The smell of hot dogs, hamburgers, barbecue and beer floated through the brisk October air outside Memorial Stadium as the parking lots and tailgate fields were packed before IU’s homecoming matchup against Rutgers.
While most of the parties on Saturday morning were happening outside the stadium, IU was ready to kick off its own. Before most people were even in their seats, fireworks were already going off as IU got on the scoreboard within the first 10 seconds of the game, a Memorial Stadium record.
On the first play of the game, Rutgers’ redshirt-freshman quarterback Johnny Langan dropped back to pass but was quickly met by sophomore defensive tackle Demarcus Elliott in the backfield. Fifth-year senior Reakwon Jones immediately scooped up the loose ball on the ground, directing blockers on his way to the end zone as the Hoosiers jumped all over the Scarlet Knights early.
This type of success on Homecoming is rare for IU who hasn’t won a homecoming game since 2010, when the Hoosiers had to mount a second-half comeback against Arkansas State University in a 38-36 victory.
“I can tell you I was there, but not what happened," Neal Rodgers, IU class of 1992 said.
For Rodgers, coming back to Bloomington for Homecoming is a tradition for himself and his old college friends. Every year they meet back up in Bloomington for homecoming weekend to get a chance to relive their glory days in college.
“Me and my friends have come back for homecoming for about the last 12 years,” Rodgers said. “We just like to comeback and remember what it was like to be in college for a weekend. We go to the usual places: Nick’s and ‘Roys and just try to have a good time.”
The reality of homecoming weekend — and especially at IU — is that it’s more about what happens outside Memorial Stadium, and there just happens to be a football game that weekend as well.
Despite IU having one of its best seasons in recent memory and being just two wins away from its first bowl game in the Tom Allen era, empty seats were prevalent as students barely filled two of the lower bowl sections.
As what seems to be the status quo, the main event remains outside the gates of Memorial Stadium.
“I didn’t even want to come in but I lost rock, paper, scissors to my friend,” junior Jacob Connors said in the concourse outside the student section. “We got to the fields by like eight to set up our tailgate and were just trying to have fun and stay warm.”
