Josh Pate on Autzen Stadium: 'This Place Is Louder Than Any Other Venue in the Big Ten'

CBS Sports college football analyst Josh Pate called Oregon's Autzen Stadium the loudest venue in the Big Ten conference during his live show on Sunday.

Pate, who visited Eugene for Saturday's blockbuster matchup between No. 2 Oregon and No. 4 Ohio State, travels across the country each season taking in college football's best atmospheres.

On Sunday, after witnessing a raucous battle on west coast soil between two of the sports current juggernauts, he had seen enough.

"The Big Ten's loudest stadium is in Eugene, Oregon," Pate said. "This place was out of its mind last night."

In Pate's eyes, Autzen has surpassed Penn State's Beaver Stadium, Michigan's "Big House," Wisconsin's Camp Randall Stadium, and even Ohio State's "Shoe."

He's visited them all, and Oregon's home field heads the list,

"I'm not going to present myself on the authority of many things, but this I will. I've been blessed enough to have stood on the field for the biggest games in all these environments, and I was there last night," Pate said. "This place is louder than any other venue in the Big Ten, including places with 30 and 40,000 more seats capacity than Autzen Stadium has."

Pate went on to note that many college football fans disagreed with him when he first made these claims after the Ducks' win on Saturday. Not everyone is ready to admit the premier stadium atmosphere on the west coast sits in Eugene, Oregon.

"The people disagreeing on how loud Autzen is have never been to a game there," Pate said. "I would doubt it too if I hadn't been there. They're having to break fire marshal codes to get 60,000 people in that place. I know. I don't care, because I've experienced it."

Oregon is now 13-4 at home against top-ten opponents since 2000. Even before the Ducks bested the Buckeyes on Saturday, Autzen Stadium has been recognized as an intimidating college football environment for good reason.

"Ohio State was, at times, very shaken and very rattled by that environment," Pate said. "And Ohio State's Ohio State, man. They go into very, very big environments. They deal with this stuff, and they couldn't deal with it last night."

While Pate says he expected a phenomenal atmosphere on Saturday, he admits that Oregon fans even blew his expectations out of the water.

"If you guys wanna doubt me on this, doubt me on this, doubt me," Pate said. "But make sure you yourself go to a game there, make sure it's a big Saturday, and make sure your team gets out of there with a win before you start to run your mouth about these sorts of things."

The Ducks will have to wait an extra week before their next game inside "The Autzen Zoo." They'll host Illinois on Saturday, October 26.