The impossible occurred Saturday night: It rained in Autzen Stadium.
Mother Earth sent high-speed winds and a deluge rain crept over the walls of the stadium, furiously crashing down on the sold-out crowd that inhabited the inner confines of Autzen. Understandably, the rain proved to be unbearable for a majority of the 56,987 fans in attendance.
Following a 25-yard touchdown run by sophomore Byron Marshall in the first quarter to push the Oregon lead to 27-0 over California, fans raced up the steps of their sections and left the game in De’Anthony Thomas-like fashion — a blur. Witnesses to the contest between the Ducks and the Golden Bears could have blinked and nearly missed out on half of the student section ducking out of the stadium and heading for cover before the first quarter even ended.
By the time the marching band hit the field for its halftime festivities, the stands at Autzen stadium were mostly vacant. Regardless of how many fans stayed for halftime, the important thing to note is that the band still played.
Practicing all week for their allotted showing, the band could have joined the rest of those deciding that the price of admission wasn’t worth four quarters of torrential downpour and called it quits. Instead, they continued to play. They performed beautifully and every fan who survived the first half of rain was forced to take their hands from within their dry pants pockets and clap for such an effort.
The band wasn’t the only group continuing with a business-as-usual approach despite the ridiculous weather. Aside from the coaches and players continuing to partake in their game on the field, cheerleaders continued to cheer. Also, The Duck did his push-ups and the limited amount of fans remaining did their best to create a spirited environment.
Each of the aforementioned groups knew that they had a job to do and that a rain storm in Eugene wasn’t going to stop them from accomplishing what they came to Autzen to do.
Instead of highlighting the fact that so many fans decided to cut their losses and watch the remainder of the game from their couch, I’d rather commend those who took the rain head on and decided to stay: Those students and fans who will undoubtedly head to their local pharmacy on Monday for cold medicine due to standing in the cold rain for almost four hours, those that still managed to jump for “Shout” in the beginning of the fourth quarter with rain-soaked shoes and cold, wrinkled fingers and those who risked hypothermia in order to watch Oregon slaughter California 55-16. You all deserve a pat on the back.
A change-up of this caliber in regard to weather will be remembered and talked about for years to come, but let’s not make a habit of it, Mother Earth. Hopefully, for the sake of ticket sales and overall game integrity, this was just an aberration and it doesn’t rain again in Autzen Stadium for a very, very long time.