Maverik Stadium, also known as Merlin Olsen Field at Maverik Stadium, is an outdoor college football stadium in the Western United States, on the campus of Utah State University in Logan, Utah. The home field of the Utah State Aggies of the Mountain West Conference, it opened in 1968 as " and currently has a seating capacity Its field has a traditional north-south alignment, and sits at an elevation of above sea level. The playing surface was natural grass through 2003, and is currently AstroTurf GameDay Grass.
Previously named for Dick Romney, USU's all-time most successful football coach and former athletics director, Romney Stadium was officially dedicated on in the stadium came a season earlier in 1968, when USU defeated New Mexico State
History
Prior to the construction of the first Romney Stadium, intercollegiate and intramural competition took place on a makeshift field east of Old Main. This area, which would eventually become the Quad, served the needs of the college’s football and track teams until 1913. According to historian A. J. Simmonds, it “was the responsibility of players to pick the rocks off the playing field before matches.” Student Phebe Nebeker recalled the field's appearance after accompanying her future husband, Elmer G. Peterson, to a contest in 1903. “It wasn’t anything like what we think of today as a football stadium. It was merely a somewhat flat area - with a little grass here and there - that was very muddy when it rained and very hard when it didn’t. One small set of bleachers had been erected near the southeast corner of Old Main, but most of the patrons had to stand or sit on patches of grass along the playing field.”
In 1913, college contests began taking place at Adams Field, located west of Old Main Hill on the east side of the present Adams Park. Although Adams Field represented an improvement, it did not provide the type of facility which could launch the Aggies into competitive intercollegiate play. The sparse facilities became more obvious after the college employed Coach Lowell “Dick” Romney in 1918, and Aggie football began experiencing considerable success.
First Romney Stadium
The original Romney Stadium was built in 1927 on the grounds where the Health, Physical Education and Recreation (HPER) building now stands. That facility was dedicated in 1927 on October 8, in recognition of Coach E.L. "Dick" Romney's lasting contributions to Utah State football. It served as Utah State's home for 41 seasons (1927–67); USU played its final game in the old complex on November 11, 1967, defeating Montana 20–14.
Second Romney Stadium
The stadium retained the Romney name as it was relocated farther north on Utah State's campus to its present location. The first game in the current location was played on Sept. 14, 1968 when the Aggies defeated New Mexico State, 28–12, and the facility was officially dedicated on Sept. 27, 1969. The stadium was financed by a student body which believed in athletics to the extent of underwriting a special bonding assessment for both Romney Stadium and the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum, which serves as home for Utah State's basketball, gymnastics and volleyball teams.
Thanks to a massive volunteer effort in 1980, 10,000 seats were added to the southern bowl which brought the capacity of the stadium to 30,257. Prior to the 1997 season, approximately 4,000 chair back seats replaced wooden bleachers on the west side of the stadium. Ahead of the 1999 season, new scoreboards were added at each end of the stadium and additional bleacher seats were installed as well. New aluminum bleachers replaced wooden bleachers on the lower sections of the east side of the stadium in 2001. In 2003, that project expanded to the upper sections. Changes in the space allocated for a "seat" by the NCAA reduced stadium capacity to 25,513.
In the summer of 2004, the bent bluegrass field was replaced with a state of the art synthetic turf by SprinTurf. Prior to the 2005 season a new south end entrance, improved concession stands and restroom facilities as well as a widened concourse on the east side of the stadium were completed.