Big 10 Football Tour

The bus dropped us off right in front of the stadium & we were able to get right in.  As we walked through the main concourse, we definitely got the feel of the old cookie-cutter stadiums.  Cement everywhere and miniscle entranes from concessions/restrooms to seating.  We had heard from many of the Northwestern bloggers that it is rare to see Ryan Field full.  In fact, the blog from SB Nation called "Sippin' On Purple" uses the quote, "Where Ryan Field isn't half empty, it's half full."

The concessions were also fairly "bread & butter," serving exactly what foods you'd expect at a sporting event over the past 20 years.  Somehow Blake claims to have gotten a free soda from them in the second half.  We will say that the concourse smelled phenomenal after halftime as they were cooking something or other and the scent resonated throughouts the walkways.

No knocks on Northwestern (as if you wouldn't expect it), but they do have some Big Ten championships to their name, most recently in 2000 (damn, we're getting old).  They have some of the Big 10 trophies on hand for some photo-ops at the Northwestern Athletics tent.  Also available were pocket schedule, posters, and more for all fans!

A great view presents itself if you walk up by the Memorial Hall.  From here you can see most of the seating as well as the entire field, obstructed only by the goal posts.

However, we looked over to the left and a the gold and maroon were being represented pretty heavily. 

Then, another odd site.  Two awfully comfortable-looking seats almost on the field!  Who are these guys and how did they come across those seat?  They almost seem like the "special seats" that professional teams give away to "one lucky fan" who knows someone in the front office.

Here we noticed that the scoreboard could use a little update?

What's the most under-rated feature of Ryan Field?  FREE WATER!  Now we're from Milwaukee & we know that Chicago doesn't necessarily ever get hot, but anytime a team doesn't try to rape their fans for $3.00 a water, you score big in our book.  *Reminder that we don't get paid to be here, so every free water counts.

Like the Penn State Nittany Lions - the Northwestern Wildcats do some sort of vicious "roar" during games.  We tried to get Wes to imitate the roar...and he did...but then he took an unprofessional turn.  Our apologies Northwestern fans...

Before we knew it, we were entrenched in yet another great college football game.  Only this time, instead of being miles away from the action, we were practically at field level!  On every key defensive play, the fans would show the terrifying wildcat claw (shown on the side).  We also heard some humorous chants, "Keep the change you thilty animail!"

Another observation: They played "For Whom The Bell Tolls" very very often. 

Potentially the most unique thing about Ryan Field is that the playing field seems to dipped a few feet below the surronding surface and it.  We were asking ourselves A) why is it like that? & B) doesn't that pose the potential for someone getting hurt?

The first half was somewhat dry as the Minnesota running game got in for 2 touchdowns (which was quite the opposite offense of the week prior).  Northwestern kept pace however with a field goal and a touchdown of their own from Arby Fields (beef and chedd-ar). 

Business picked up in the 2nd half.  While Minnesota scored first in the 3rd quarter, it seemed that Northwestern was taking over the game.  They bounced back with not one, but two 79-yard touchdown drives (yes, both were 79 yard drives).  NU quarterback Mike Kafka capped both drives with TD passes, one of which you'll see in the video below - converting a 4th and 1 play.

With the crowd now into the game, it seemed that Northwestern was poised to take over.  Then came the clock control by Minnesota, eating over 6 minutes of time before Duane Bennett scored a third touchdown on the day.  That would prove to be all that Minnesota needed (but they'd add another TD) to get past Northwestern on Big 10 opening weekend. 

Our lowest attendance to date: 22,091.  You know who we didn't see in attendance...the Wildcat mascot...where was this guy (or girl)???