2) by the time we walked that far), and were on our way back to the hotel. We were still starving and didn't really want fast food, but what else is open at midnight on a Thursday night in Lexington? As we were about to give up and turn into a McDonald's, we turned a corner and saw...STEAK AND SHAKE. Oh, ye bastion of 24-hour greasy burgers, tiny french fries, and delicious milkshakes. Best midnight-post-game meal ever.
Oh, and here is the official pre-game selfie.
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