Souh Bend Road Trip: Day 3 - GAME DAY!!!

Game day is finally here! The day we've been anticipating has officially arrived! We got off to a super early start, but we didn't mind because it's time for FOOTBALL!!!

P.S. Sorry for the late post; as you'll read, we sort of had a late night.

6:30 A.M. - Rise and shine, Bulls! We all got up, showered, and packed up the car. Any other day we would have been groggy and slow to start, but today is't like any other day.

7:00 A.M. - Got to the grocery store and stocked up on food and drinks before heading to the tailgate.

8:00 A.M. - We were one of the first cars to arrive at the Bulls Heaven tailgate. We had to buy a second parking space just to make room for our tailgate. We unpacked the green and gold USF grill and got moving immediately. The first tailgate of the season is underway!

12:00 P.M. - We've gotten plenty of comments on our awesome grill and met a bunch of USF alumni. I also spent some time talking with Collin from Voodoo Five, who just happened to have parked next to our car (small world). Also, Bulls Heaven has so much free soda and beer, and our friends are totally taking advantage of the latter.

2:00 P.M. - We packed the tailgate stuff back in the car and got walking over to the stadium. The people here are too damn polite, though. We're used to being ripped by FSU and Miami fans back at home, but things are way different up here.

3:30 P.M. - KICKOFF! I've never been more excited at any point in my entire life! USF football season is here!

5:30 P.M.(ish) - Rain delay #1. They told us that the game was going to be delayed for at least an hour or two. But we're from Tampa. We've seen rain before. Looks like the Irish called in a favor from God to give them a bit more planning time. The first weather-related delay in Notre Dame history came at a time that would totally erase any momentum that the Bulls has built up.

*Note: After this point, everything sort of runs together. I had no sense of what time it was at any point during the rest of game, so I'll be using the approximate time left in the game.

15:00, 3rd quarter - The game is finally back! USF fans pretty much all stuck around, mostly because they had made a 1200 mile trip to see this game. Kickoff came and we're finally ready to see the Bulls close out this game!

When Notre Dame scored the first time - No worries, USF is still in control. Skip's ground-and-pound is going to run this clock down.

4:30, 4th quarter - ANOTHER RAIN DELAY?!?! What the hell is going on in this place? We must have brought this lightning with us from Tampa, but now it's messing with our game. Notre Dame should only be allowed one divine intervention per game.

When the game resumed - The Notre Dame fans are starting to thin out, but you have to appreciate the fact that the Notre Dame student section looks just as full as when the game began, regardless of how bad their team looks.

0:00, 4th quarter - It's over! After 6 hours in the stadium the Bulls finally took a knee and let this game come to an end! A monumental victory for the Bulls marks one of the most important wins in USF Football's short history. I sprinted down the stands to the field and gave Julius Forte, who jumped into the stands as time ran out, a big hug. We're about to walk out to greet the players as they exit the gate.

10:30 P.M. - We finally made our victory walk back to the car, legs heavy and heads pounding. But we have to go out and celebrate! Before anything, though, we have to go back to the campsite and assess the damage to our tents and sleeping arrangements from the storms.

11:00 P.M. - The damage was pretty much what we expected. The tents were flooded, and all the sleeping bags and blankets and pillows were soaked. We used the few quarters we had to dry our stuff, but we weren't going to be bothered to wait around. We have some partying to do!

11:45 P.M. - We got to the bar down the street, starving since we hadn't eaten since about 1:00 today. We grabbed a pitcher and sat down, but only to find out that the kitchen had closed 15 minutes ago.

12:30 A.M. - We left the bar, looking for one that served food. But all the local places are either closed or don't serve food. I guess this place is probably different if Notre Dame wins, but we're happy to see this place completely deflated tonight. We ended up at Steak N Shake, where we heckled a few Irish fans and sat around for a few hours.

2:30 A.M. - We finally got back to the campground, but the tents were still flooded, so we had to make our sleeping arrangements elsewhere. After being up for 20 straight hours, we were just ready to sleep anywhere, so we just all folded down the seats in the SUV and were sleeping within 5 minutes. Nashville tomorrow!

Tomorrow's posts are going to be a little less interesting than the USF victory of course, but we're getting to Nashville tomorrow, so we'll surely have a night full of adventure.