The First Home Game

For many students, the Friday before the Cougar game in Seattle was a day to skip classes and get an early start on the drive across the state. On Saturday the Cougars played San Diego State University at Qwest Field for the annual Cougar Gridiron Classic football game. This game is a great opportunity for students to get out of Pullman and enjoy the weekend with thousands of other fans in Seattle.

For freshmen like Bryant Smick and Cantlon Ryan, it was especially exciting considering it was their first football game as WSU students.

“My dad went to WSU, and he always told me about football games when I was younger so I was really excited to go to watch my first game in the student section,” Smick said.

The two freshmen roommates left Pullman bound for Ryan’s home in Kent on Friday afternoon, where they would stay before the game on Saturday.

On Saturday, they drove to Seattle to meet up with friends and family at Qwest Field to tailgate before the game. “We got there about four hours early and just hung out with a bunch of other fans and barbequed,” Ryan said. “It definitely pumped me up for the game.”

“It was pretty awesome how all the parking lots around Qwest Field were filled with other Cougars,” Smick said. “We just took over the city.”

Kickoff was scheduled for 4:00 PM, but many students, including Ryan and Smick, were still trying to get into the stadium. “We thought we went to the entrance early enough, but we didn’t get seats until about halfway through the first quarter,” Ryan said. “The amount of people going to this game kind of caught me off guard.”

“There are typically around six to eight thousand students at this game,” said Jason Sheppard, from the Washington State Athletics ticket office. “That’s not including all of the other fans who purchased tickets, so it can be crazy for someone who’s never been to a game before.”

The Cougars ended up beating San Diego State University by a score of 45-17, causing fans to leave the game happy.

“The atmosphere after the game was so upbeat,” Smick said. “Everybody was giving high fives to each other and yelling out ‘go cougs.’”

“With everyone being so happy I don’t even want to imagine what it’s like after a loss at home,” Ryan said. “Hopefully I don’t have to experience that for the rest of the season.”

The two freshmen drove back to Pullman early Sunday morning along with many other students. “It was a huge caravan of cars all the way back,” Smick said.

“The only bad part of the weekend was the drive home,” Ryan said. “We knew that we had to go back to school on Monday.”

“This was definitely one of the best weekends I’ve had in a long time, Smick said. “The drive to Seattle was totally worth it.”