That was an incredible road experience!

Randal7

All-American
Jul 22, 2009
6,709
6,119
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That was a perhaps once in a lifetime experience in Blacksburg taking on Va Tech and winning. Just a perfect day in every facet.

Beautiful countryside, rowdy town and raucous stadium environment. It really feels like a “Saturday down south” locale.

Super enclave for a college — it’s a pain in the *** to get there which makes BEING there magical, because you have to make a deliberate, intentional decision to do it

I don’t know if we’ll play va tech OOC again anytime soon; I would suggest there’s more downside to doing so than there is upside from a football scheduling perspective. However, from a fandom perspective, if we DO play them again I am 100% making the pilgrimage back to Blacksburg because that was awesome!
 
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ScarletKid2008

Heisman
Sep 8, 2006
8,042
10,547
113
That was a perhaps once in a lifetime experience in Blacksburg taking on Va Tech and winning. Just a perfect day in every facet.

Beautiful countryside, rowdy town and raucous stadium environment.

Super enclave for a college — it’s a pain in the *** to get there which makes BEING there magical, because you have to make a deliberate intentional decision to do it

I don’t know if we’ll play va tech OOC again anytime soon; I would suggest there’s more downside to doing so than there is upside from a football scheduling perspective. However, from a fandom perspective, if we DO play them again I am 100% making the pilgrimage back to Blacksburg because that was awesome!
I love hearing about away game road trip experiences and especially college town comparisons to NB.
 
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RUOPTIMIST

Sophomore
Oct 23, 2020
101
130
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That was a perhaps once in a lifetime experience in Blacksburg taking on Va Tech and winning. Just a perfect day in every facet.

Beautiful countryside, rowdy town and raucous stadium environment.

Super enclave for a college — it’s a pain in the *** to get there which makes BEING there magical, because you have to make a deliberate intentional decision to do it

I don’t know if we’ll play va tech OOC again anytime soon; I would suggest there’s more downside to doing so than there is upside from a football scheduling perspective. However, from a fandom perspective, if we DO play them again I am 100% making the pilgrimage back to Blacksburg because that was awesome!
Had similar experience. Best road trip I've done. People were great. AMAZING campus. Tons of hotties. We were supposed to meet up with R people but it didn't materialize so sone VT fans grilled our food for a beer swap. VT is a must do road trip. The drive back is going to be much smoother with a W. GO RU!
 

ecojew

All-Conference
Feb 1, 2006
9,767
2,271
0
Was their stadium going nuts during their comeback and did crowd noise interfere with RU's ability to call plays?

How many RU fans would you estimate found their way to the wilds of southwestern Virginia?

Thanks.
 
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Randal7

All-American
Jul 22, 2009
6,709
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ru66

All-American
Jul 28, 2001
12,175
6,257
0
Glad folks enjoyed trip but as for your kids or grandkids being away at school give me a place that's not a huge inconvenience to get to or from. Heck even that long ride to PSU on route 80 sucks big time.Rolling hillsides are great to visit but suck when your kids need you.
 
Sep 27, 2006
20,274
23,340
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Great road trip.
--Nice job by RU with their Friday night social at a Blacksburg brewery. Great food/drink/view. About 50 fans showed up
--Downtown Blacksburg chock full of bars/restaurants
--VT fans very nice & friendly.
--We were invited to a tailgate in one of the paved lots where everyone has assigned parking. A bit nuts when cars come at all times & you have to pick up your tailgate to let a car/truck drive down to their spot to park.
--Overall tailgate scene seemed to be more catering/prepared food & a lot less cooking on site the way I think RU fans tailgate.
--Stadium was packed at the start of the game. They are very loud & have some nice things going with songs & chants that the whole stadium gets into (including singing part of the National Anthem acapella )
--Lots of "make some noise" from their announcer...and they start jangling their keys to help with the noise all game long.
--It was military appreciation day & all of their ROTC students trooped out .. they have a lot of ROTC members
--As Nuts pointed out, by the 4th Q 2/3 of students were gone & probably 1/2 the fans, maybe more
--Everyone was nice & welcoming save for a student or 2.
--We stayed in Radford & opted to head back there post game for dinner because downtown was a hot mess. Apparently most things in Radford are closed by 8pm including a couple of restaurants we tried.
--Oddly, our Radford hotel is owned by a RC '94 grad who was very happy with the win & the R magnet I gave him

Overall a great away game experience
 

Randal7

All-American
Jul 22, 2009
6,709
6,119
77
Great road trip.
--Nice job my RU with their Friday night social at a Blacksburg brewery. Great food/drink/view. About 50 fans showed up
--Downtown Blacksburg chock full of bars/restaurants
--VT fans very nice & friendly.
--We were invited to a tailgate in one of the paved lots where everyone has assigned parking. A bit nuts when cars come at all times & you have to pick up your tailgate to let a car/truck drive down to their spot to park.
--Overall tailgate scene seemed to be more catering/prepared food & a lot less cooking on site the way I think RU fans tailgate.
--Stadium was packed at the start of the game. They are very loud & have some nice things going with songs & chants that the whole stadium gets into (including singing part of the National Anthem acapella )
--Lots of "make some noise" from their announcer...and they start jangling their keys to help with the noise all game long.
--It was military appreciation day & all of their ROTC students trooped out .. they have a lot of ROTC members
--As Nuts pointed out, by the 4th Q 2/3 of students were gone & probably 1/2 the fans, maybe more
--Everyone was nice & welcoming save for a student or 2.
--We stayed in Radford & opted to head back there post game for dinner because downtown was a hot mess. Apparently most things in Radford are closed by 8pm including a couple of restaurants we tried.
--Oddly, our Radford hotel is owned by a RC '94 grad who was very happy with the win & the R magnet I gave him

Overall a great away game experience
The postgame restaurant situation in Blacksburg was, as you say, a disaster. They gotta fix that
 

Knight Shift

Heisman
May 19, 2011
89,479
87,445
113
BTW RU fans represented!...Was very impressed by our turnout.
Me and the Mrs were trailing a convoy of hotties in short white dresses and cowboy boots on our way to our seats. They stopped for a pic, and I stopped, and I felt a sudden push and heard, you keep going!

Fantastic experience. We went with a donor group and had a fabulous time. Greg spoke to the group Friday night. I am so glad he is our head coach. No head coach is perfect all of the time, but Greg is the perfect coach for Rutgers.
 
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UMRU

All-Conference
Sep 19, 2006
7,765
4,091
113
Great road trip.
--Nice job by RU with their Friday night social at a Blacksburg brewery. Great food/drink/view. About 50 fans showed up
--Downtown Blacksburg chock full of bars/restaurants
--VT fans very nice & friendly.
--We were invited to a tailgate in one of the paved lots where everyone has assigned parking. A bit nuts when cars come at all times & you have to pick up your tailgate to let a car/truck drive down to their spot to park.
--Overall tailgate scene seemed to be more catering/prepared food & a lot less cooking on site the way I think RU fans tailgate.
--Stadium was packed at the start of the game. They are very loud & have some nice things going with songs & chants that the whole stadium gets into (including singing part of the National Anthem acapella )
--Lots of "make some noise" from their announcer...and they start jangling their keys to help with the noise all game long.
--It was military appreciation day & all of their ROTC students trooped out .. they have a lot of ROTC members
--As Nuts pointed out, by the 4th Q 2/3 of students were gone & probably 1/2 the fans, maybe more
--Everyone was nice & welcoming save for a student or 2.
--We stayed in Radford & opted to head back there post game for dinner because downtown was a hot mess. Apparently most things in Radford are closed by 8pm including a couple of restaurants we tried.
--Oddly, our Radford hotel is owned by a RC '94 grad who was very happy with the win & the R magnet I gave him

Overall a great away game experience

The TV guys on the ACC network kept raving about how this stadium has one of the best atmospheres of any stadium in the country. They said the team entrance is the best anywhere. Was this true? Hard to tell on TV.
 
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Knight Shift

Heisman
May 19, 2011
89,479
87,445
113
The TV guys on the ACC network kept raving about how this stadium has one of the best atmospheres of any stadium in the country. They said the team entrance is the best anywhere. Was this true? Hard to tell on TV.
100% yes. I got chills and a little emotional during Enter Sandman. Huge Metallica fan.

Not sure if RU was the first school to adopt For Whom the Bell Tolls, but we could have co-branded with Metallica like VT did. Metallica had a deep relationship and following from the Old Bridge Metal Militia. And Jonny and Marsha Zazula from East Brunswick gave them their first record deal.
 
Sep 27, 2006
20,274
23,340
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100% yes. I got chills and a little emotional during Enter Sandman. Huge Metallica fan.

Not sure if RU was the first school to adopt For Whom the Bell Tolls, but we could have co-branded with Metallica like VT did. Metallica had a deep relationship and following from the Old Bridge Metal Militia. And Jonny and Marsha Zazula from East Brunswick gave them their first record deal.

Metallica is actually performing a concert at Lane Stadium in May. That's a pretty good tie in for your football team's entrance song
 

Knight Shift

Heisman
May 19, 2011
89,479
87,445
113
Metallica is actually performing a concert at Lane Stadium in May. That's a pretty good time in for your football team's entrance song
Yes, and I am thinking of going.

Rutgers needs to fix it's entrance immediately. What is our song and identity? Sopranos is a good lead in. For some reason, they changed from Thunderstruck to For Those About to Rock. That's dumb.

Greg gushed over their entrance, but here we are.

We had the Knight Pulse, and that was a good pump up. But it disappeared. And now our third down Metallica is all messed up.

And there was NOT nearly as much annoying music played at VT yesterday. And the volume was tolerable. And their marching band was very prominent and loud when Rutgers was at their goal line. A+ for VT. C- or D for RU.
 
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JayDogSmooth

All-Conference
Aug 18, 2006
8,096
3,789
0
Sandman is definitely a top 5 entrance

VT fans are into it from the jump (no pun intended) - loud, proud and friendly

Lane’s club section is subpar, and aside from the one endzone and a few seats along the press box sideline, there’s no chair back seating

Interestingly, 3 stadiums were built in the same design (Lane, Indiana & Wake) though ECU’s looks similar

They’d fit in well in the SEC culture wise

Competitive wise, If they land in the B12, and they start recruiting the 757 like they have previously, they will do well

Additionally, They have over 25k donors which is awesome (and either tops or 2nd to Clemson in the ACC) - which was their goal as Beamer wore 25 during his playing days and like Aggie w the 12th man, they assign a guy that number every game
 
Sep 27, 2006
20,274
23,340
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Lane’s club section is subpar, and aside from the one endzone and a few seats along the press box sideline, there’s no chair back seating

We bought tickets off of StubHub, sat in section 230 about the 40 yard line. We were row L, no seat backs, but starting 2 rows in front of us all of the seats had backs.
 

JayDogSmooth

All-Conference
Aug 18, 2006
8,096
3,789
0
Me and the Mrs were trailing a convoy of hotties in short white dresses and cowboy boots on our way to our seats. They stopped for a pic, and I stopped, and I flew a sudden push and heard, you keep going!

Fantastic experience. We went with a donor group and had a fabulous time. Greg spoke to the group Friday night. I am so glad he is our head coach. No head coach is perfect all of the time, but Greg is the perfect coach for Rutgers.
Greg is absolutely the perfect coach for Rutgers. What’s he’s done in 5 years, and during his first stint, is nothing short of miraculous

I don’t believe he’s the guy to get us over the hump and lead us to titles, but for what we needed during GS 1.0 and conversely GS 2.0, there is no other coach I would rather have, nor no other coach who I believe could’ve done the job that he has done
 

JayDogSmooth

All-Conference
Aug 18, 2006
8,096
3,789
0
We bought tickets off of StubHub, sat in section 230 about the 40 yard line. We were row L, no seat backs, but starting 2 rows in front of us all of the seats had backs.
Yeah, they don’t have many seatbacks there, especially along the sidelines

That’s one thing we sometimes take for granted at Rutgers, as even though they’re hard metal bleachers, the fact that a lot of them have backs, specifically along the sidelines, is tremendous
 

beaced_rivals

Heisman
Jul 18, 2004
32,005
10,324
113
Great road trip.
--Nice job by RU with their Friday night social at a Blacksburg brewery. Great food/drink/view. About 50 fans showed up
--Downtown Blacksburg chock full of bars/restaurants
--VT fans very nice & friendly.
--We were invited to a tailgate in one of the paved lots where everyone has assigned parking. A bit nuts when cars come at all times & you have to pick up your tailgate to let a car/truck drive down to their spot to park.
--Overall tailgate scene seemed to be more catering/prepared food & a lot less cooking on site the way I think RU fans tailgate.
--Stadium was packed at the start of the game. They are very loud & have some nice things going with songs & chants that the whole stadium gets into (including singing part of the National Anthem acapella )
--Lots of "make some noise" from their announcer...and they start jangling their keys to help with the noise all game long.
--It was military appreciation day & all of their ROTC students trooped out .. they have a lot of ROTC members
--As Nuts pointed out, by the 4th Q 2/3 of students were gone & probably 1/2 the fans, maybe more
--Everyone was nice & welcoming save for a student or 2.
--We stayed in Radford & opted to head back there post game for dinner because downtown was a hot mess. Apparently most things in Radford are closed by 8pm including a couple of restaurants we tried.
--Oddly, our Radford hotel is owned by a RC '94 grad who was very happy with the win & the R magnet I gave him

Overall a great away game experience
Would it have been as great if our coaching staff had continued to let that game slip away?Dooubt it
 

beaced_rivals

Heisman
Jul 18, 2004
32,005
10,324
113
That’s the end result of coaching instilled discipline.
Are you being sarcastic?That was an example of really bad coaching yesterday.Almost cost us the game.If they fired all of the RU coaches our players would benefit from that action.
 

krup

Heisman
Feb 5, 2003
70,133
10,066
0
The TV guys on the ACC network kept raving about how this stadium has one of the best atmospheres of any stadium in the country. They said the team entrance is the best anywhere. Was this true? Hard to tell on TV.
Based on the accounts on how great the experience was if you were there, the ACC network does a masterful job of NOT capturing any of it.

The game might as well have been broadcast by people talking in a studio over a feed of the game taken with the mic turned to 1 out of 10.

Completely dead broadcast.
 

JayDogSmooth

All-Conference
Aug 18, 2006
8,096
3,789
0
Based on the accounts on how great the experience was if you were there, the ACC network does a masterful job of NOT capturing any of it.

The game might as well have been broadcast by people talking in a studio over a feed of the game taken with the mic turned to 1 out of 10.

Completely dead broadcast.
Welcome to my world fellas