The largest crowd in Autzen Stadium history was 59,592 for the USC game this year on Halloween. The largest crowd in Beaver Stadium history (the home of Penn State and the largest football stadium in America) was 110,753 for a Penn State win over Nebraska in 2002. The Big House in Michigan squeezed 112,118 people into the stadium to watch Michigan beat Ohio State on Nov. 22, 2003. It was the largest crowd in NCAA
football history.
 
Despite these humongous crowd sizes, Autzen has been heralded as the loudest, most hostile setting to watch a football game. The crowd noise reached 127.2 decibels against USC in 2007 — comparable to a jumbo jet taking off — and opponents regularly talk about how the crowd affected their play.
But if you’re a Duck, there is no better place to play. There are 15 seniors who are saying goodbye to Autzen on Thursday and of all the memories they have from their years in Oregon, the home field is the one that dominates the landscape.
 
“It’s really hard to describe the atmosphere of playing in front of all those fans,” senior cornerback and captain Walter Thurmond III said. “I’m going to miss it a lot. If I had to go out in front of any crowd, I’m glad I had to do it in front of Autzen.”
 
Unfortunately, Thurmond won’t be able to run out of the tunnel because of a knee injury that has held him out since Sept. 26, but the West Covina, Calif. native has been a part of some great memories in Autzen. He started against Oklahoma in 2006 when the Ducks upset the Sooners on a blocked field goal. He was there in 2007 when Oregon beat both USC and Arizona State in front of two of the largest crowds in stadium history. But what Thurmond will remember most is the inescapable noise raining down on the field and invading every nook and cranny of his body.
 
“It’s unbelievable,” he said. “You just hear a humming sound going through your helmet when the crowd gets into it.”
 
“It’s deafening,” senior T.J. Ward said. “You can’t hear anything else.”
 
Another Duck captain and senior, defensive end Will Tukuafu, said his first game against Houston in 2007 is something he will never forget. He was mesmerized by the crowd when he first ran out of the tunnel.
 
“I could hear the rumbling in the tunnel and I didn’t understand the magnitude until I stepped out,” Tukuafu said. “You feel the noise, it’s not just something you hear. It’s amazing. I’m standing next to my D-tackle and you can’t talk to him. You can’t hear him and he can’t hear you. Everything is a hand signal and you put your head down and get ready to go.”
 
For senior running back Andre Crenshaw the spectacle inside Autzen caught him off guard in 2006 when he ran out of the tunnel for his first contest as a Duck against Stanford. He remembers being shocked that such a small place could manage so much noise.
 
“We did pre-game, and I was like, ‘OK, this is cool.’ I didn’t think it was going to be as crowded or as loud as it was,” the Lancaster, Calif. native said. “But when we went back into the locker room and came back out of the tunnel, I did a whole 360 to look at the whole stadium. I was like, ‘This is crazy.’ There’s no other feeling like it.”
 
Senior place kicker Morgan Flint grew up a Duck fan and he was at the memorable Washington-Oregon game in 1994 when Kenny Wheaton had “The Pick.” He’s lived his childhood fantasy of playing for the Oregon Ducks, and now as a senior he has to
say farewell.
 
“It was pretty amazing,” Flint says of his first time out of the Autzen tunnel. “I didn’t have a jersey yet, they actually gave me a Jonathan Stewart jersey because I ended up being 23 and he was 23 his first game.”
 
Little stories like that are what will define this class of seniors more than the big games they play in. Yes, they will play for a Pac-10 championship and a Rose Bowl berth today, but Autzen Stadium has been the backdrop for all of it and will remain forever in their minds. The wins and the losses will fade into a rush of adrenaline as the team emerges from the west tunnel, led by a motorcycle and Puddles the mascot. The cheers wash over the players and don’t stop for the next 60 minutes of football and even longer.
 
This is Autzen Stadium.
 
“It’s like a little kid and their first experience at Disneyland,” senior tight end Ed Dickson said of playing at Autzen for the first time. “You’re amazed, your eyes open and it’s everything you ever dreamed of. Growing up and playing football, this is everything you ever dreamed of. And if every kid in America can experience that, it would make them a better person and cherish life just a little bit more.”
 
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