ESPN: Michigan State AD upset by student section

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BleedGopher

BleedGopher

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per ESPN:

Changes may be coming to the student section at Spartan Stadium after what officials called a disappointing showing for Michigan State's 27-22 win over Nebraska on Saturday night.

Athletic director Mark Hollis took to Twitter on Sunday night to express his "embarrassment" with the pockets of empty seats that filled the student section during Saturday's prime-time, nationally televised game against the Cornhuskers.

He said he spoke to members of the student body about finding ways to increase attendance.

Hollis said more than 13,000 students bought season tickets to this year's home games. Their corner of the stadium never filled Saturday for one of the most anticipated Big Ten regular-season games of the season.

By the fourth quarter, when Michigan State built a 27-3 lead on a wet night with temperatures in the 40s, more bleachers were visible than bodies.

Michigan State coach Mark Dantonio and a few Spartans players said they noticed the evaporating crowd during the fourth quarter. The noise decreased, they said, during Nebraska's late comeback bid.

"We needed it to be loud there, and it's a big football game, and it got a little empty there at the end," Dantonio said Saturday night.

http://espn.go.com/college-football...michigan-state-ad-embarrassed-student-section

Go Gophers!!
 

BleedGopher said:
Athletic director Mark Hollis took to Twitter on Sunday night to express his "embarrassment" with the pockets of empty seats that filled the student section during Saturday's prime-time, nationally televised game against the Cornhuskers.
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"Pockets" of empty seats is being generous. Here's Spartan Stadium in the fourth quarter.

j8qJNjl.jpg


Now, granted, it was raining, cold, and MSU had dominated the game pretty thoroughly to that point. But still, disappointing to see if you're a Spartan fan.
 


Gopher07 said:
"Pockets" of empty seats is being generous. Here's Spartan Stadium in the fourth quarter.

j8qJNjl.jpg


Now, granted, it was raining, cold, and MSU had dominated the game pretty thoroughly to that point. But still, disappointing to see if you're a Spartan fan.
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Rain. Check.
Cold. Check.
Nearly midnight. Check.
Team up 27-3. Check.
Let's go drink....

This is not a surprise. The real anger should be directed at the Michigan State defense in the second half.
 

I've got $5 that said the AD wasn't exposed to the elements himself at that point.
 


The whole stadium was like that. Maybe he should call out the STH too.
 

BarnBoy said:
The real anger should be directed at the Michigan State defense in the second half.
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The defense? I think you mean the offense. They went into "protect the lead" mode; Dantonio admitted as much after the game, saying he told his offense to run the ball and kill clock once they went up 27-3. He admitted it was a mistake to go conservative.

This game wouldn't even have been close if Sparty had put the hammer down offensively. The defense was outstanding -- looked more like we're used to seeing it -- allowing only 16 points (6 Husker points came on special teams) while making Abdullah a complete non-factor (24 carries, 45 yards). Nebraska came in averaging 355 ypg on the ground and ended up with 47 yards on 37 carries.
 

highwayman said:
The whole stadium was like that. Maybe he should call out the STH too.
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Not true. I was at the game. Some left early, but the glaring "hole" was the corner student section which started to recede about halftime and then got progressively worse.
 

SelectionSunday said:
The defense? I think you mean the offense. They went into "protect the lead" mode; Dantonio admitted as much after the game, saying he told his offense to run the ball and kill clock once they went up 27-3. He admitted it was a mistake to go conservative.

This game wouldn't even have been close if Sparty had put the hammer down offensively. The defense was outstanding -- looked more like we're used to seeing it -- allowing only 16 points (6 Husker points came on special teams) while making Abdullah a complete non-factor (24 carries, 45 yards). Nebraska came in averaging 355 ypg on the ground and ended up with 47 yards on 37 carries.
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Its always a mistake, and I think it is the most common one in sports. Everyone seems to think that getting a big lead is a good reason to change what you are doing. Why not keep doing what got you the big lead in the first place? To me, if something is working well enough that you have built up a giant lead, that is a good reason to continue it, not to change it.
 




SelectionSunday said:
The defense? I think you mean the offense. They went into "protect the lead" mode; Dantonio admitted as much after the game, saying he told his offense to run the ball and kill clock once they went up 27-3. He admitted it was a mistake to go conservative.

This game wouldn't even have been close if Sparty had put the hammer down offensively. The defense was outstanding -- looked more like we're used to seeing it -- allowing only 16 points (6 Husker points came on special teams) while making Abdullah a complete non-factor (24 carries, 45 yards). Nebraska came in averaging 355 ypg on the ground and ended up with 47 yards on 37 carries.
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Sure, the offense went into "protect the lead" mode, but the defense did them no favors. They took away the run, but forgot to cover Westerkamp.

We were in the corner about 40 rows up from the Spartan bench and their was no focus on the sideline during the 3rd quarter. Dancing. Goofing around during commercials, etc. This is not just a "gutsy performance" by Nebraska. It's also a complete lack of focus by MSU. 50/50 if you ask me.
 

station19 said:
What time is last call in East Lansing?
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2am. Someone on r/cfb had a good post on the subject of student attendance:

The students don't care. The game is nothing more than a social event for many. They go to the game to hangout with their friends and only really stay if the game is close. This is how it happens in almost every friend group:

In this hypothetical situation we have 3 girls and 5 guys. 2 girls are in relationships with 2 of the guys. 1 girl is single and 1 guy is trying to hook up with her. 1 guy is in a relationship but his girlfriend isn't at the game. The last guy is a huge sports fan and genuinely wants to watch the whole game regardless of the score.

When the game starts to look like it's in hand, one of the couples decides, "hey we're going to go back to the dorm/house/apt we're getting tired." girl 3 (single) decides to follow because she didn't really care about the game anyway, she was there because her friends were there. This sparks guy trying to hook up with her that he no longer has any interest in the game anymore and leaves with them.

So now we're down to 4 people. 1 couple, a guy with a girlfriend, and the fan. The guy with the girlfriend "goes to the bathroom" and never returns, later you find out he was leaving because he got in a fight with his girlfriend. The last couple then starts to barter with the fan about when to leave "if MSU scores here, we'll leave". Eventually, they leave just like everybody else.

I've been pretty much every one of the guys in this scenario. When the game becomes one-sided, it's no longer the social "place to be". So they want to move on to the next party.
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http://www.reddit.com/r/CFB/comments/2ie96s/whats_your_opinion_about_student_section/cl1fp4g
 

BarnBoy said:
Sure, the offense went into "protect the lead" mode, but the defense did them no favors. They took away the run, but forgot to cover Westerkamp.

We were in the corner about 40 rows up from the Spartan bench and their was no focus on the sideline during the 3rd quarter. Dancing. Goofing around during commercials, etc. This is not just a "gutsy performance" by Nebraska. It's also a complete lack of focus by MSU. 50/50 if you ask me.
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Fair enough. MSU certainly looked like they lost focus in the 4th quarter. I would imagine Dantonio will have their attention in practice this week. I do think Nebraska deserves credit for never giving in. They played all 4 quarters. ... unlike Sparty did on this occasion.
 





SelectionSunday said:
Fair enough. MSU certainly looked like they lost focus in the 4th quarter. I would imagine Dantonio will have their attention in practice this week. I do think Nebraska deserves credit for never giving in. They played all 4 quarters. ... unlike Sparty did on this occasion.
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The box score says that Nebraska only played 1 quarter :)
 

afurry91 said:
The box score says that Nebraska only played 1 quarter :)
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Ha ha, this. Yes, I give Nebraska credit for not quitting and playing until the end. Armstrong especially showed some guts coming back in after some kind of injury and making some very nice passes along the way (and some bad ones). But still, MSU dominated Nebraska until they got bored and complacent and started making some bad play calls. It almost cost them the game, but it didn't. They might learn something.

Anyway, +1 to Bad Gopher. The AD, slurping down fancy food with the swells, is pretty rich to be ripping on the students for leaving. This game was at 8PM (EST) on a cold rainy night due to $$$$$$$$ from TV. If there are any students he should be mad at for leaving early, it should be the ones in shoulder pads as they mentally checked out with about a quarter to go. I was watching it, and I kept waiting for them to make the 1-2 plays to put the final nail in Nebraska's coffin and I had to wait until 30 seconds left on the clock before they did it.

Dantonio's done a great job there, but their punter appears to suck. I'm not going to look it up to see if it was an aberration, but the last 2 punts were awful.
 



Golden Elephant said:
Ha ha, this. Yes, I give Nebraska credit for not quitting and playing until the end. Armstrong especially showed some guts coming back in after some kind of injury and making some very nice passes along the way (and some bad ones). But still, MSU dominated Nebraska until they got bored and complacent and started making some bad play calls. It almost cost them the game, but it didn't. They might learn something.

Anyway, +1 to Bad Gopher. The AD, slurping down fancy food with the swells, is pretty rich to be ripping on the students for leaving. This game was at 8PM (EST) on a cold rainy night due to $$$$$$$$ from TV. If there are any students he should be mad at for leaving early, it should be the ones in shoulder pads as they mentally checked out with about a quarter to go. I was watching it, and I kept waiting for them to make the 1-2 plays to put the final nail in Nebraska's coffin and I had to wait until 30 seconds left on the clock before they did it.

Dantonio's done a great job there, but their punter appears to suck. I'm not going to look it up to see if it was an aberration, but the last 2 punts were awful.
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Sadler usually is an excellent punter, but he wasn't Saturday night. Had a couple costly bad ones.
 





discochris said:
Last call, or if you're underaged, to get to the party before the keg runs dry.
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I was at the game - weather wasn't that bad but I sat in front of possibly the biggest tool I have ever sat near to at any sporting event - "Ken" section 30 row 30 - what a tool - but the sparty fans are a little too ino themelves after their BT championsip and rose bowl win last year - while we needed a nebraska loss by the second quarter I was hoping sparty would choke on it
 

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