After all of the shaking hands and reaching out done by coach Todd Graham in the offseason, the fan attendance was going to be a focus for ASU's first football game Thursday night versus NAU.
The inner-state matchup brought 48,658 fans to Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe to watch a brutal beat down of the Lumberjacks from Flagstaff, 63-6.
Not exactly the fan turnout Graham and ASU had hoped for.
The feeble attendance, which some expected due to the nature of the competition, is not something new for ASU’s home opener.
When ASU started its season last year against UC Davis, the attendance was similar, bringing out 45,671 fans. The following game against Missouri on ESPN almost sold out with an attendance of 70,236, seeing a huge fluctuation in attendance.
However, there is one entity of Sun Devil Stadium that never falters: the student section.
Year in and year out, no matter who is behind center or standing on the sideline wearing the headgear, the student section is still packed.
“I’ve been to a few Division I football games and (ASU) is by far the best (student section),” business communication major Dalton Lopes said.
In the Pac-12 Conference, ASU’s student section ranks fifth in size behind USC, Washington State, UA and UCLA.
How does a stadium with a capacity of almost 72,000 have a student section of only 9,000?
UA’s student section — as hard as it is for any ASU student to discuss — stretches from end zone to end zone on the lower half of the east side of the stadium.
This allows for more noise and student involvement up and down the field, instead of just one corner of the stadium.
College football games should include and be about the students as much as possible.
ASU’s student tickets costs ranks from the second-most expensive behind Oregon, which boasts a student section about half the size of Sun Devil Stadium's.
The student section at ASU should be increased, and many students seem to agree.
“There would be a better turnout if the student section was expanded,” elementary education junior Seth Pheasant said.
The students that do attend the football games can attest to the “fanimosity” in the student section, and the youngsters seem to be the ones bringing that intensity on game day.
Jen Fritz, an engineering junior who also serves as a community assistant for ASU Housing, believes attending these games are part of a huge freshman experience.
“It’s a huge deal to them,” Fritz said. “The freshmen come to mingle.”
While freshmen flock to every football game, it seems upperclassmen may be losing interest over the years. Many upperclassmen attendees are football fanatics instead of the typical students supporting their university.
With the new era of smash mouth, disciplined football and Graham's victory mindset, fans of all ages should be flocking to games this season.
The excitement of a new two quarterback system, a first-year coach with a passion to win and a disciplined team playing for a single goal should be a selling point to draw a full house.
At ASU, football has always been the mainstream sport and the team is known to be a “sleeping giant,” referring to its ability to come alive and win football games at any moment.
The passion in Tempe for ASU football is pouring out around the state and should bring past and present fans from all around.
This Saturday’s ESPN matchup with the Illinois Fighting Illini should show who’s “all in” with Graham and the Sun Devils this season.
Reach the columnist at msterrel@asu.edu
