I wanted to share the experience we had last night at the game and give a little insight to how we were treated by the staff and fans.

- I was a little hesitant to take my 10 year old son to the game thinking it could be a rough environment but we had been to a Wyoming game earlier this year and he seemed to hold his own with opposing crowds. So I decided we would do it! Boy, am I sure glad we did! The last time I had seen a college football game in RES was the “Beck to Harline” game. A lot has changed so I wasn’t sure what to expect.
- We booked a room at the Sheraton hotel in Downtown SLC and took the UTA bus up to RES. As we were on the bus we had great conversations with lifelong UTE fans and one couple actually told us even though they were dressed in ReD they were pulling for BLUE tonight. They want to see us make the playoffs.
- The Stadium staff was very welcoming and kind. Many times we were greeted with “Welcome to Utah” and “Enjoy the Game”.
- We sat in the North EndZone which I had heard could be a little rough. We originally sat in the wrong seats (one row in front of where we should be before the game). The Ute fans came to their seat and they were way cool about helping us find out where are seats where and helped us move up one row. We chatted with them all game long and even they and their co-fans next to them mentioned to us that they wanted to see BYU win this game and go to the playoffs. During the Game I think I only heard an F-bomb once or twice. Something like “Get the F’n First down”
- Atmosphere - Stadium is really clean and just looks refreshed unlike LES. Their PA system and MC are pretty loud and the MC does a great job keeping the fans engaged and loud. ALL FANS STOOD the entire game which was cool. It’s not normally the case from what I understood. Their Into and Moment of Loudness are cool but I don’t think they live up anywhere near what LES has going on with the intro and 4the quarter break. I actually thought I would be more impressed with the MUSS but I wasn’t.. They were loud and engaged all game long. They were far away from where we were sitting, but the ROC >MUSS and not even close.. The stadium feels a lot smaller which from a viewing perspective is great for viewing the game BUT LES is just different. Fans after the game were saying they really need to go to natural turf.. Talking about Kuithe getting injured again.
- UTES fans offered to take photos for my son and I during the game. Very kind.
- With the holding call. Everyone at the stadium thought the game was over and nobody saw the flag on the field and it was difficult to even tell that a penalty had been called on Utah. All the sudden we just knew we got a first down with the penalty and had another chance to do something special.
- The Final drive took some time and everyone was on EDGE. Props to A-rod and Kalani on how they handled that series and the clock as they really botched the ending of the first half final drive.
- Game Winning kick and after party! - Stadium was silent for the final kick but it felt like everyone on both sides knew it was going to go in. It went in and nobody immediately left as there was still 4 seconds. Game ended and many Ute fans came up to us to congratulate us and told us to go on do well in the playoffs. We went down to first row to give players high fives. Ute fans were still leaving the stadium and at times we were in their way to leave and they were still congratulating us on the W.
- Leaving the stadium - A guy and his buddy gave us fist bumps and said to run the table. We told them “We had a great experience at RES” and they were glad to hear it. I know they felt like not everyone does.
- Walking to the Busses we heard a few students say “F-BYU” but it didn’t feel really directed right at us or in our face. They just said it in passing which we were both totally fine with. In the line for the busses we heard someone yell “Jesus Christ and Joseph Smith weren’t real”. Didn’t phase us at all. People just tend to ignore those people and their comments including their own fans. We were the only Y fans on the bus back to SLC and some of their fans chatted us up and were kind.
- Overall I would say we had an amazing time. The tix weren’t cheap at all and adding a stay in the hotel when we could have just driven home was nice but additional cost. I left the game feeling like the experience my and I just had was priceless and probably would have paid 3X what we paid had I known how it would have all gone down.
-Thank You BYU for letting us be a part of this special season so far. These type of seasons really are rare. Thank You Utah Fans and RES Staff for being so hospitable and showing good sportsmanship. As far as I can tell from our experience the Fans “Rivaled Right”.👏