Hearts broke everywhere when Lee Corso placed Harry the Husky mascot on his head, mine included. Even though we ended up losing the football game, we should still consider it an honor that ESPN chose our school to visit for a second year in a row. This shows that we are highly regarded within football. For those of you who camped out in President’s Circle, congratulations! Cross that off the bucket list. For those who didn’t, you certainly got more sleep. Campers staying overnight at President’s Circle at Camp Corso set up tents, brought games and food, and most everyone stayed up the entire night. There were DJs in attendance getting people hyped for the show later on, as well as Café Rio being handed out to everyone. Tents started popping up as early as Thursday afternoon, even though the official word for camping had been announced as 4pm the following day.
Starting at about 3am on Saturday, tents were packed back up into cars and people began to line up. Starting at 5:15, security personnel started letting individuals through to the pit. My group and myself first made it to the second line, and then the front row. We waited for about an hour and a half for the show to officially start at 7am. Home Depot was the sponsor again this year, providing orange hard hats and gloves for those in front, as well as shirts. Despite it being so early in the morning, the energy was high and the entire area was surrounded by excitement. ESPN College GameDay ran until 10 am, so the majority of the crowd had been standing for a straight 7 hours. Was it worth it? 100% yes.
There is nothing quite like being surrounded by dedicated fans willing to lose an incredible amount of sleep to cheer on our team and represent our school. Cheerleaders and Swoop were in appearance, as well as Coach Whit. Students were not the only individuals in attendance within the pit and surrounding areas, as there were dedicated families with small children who had gotten up early to join in the festivities. Fortunately, the rain had let up the night before, so the weather was nice with blue skies. Fans of all ages were present to show their support with cheers for Utah and boos for our opponents. A few University of Washington fans had snuck in dressed in purple to offset the crowd’s boos.
Although we didn’t win the game, ESPN College GameDay is a win in my book. Up next: Utah vs. Arizona State University, LET’S GO UTES!