Crowded, excited and loud – that is how Mississippi State University students and officials described the student section of Davis Wade Stadium at the MSU-Florida football game Oct. 24, but many in the MSU community think it was only a preview of what can be expected for tomorrow’s rivalry game against Alabama.
Athletic director Greg Byrne said much of the excitement and energy brought by first-year head football coach Dan Mullen has engaged student football fans at MSU and has led to record crowds in Davis Wade Stadium’s student sections.
“We sold about 11,000 seats; it’s certainly made a great impact – the more seats you have sold the better chance you have somebody in there,” he said.
Noting feedback to the athletic department has been mostly positive, Byrne said the large student turnout at football games has not been without its difficulties.
“We know the student section has been crowded, and you know obviously that’s a result of selling as many tickets as we have,” he said. “Some students want to sit in certain areas and . we understand that, but we also have a responsibility to try to keep it as secure and safe as [we] possibly can, too.”
Byrne said officials in the stadium’s press box watch the entire stadium to spot in-game issues, including monitoring student section crowding, which is regulated by colored armbands indicating the sections where students may sit.
“We know how many armbands we have out and we’re keeping an eye out from up above, and when it looks like it’s getting crowded, they communicate with the people [distributing] the armbands and they’ll shut it off,” he said.
Dean of students Thomas Bourgeois said before the armband program, overcrowding in the lower east-side student section posed a possible danger to students. He said during a home football game against LSU two years ago, before the armband policy was in place, the crowded section made responding to a medical situation difficult for emergency personnel.
“It was an issue of never having that many students, never having that many people and people were piling in there and being in the rows, and because of that incident, we needed to have a way of making sure of who’s coming and who’s going.”
Bourgeois said the support of MSU football, even in the face of recent losses, is a sign of the changing culture around athletics at the university; however, success and popularity also bring challenges in the future.
“[Football seating has] been a luxury for students, but we’ll get to the point where there’s not going to be enough seats for students,” he said. “In the Florida game, we came close to not being able to accommodate students anywhere.”
Byrne said currently the student section in the east-side upper deck has helped prevent student overcrowding.
“That’s the last place that usually fills up, but in reality that’s a really good place to watch the game,” he said.
Student Association President Blake Jeter said while some students have complained about not being able to sit in the section they have always sat in, these inconveniences will result in a better overall game atmosphere.
“I don’t know any student that doesn’t want Mississippi State to have the best student section,” he said. “We’re going to have to get to the game earlier, they’re going to have to be more resourceful, they’re going to be more packed and we’re going to have to deal with some of these growing pains.”
Against the University of Florida, fans set a new attendance record of 57,148 for Davis Wade Stadium. Jeter said the large crowd was not without its incensed fans.
“A lot of people said we were really rowdy for the Florida game,” he said. “You have some people who think the throwing [of] drinks [is] awesome, and you can expect a shower every time we do something well, but I’ve also heard it can hurt someone’s game day experience, especially if you get hit by a cup.”
Jeter said students should cheer for MSU but respect others at the same time also.
“When we’re cussing out [opposing] fans or throwing cowbells at them, that shows the wrong message,” he said. “When you’re yelling and screaming and stomping on the benches, that’s fair game because it’s just showing school spirit.”
In an effort to prevent any problems in the student section during Saturday’s game, Jeter said students can expect to see some increased security at the game.
“My hope would be that these extra security people would be in that area, and if they did something, they’ll call them out when they first see it and send a message for the rest of the time . and hopefully nip it right there. And hopefully, it’ll be fine,” he said.
Although the game is expected to be crowded, Jeter said he expects the energy from the student section to be high.
“People are more into it, people are standing up, people aren’t wanting to sit down when the going gets tough, and for the most part, people are staying the whole game.”
Many students said they expect a crowded stadium for the University of Alabama game similar to the turnout seen against Florida.
Junior psychology major Jamez Lauderdale said he believes it will be a packed game.
“It was really packed everywhere you looked, even in the nosebleed sections,” he said. “It’s going to be the same exact turnout as the Florida game.”
Some students, like Nathan Craft, a senior history major who watched the Florida game from the upper deck student section because the lower sections filled, said the upper deck section had a different atmosphere than the lower sections.
“It was just a little quieter because there are a lot more older people. In the [lower] student section, you’re used to sitting with pretty much all Mississippi State fans, but up there, there were Florida and Mississippi State mixed together. There were no arguing between the two of us; it was just fun,” he said.
Even students who arrived early, like freshman chemical engineering major Chris Callahan said even almost two hours early, his usual place was already filled.
“It was intense. It was hard getting through, we usually have our seats up front, but we got there probably around the same time we usually do and it was already filled,” he said.