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Mark Hollis, Mark Dantonio express disappointment in student section participation

October 6, 2014
<p>Head coach Mark Dantonio yells at the referee after a pass interference call was made Oct. 4, 2014. during the game against Nebraska at Spartan Stadium. The Spartans defeated the Cornhuskers, 27-22. Erin Hampton/The State News</p>

Head coach Mark Dantonio yells at the referee after a pass interference call was made Oct. 4, 2014. during the game against Nebraska at Spartan Stadium. The Spartans defeated the Cornhuskers, 27-22. Erin Hampton/The State News

Photo by Erin Hampton | The State News

Saturday’s matchup between No. 8 MSU and No. 21 Nebraska came down to the wire, with the Spartans needing an interception by junior cornerback Trae Waynes to seal the 27-22 victory.

But not many students were left to see the thrilling finish.

The listed attendance for Saturday’s game against the Cornhuskers was 75,923, but Spartan Stadium seemed vacant for the final moments, including the student section. And the poor attendance has picked up national attention, starting with Mark Hollis, the MSU athletics director.

Hollis sent out a string of tweets late Sunday evening stating his displeasure with the student turnout in recent games.

“I spoke with many students & they share my disappointment and embarrassment of the support coming from the southeast corner on Saturday,” Hollis tweeted at 6:05 p.m. on Sunday.

“We will work together to build a student section that enhances our teams ability to win championships. From kickoff to the end of the game,” Hollis tweeted at 6:07 p.m. on Sunday.

“As a program, we are prepared to make the changes that will fill Spartan Stadium with Spartan fans that want to be there,” Hollis said in his final tweet on the matter at 6:09 p.m. on Sunday.

The lack of students attending and staying for the entire game has become an issue throughout recent years, with some calling for the student section to be reduced in size. The issue has reached a fever-pitch, with even head coach Mark Dantonio making a point to call out students following Saturday’s game.

Despite poor weather conditions of 40 degree temperatures and rain throughout the evening, Dantonio said he was disappointed in the number of fans that stuck around for the ending of the game when the defense needed that home crowd-boost the most.

“I don’t call for the fans many times, you know, (but) we needed it to be loud there,” Dantonio said on Saturday. “It’s a big football game and it got a little bit empty there at the end, but I guess it’s Saturday night.”

The fans emotions and creating an atmosphere in Spartan Stadium is something that helps boost the players’ energy. Senior left guard Travis Jackson wasn’t quick to call out the students for not sticking around throughout the evening, but pointed out that the team feeds off their excitement when they are in attendance.

“It’s always awesome to have our fans there in the student section there but I don’t know what they had to do, if they had something else to do,” Jackson said. “So we feed off them and they were great in the first half, they’re a huge reason we go up in the first half, feeding off their energy and if it comes down to it we need to finish in the fourth quarter as a team.”

In a previous story published by The State News, MSU has sold out all 14,000 student season tickets this season, its highest total since selling 16,000 for the 1988 season.

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