Aggie 2021 Road Trips
As we emerge from the pandemic, what are the best potential Aggie road trips in 2021?By: The Hammer
Jimbo and the gang are road trip ready.
Somehow it’s July. Around Texas and the South, that means it’s hot as hell and football is almost here. Fall camp is a mere weeks away, and the season is just 53 days away. Thanks to Aggie twitter man @tengland_150 for keeping Aggie football fans up to date!
Since we are so close to the season beginning, and COVID restrictions are minimal across the country, it’s a good time to look at A&M’s best road games in case y’all are thinking of making a road trip. I’m itching to see full stadiums in college football again, and I know everyone else is too. Kyle Field will be absolutely ROCKIN’ this season and I can’t wait. So will other stadiums, which is why I wanted to highlight some away games that could be fun if you have the travel bug.
Away games in 2021:
September 11: Texas A&M at Colorado (Mile High Stadium)
October 16: Texas A&M at Missouri
November 13: Texas A&M at Ole Miss
November 27: Texas A&M at LSU
Empower Field at Mile High in Denver, CO. Via Denverbroncos.com
Surprisingly, A&M only has four true road games and the one at Colorado is not on the Buff’s campus. Playing Arkansas at Jerry World every year will always give A&M less road games than most, but we’ve been doing that since joining the SEC. I would love that game to return to campus but we all know Jerry loves his money, and both fanbases travel very well to that game. Travel may not be the right term as DFW is filled with Aggie and Razorback alumni, but the stadium is full nonetheless. Anyway, no need to include that because at this point most fans have either gone to that game, or have no interest in attending it. A road trip for an away game in Fayetteville would be fun, but I’ve been to the game at Jerry World twice and am happy to watch it on my couch these days.
It’s clear three of A&M’s away games stand above the fourth, apologies to our friends in Missouri. No hate on Columbia, I’m sure it is a great place to watch a game and I’d like to make up there one day, but it’s not high on my list especially with the alternative options in 2021.
The other three games are top notch. You can’t go wrong with any of them, but here are my unofficial official rankings.
LSU
Ole Miss
Colorado
My thought process behind these are pretty simple, and may not apply to all. To start, I have not been to a game in Death Valley, and I think both A&M and LSU will both be good, giving this a very good chance to be a night game. As every big time college football fan knows, a night game in Death Valley is one of the best things in the entire sport. A bucket list trip for many. Assuming both teams are good, we’ll be looking at high stakes, intense SEC football in one of the best venues in America. Sign me up.
A night game in Death Valley. Via Dig Baton Rouge
Plus, the game is becoming a real rivalry. As much as I hate to admit it, this wasn’t a rivalry for a while since LSU beat A&M’s ass, but Jimbo has changed that. A&M has won two of the last three games and there is no love lost between these two fanbases. The potential to see a night game with big implications in Death Valley is enough for my pick as the best road trip in 2021. Side bonus, you can spend a few days in New Orleans. I see a trip to Tiger Stadium very similar to a trip to New Orleans actually. You will probably drink too much, eat too much, run into some crazy people, and be ready to get the hell out at the end of the weekend. But it’s always worth it.
Next up is a classic SEC road trip: Oxford, MS. Ole Miss, and more specifically The Grove, is often regarded as one of the greatest tailgating spectacles in all of college football. If going to a game at LSU is like a wild, booze filled weekend in New Orleans, consider an Ole Miss game like getting wasted at your father’s country club. Student’s dressed to the nines, fancy cocktails and high-falutin’ cockamamies discussing literature. Unlike LSU, I have made the trip to Oxford. I was fortunate enough to see Johnny take down the Rebs in 2013. What a time to be alive.
The Grove in action. Via Ole Miss Gameday
Despite the country club vibe and reputation, it’s a great time and worth it for any SEC football fan. The Grove really is a sight to see and the fans are very generous, at least in my experience. If you take a stroll through all the tents stacked up in The Grove, you will be offered plenty to eat and drink. Southern hospitality is a real thing in Oxford.
The stadium is cool too. Sometimes it’s fun to watch a game in a more intimate stadium. Obviously big, loud stadiums are always going to get more praise but I find it a nice change of pace at times to watch from a smaller venue sometimes. I’d never trade Kyle for another venue but Vaught-Hemingway is a stadium worth a visit. And it can still get loud there, no doubt.
Think of going to LSU as listening to AC/DC on full blast for an entire weekend, while Ole Miss is more like casually drinking in excess and listening to Phish. I personally don’t care all that much for Phish, but it seems like Ole Miss fans probably swear by them and would tell me I just need to see them live to understand. Or something like that. Jam bands aside, the game should be fun this year as well. The Lane Train enters year two at full steam ahead and is getting some hype. A lot of folks think the Rebels will be the surprise team in the SEC west. It will be a tough win, but in Elko we trust.
Now it’s time to leave the South and get Rocky Mountain High. I’m a bit turned off by this since the game will be at Mile High Stadium in Denver. The road trip lost a lot of luster for me when they moved the location off campus. The biggest draw for an away game is to see another school’s campus and stadium. What is the tailgating scene like? Is the stadium nice? Is it loud? Are their fans really into it and passionate on game days? While Mile High Stadium is just over a half hour drive from Folsom Field so the crowd should be filled with Colorado fans, it’s not the same. The pageantry and traditions of a Colorado home game will not be there, or at least not in the same form. I want to see Ralphie running around Folsom Field, not some corporate NFL team’s sterile stadium.
Although an on campus game would be more fun in my opinion, this can still be an incredibly fun road trip for many reasons. First, Denver is a really cool city. Tons of cool things to do, beers to drink (I’m partial to Coors yellow bellies) and mountain views all around. That is hard to beat, especially in early September when it will likely be 100 degrees in Texas. Second, it’s a very affordable flight from any Texas city making it convenient and attainable. Flying direct makes it a way easier to get to than Oxford, and probably even a bit easier than Baton Rouge unless you live in Houston.
One more thing to highlight for that weekend is Red Rocks. If you haven’t seen a show out at Red Rocks, I can’t recommend it enough, and there are some solid shows the weekend of the A&M game. Starting with Jimmy Buffet on September 9th, NEEDTOBREATHE on the 10th and if you stay an extra day, Brandi Carlisle is playing on Sunday the 12th. So you can go see a cool concert (pro tip: sit high enough up at Red Rocks to see over the stage to soak in the incredible view), mountains, escape the Texas heat for a solid price, and likely see A&M whoop up on the Buffs. Sounds like a good weekend to me!
