Spartans and Buckeyes alike gathered on the hallowed ground near Beaumont Tower on Saturday morning to celebrate as ESPN’s College GameDay broadcasted live from East Lansing.
The popular show made its sixth trip to Spartan country, with the most recent visit coming a season ago, when MSU upset Wisconsin 37-31 on a Hail Mary pass from quarterback Kirk Cousins that found wide receiver Keith Nichol in the final seconds of the game.
“We’ve had coaches tell us that (College GameDay) just adds one more layer to the hype because the students get excited and the players are students and they get caught up in it a little bit,” College GameDay host Chris Fowler told members of the media on Friday.
Fowler, along with analysts Kirk Herbstreit, Lee Corso and Desmond Howard, make up the College GameDay crew, which went into its 26th year of production this season.
Several hundred students made their way close to the College GameDay set just north of Beaumont Tower. Many attendees came equipped with signs and blown up pictures of recognizable MSU figures, including head football coach Mark Dantonio.
With several weeks before the MSU football team meets in-state rival Michigan in Ann Arbor, the crowd also was cognizant of the rivalry, booing each time former Michigan wide receiver and College GameDay analyst Howard spoke on the air and every time Michigan quarterback Denard Robinson came on the screen.
Just as the show got underway, general management freshman Daniel Kolker was leaving, despite saying he was one of the first people in line.
“4:30 in the morning,” Kolker said. “We were back in front of Beaumont. Probably like one hundred or so. It was crazy.”
Although Kolker didn’t stay for the entire event, he still said he had fun and would do it again in the future.
“It was a great experience,” he said. “Free Cheez-Its, free helmets and I was on TV, but I don’t know if my legs can stand up anymore.”
There were almost as many Ohio State fans at the event as there were Spartans, which comes as no surprise in an event of this magnitude.
Nathan Prass, a third year OSU student was enjoying taking in the festivities, but obviously was a little biased when asked about the College GameDay atmosphere in East Lansing versus Columbus.
“It’s a nice, quaint little town,” Prass said. “It’s not the same. I probably would say about half as many people.”
When asked about the result of the game, he naturally picked OSU to win 24-21.
The Spartans are 2-3 when College GameDay visits East Lansing, with the other win coming against Michigan in 1999.
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