With all due respect to the Sun Belt and its member institutions, the facilities at Arkansas State befit an institution in a higher weight class. Although to be fair, this is our first Sun Belt trip, so we may be completely off base and victim of reputational bias.
The 2018 Quest season gets underway with a Week 0 contest at UMass. Yes, that is correct, Week 0. Four games will be played on this weekend, and we are headed to the first that will kick off. UMass presented us with an opportunity that could not be passed up by the powers that be at Quest Headquarters, a game before school starts for our kids.
Al’s awesome idea for this trip was to get a boat to take us to the game and tailgate. There are only a few schools in the nation where you can dock at the stadium.
I am not going to say too much about the game. I did not get the new Florida offense I was hoping for with Randy Shannon replacing Coach Mac.
The game started out well for Ball State as the first quarter went the way of the Cardinals leading to a 7-3 Ball State lead. This turned in the 2Q as Toledo scored 3 touchdowns to lead 24-10 at the half.
I do have one question for the USU coaching staff…The final USU drive began with USU up 45-28 and 7:10 on the clock. This drive would eventually consume 16 plays, 94 yards, and 6:11 in time of possession, ultimately resulting in a touchdown.
This is the second time the Quest would be seeing this match up as two years ago we were at Western Michigan when the Broncos gave the Spartans all they could handle. Would this game be the same?
Target, in a feeble attempt to make up for the B&B he booked at Western Michigan, arranged for a tailgate location. He still has a ways to go to make up for the Stuart Avenue Inn, but you have to start somewhere.
On the way to the bookstore, we ran right into a student protest. The students were protesting the eviction of the student run bookstore. They proceeded to block traffic for approximately 10 minutes chanting “Students over Profits” and “Whose University?
Do you want to see equestrian? I can honestly say that was the first time we have ever been asked that, so of course the answer was “sure.” Good decision….very good decision.