The Spartans narrowly ?escaped.
Tangled in a match-up with undefeated Nebraska, Michigan State led by five points in the fourth quarter.
It was the kind of interconference game that’s never truly finished, even after the No. 10 team in the country goes up by 24.
But by the end of the third quarter, students had decided to call this one early, their section attendance trickling down to nearly a quarter of what it was at kickoff.
They were the worst offenders in a mass exodus that totaled roughly 50,000 fans.
What that crowd missed was three Cornhusker touchdowns in 10 minutes, followed by a last-second drive into Michigan State territory that, luckily for the Spartans, ended in an interception.
Michigan State Athletic Director Mark Hollis and Coach Mark Dantonio said fans played a part in Nebraska’s comeback.
The noise level decrease in the fourth quarter turned the coliseum Spartan Stadium, where the home team hasn’t lost since Nov. 17, 2012, into a sanctuary ripe for upset.
But the “disappointment and embarrassment” Hollis later expressed on Twitter are far from isolated feelings.
Atop the Big Ten, Michigan State has the least of problems in a conference in terms of attendance. Purdue leads the nation in attendance decreases with 36 percent and Illinois cracks the top-10 with 12.
Across the nation, the average annual attendance at college football games has ?decreased annually since 2009.
But perhaps it’s not fair to point fingers at students as Hollis and Dantonio did.
Just as the landscape of college football has changed, so has the fan experience.
Gone are the days when the stadium bleachers were the only place to watch college football.
For many, the couch has become a more preferable option, giving fans the power of warmth, comfort and a close-up view to dozens of sporting events, not just one.
As soon as a game becomes out of reach, viewers can change the channel.
That mentality has translated into college stadiums. Patience is short, and the demand to be constantly entertained is high.
With sports bars and smartphones to compete with, the adversary in competing for eyeballs is no longer limited to the opposing team.
Capturing enough attention to fill a stadium of 50,000-plus is often more difficult when the match-up is uneven, the elements take control and the score begins to tilt.
The fan-to-team relationship is a two-way street. But scales in this dynamic have been tipped for quite some time.
The football team doesn’t walk off the field when its fans are booing. It doesn’t neglect to show up when the odds aren’t favorable.
Upsets happen because there is belief and support, because a team believes records do not tally will-power or ability and the actions of the team support it.
The more talented teams receive more belief and support in the form of rankings and prime time TV slots, and rightfully so.
But the last thing that should go is a team’s home field advantage , its fan base .
Hoosiers, it’s homecoming week. And I know that throughout, people will be celebrating.
But when you celebrate, remember why.
There’s a football game taking place in Memorial Stadium this Saturday.
Some of IU alumni’s greatest memories happened there.
Backup quarterback Chris Covington will make his first start at home against the No. 8-ranked team in the country.
And if there is any time to show that he and the IU football team need support, now is that time.
In the spirit of Homecoming and all that is good about college football, let’s pack Memorial Stadium from the front row of the Quarry to top-row bleachers.
Teach the Spartans that when they come to Hoosier turf, they won’t escape as easily as they did at Spartan ?Stadium.
vziege@indiana.edu
