'89 and we got whacked badly. I think Auburn finished in the top 5 that year and we...didn't. I sacked Reggie Slack once and pressured him into a pick another time, also stuffed James Joseph for a two yard loss on the goal line, so it was fun for me personally.
That was before my time, though my sister was in school then. I know those names. Just feel glad that you weren't on the Fresno State team that played the first home game I was there for a few years later -- they were beaten 63-3. By the end even the student section kind of felt bad about cheering.
We were in the first home game after the stadium remodel and expansion to ~93k seats. It was neat to play there 'cause the house was packed. We had to land in Atlanta and bus 2 hrs. down to a Best Western hotel. Seemed like there was nothing out there but trees and red clay ponds, until we bussed into the stadium on game day and the parking lot was a sea of campers and RV's, all flag draped with people standing on 'em, every one with a beverage in one hand and the other making a rude gesture at us while they all screamed. It was no different in the house, little kids ran down to the endzone to mock us during warmups and tell us what wussies we were. During the game the fans would get so spun up the place would throb with sound. It was really cool when you'd do something like I mentioned above and the whole place would go ssshhhhhh for a beat or two before winding up again.
God damn. EXACTLY. That is EXACTLY what I miss about gamedays. Those campers and RVs would start getting to campus for the "prime" spots on Wednesday, and we'd walk through retirees and vacationers cooking out on our way to and from class. A thousand grills cooking a thousand meals after the game, because the smart people knew better than to try to drive anywhere. The energy people had on any given game day... it was palpable. Wow.
And yeah, because the college came before the interstate and the major roads leading to it, those roads almost by definition bypass anything interesting. I think there's a Wal-Mart and a car dealership there now, which kind of proves that point.