Two rows from the Arizona State end zone, with the bands playing around us and the sound of pads cracking in front of us, it hit me.
This was the stuff I normally watch from Yorkshire, thousands of miles away. Now college football was happening at Wembley.
For years, college football for me has meant watching from home. Bands on the television. Mascots on the sidelines. Big plays on a screen. Miami games stretching late into the night and Saturdays disappearing into hours of CFB.
Then, for one Saturday, a little piece of that world made it across the Atlantic.
That is what I took from the first Union Jack Classic.
Arizona State beat Kansas 24-17. But that wasn’t really the story for me. The story was that college football showed it can work in Britain, as long as it still feels like college football.
College Football Needs the College Bit
I had wondered beforehand what the atmosphere would actually be like.
College football is growing over here, but it is still a fairly niche world. Spend enough time on CFB social media and it can feel enormous. Step outside that bubble and there are plenty of sports fans who could not tell you the difference between Kansas, Kansas State and the Kansas City Chiefs.
That was why the travelling support mattered so much.
The Kansas and Arizona State fans brought the event to life through the colours, chants, school gear, mascots, cheerleaders and, most importantly for me, the bands.
I have watched all of that from home for years, but hearing a college band playing throughout a game is completely different.
It fills the gaps.
American football naturally stops and starts, but at Wembley there always seemed to be something happening. The bands played, the stadium DJ got involved, Sparky the Sun Devil was working the crowd and there was even a light show later in the game.
It felt like college football rather than an NFL London game with university logos stuck on it.
That distinction is massive. If the Union Jack Classic has a future, the organisers cannot lose it.
The Moment Wembley Got It
The play I keep coming back to is the punt return touchdown.
The return broke open and Wembley got loud.
No explanation needed. No one checking what they were supposed to be cheering for. Just that instinctive roar you get when thousands of people realise something special is happening at the same time.
The kickoff return to start the second half got another huge reaction from fans.
Then Arizona State defensive lineman Hyrum Vaeono recovered a fumble and started rumbling down the field with what felt like half of Wembley willing the big man into the end zone.
He fell just short, which was a shame because a big-man touchdown at Wembley would have been perfect.
Those moments convinced me more than any attendance figure could.
There is an audience for this here.
The official crowd was 46,523 and the entire upper tier was closed, which admittedly looked strange if you have previously seen Wembley absolutely packed for football, concerts or NFL games.
But the atmosphere around us never felt flat. The travelling support deserves a lot of credit for that.
From Yorkshire to Wembley Way
My favourite part of the weekend might actually have happened before kickoff.
We had driven down from Yorkshire on Friday and spent Friday night and Saturday morning doing the London tourist bits before heading across to Wembley.
Then you walk out of Wembley Park station and there it is.
Wembley Way covered in Union Jack Classic branding. Kansas fans. Arizona State fans. Bands. Mascots. And at the bottom of the steps, the Big Noon Kickoff set.
That one got me.
I have seen Big Noon Kick Off from the other side of the Atlantic. Suddenly we were stood at the bottom of Wembley Way watching the show go out live.
It sounds daft, but those are the little moments that made the weekend.
Seeing Sparky up close. Talking Miami with American fans. Meeting Kansas supporters who wanted to know if I had watched the Canes against Wake Forest.
My two mates had bought Kansas hoodies from Vinted for the occasion and were repeatedly mistaken for people who had travelled over from Kansas. One of them had never watched a game of American football before.
By the end, he wanted to come again next year.
That might be the best review the Union Jack Classic could get.
The UK College Football Community Was There Too
One of the nicest surprises was seeing people I knew from the UK college football world around the event.
I caught up with some of the lads from the AAW Network, saw creators and journalists covering the weekend and had Alex Evans from Gridiron Magazine recognise me. It was amazing to see that wider community around Wembley in person.
None of us are pretending college football is suddenly mainstream over here. It is not.
But standing around Wembley and seeing that community gathered in one place made it feel a little less niche than it normally does from behind a screen.
That matters to me because Canes Across the Pond has always been about making Miami and college football feel a bit more accessible from this side of the Atlantic.
But the Price Has to Be Right
There is one obvious problem.
Tickets.
Ours were around £60 because we bought almost immediately when they went on sale. I was comfortable paying that because I already knew I wanted to be there.
But I saw other tickets at £100-plus, with some going beyond £200.
At that point you are asking a lot.
I would have seriously thought twice. My mate who had never watched American football definitely would not have come.
That is where the problem sits. The hardcore fan will find a way. The person you are trying to convert probably will not.
There were eventually four-for-three offers and, slightly painfully for me, I discovered a few weeks before the game that NHS staff could get free tickets through Tickets for Good.
I had already paid. Cheers for that.
I still do not regret buying mine, but it does suggest the initial pricing probably needed another look.
Promotion is similar.
Because I follow college football, I knew the game was happening everywhere I looked. Other people apparently had no idea.
If this event is going to grow, NFL fans should be one of the biggest targets. There is already a huge audience in Britain that likes American football. The job is convincing them that Saturdays are worth watching too.
Bring It Back
I absolutely want the Union Jack Classic back next year.
One game a year feels perfect.
I would not try to turn this into the NFL London schedule with three or four games. Keep it as an occasion. Make it the weekend British college football fans circle on the calendar.
I would love to see different cities involved this could create a brilliant city-centre college football weekend.
But Wembley has something. It is Wembley.
Seeing the teams run out with fireworks going off around the stadium roof looked brilliant. Sitting two rows behind the Arizona State end zone, thanks to my wife somehow securing ridiculously good seats while I was stuck at work on ticket-release day, made it even better.
The next challenge is the teams.
Kansas and Arizona State brought brilliant support, and I came away with a bit of a soft spot for Kansas. I had expected ASU to win, so I went with the underdog and bought a KU hoodie inside the stadium. I was very close to picking up some ASU gear as well, partly because maroon and gold is not a million miles away from Bradford City colours.
But bringing over one of the huge blue blood brands could open the event up to another audience entirely.
And yes, obviously I have another suggestion.
Miami.
Miami against Florida or Florida State in England?
I might have to move into Wembley Park for the week.
The Last Word from Across the Pond
After the game we stayed to watch Arizona State lift the Union Jack Classic trophy before heading to Boxpark and letting the Tube crowds disappear.
We ended up talking about the same things all night. The bands. The fans. Sparky. The returns. The big-man run. Even the bloke sitting near us who somehow managed to start a Mexican wave that made it onto Wembley’s social media.
But mostly we talked about doing it again.
That is what the Union Jack Classic got right.
I went to Wembley hoping to finally experience some of the things I have spent years watching from Yorkshire. I came away wanting more.
More college football in Britain. More people discovering why the sport is different.
Canes Across the Pond exists because I wanted somewhere for fans over here to access Miami and college football without feeling like they needed to already know everything. This weekend reminded me why that matters.
Hopefully next year, if everything falls into place, my next live college football experience will be slightly further from home.
Miami.
Because Wembley gave me my first taste of live college football.
Now I want to see The U.
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