BYU Traditions: Traveling Fans

Say college football traditions and dozens of images come to mind.

Some traditions revolve around the marching band like dotting the "i" at Ohio State or Wisconsin's fifth quarter. Other traditions like rolling Toomer's Corner in Auburn or Howard's Rock at Clemson seem more random to those of us who are removed from these programs, although they have interesting back stories.

The Washington State has allegedly had their flag flown in the crowd for every ESPN College Game Day show for the last decade.

The Georgia-Florida game has "the World's Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party." Speaking of tailgating, Washington fans ride their boats to the stadium and sailgate.

Animal mascots like Bevo the longhorn at Texas and Ralphie the buffalo at Colorado are also lots of fun.

Finally, perhaps no tradition draws fans closer together than kissing after every touchdown at Texas A & M.

Traditions

Part of the magic of the college football season is all of the traditions that surround each of the teams. These traditions endear the programs to us, draw us closer together, and nuance our experiences as fans. The great thing is that although many teams share similar traditions, such as team walks to the stadiums and blackout/whiteout/striped games, each program still has its own unique traditions which separates it from the rest of the pack.

The BYU Traditions Weekly Post

This weekly post will be about the traditions and legends surrounding our favorite program, Brigham Young University.

The Traveling Fans

To kick things off, we are going to focus on BYU's "traveling" fans. BYU is one of the few programs that has fans who consistently show up to away games in large numbers.

Some fans like to travel from the home base in Utah to away games. The primary reason BYU fans attend away games so well is that BYU is owned by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Having this direct tie to church membership means that BYU has a nucleus of fans wherever the team may play.

A family of Cougar faithful from Virginia recently lamented to me that although BYU is playing in their home state this week, they had to head out west to take their son to BYU-Idaho.

Fans like these love to go to games and watch BYU play on the road. Some 15,000 fans attended the BYU-Oklahoma game in Dallas, Texas four years ago. Fans even showed up earlier this summer to watch Tyler Haws practice with the U.S. team in preparation for the World University Games.

This is a great tradition for BYU, and while it may not be as sensational as Osceola stabbing a burning spear in the field, it contributes to BYU being an attractive opponent and adds to the experience of BYU faithful throughout the country.

Tell us about a cherished experience you had at an away BYU football game in the comments below.