ASU is expecting about 55,000 fans for the first ASU football game of the season tonight, and although problems are rare, alcohol is usually behind unruly behavior.
"Most of the cases of disorderly conduct are a result of alcohol," said ASU police Commander Jim Hardina.
Although alcohol is not sold during ASU games, some fans spend too much time tailgating and are intoxicated walking into the stadium, he said.
Most of the problems that occur in the stands are disorderly conduct and alcohol-related issues, said ASU police Commander Mark Roberts.
ASU police documented 65 incidents during the 2005 ASU football season. There were 44 incidents of disorderly conduct or fighting and nine incidents of intoxication and alcohol possession, according to ASU police reports.
Roberts said fans should remember underage drinking, public intoxication and sneaking alcohol in the stadium will get you ejected from the stadium and possibly arrested.
ASU police will have 65 officers for security at Sun Devil Stadium, police said.
"Our goal is to have a safe event and do whatever it takes to have a safe event," Roberts said.
When problems do occur, they happen throughout the entire stadium not just in the student section, Roberts said.
"The students don't cause the problems, they are just exuberant fans," Hardina said.
The student section holds about 7,800 students, said Bill Givens, ASU assistant athletic director.
"Our students are great football fans," Givens said. "They come early, stay late and are a viable part of our football game."
Roberts said he thought the biggest issue in the student section is not disorderly conduct, but overcrowding. Students want to be with their friends and cheer on their team, but it can get overly crowded in the section, he said.
Christina Remington, an accounting senior, agreed it's crowded in the student section, but she thinks it is generally safe for students.
"The only problem I had is when [the students] rushed the field," she said.
Remington, who is 5 feet 1 inch, said she was worried she'd be overrun by the crowd.
ASU police said security at Arizona Cardinals football games in Sun Devil Stadium was historically more problematic than ASU football games.
"ASU football games are more of a family event," Roberts said. "About 90 percent of the fans at an ASU game are rooting for ASU."
With most fans rooting for ASU, there is less opportunity for fans from opposing teams to get into a conflict, Roberts said.
Reach the reporter at jeffrey.mitchell@asu.edu
