Many students didn’t get into the stadium until after halftime. Some couldn’t find seating in the student section, which they paid for. 

MSU Police Department Officer Aaron Schroeder said the chaos that occurred Aug. 30 was a "one-off" situation.

With the help of new policies for the student section line, Schroeder said, there were hopes for a smoother process for Michigan State’s second home game of the season Saturday, when the Spartans played Prairie View A&M.

This season, the university implemented more metal detectors and gates for students to pass through, making for a faster process for students entering the stadium. Also, there is a more defined area where students file in, MSUPD Officer Jamie Izen said. 

"In years past, we had a mosh pit. We had so many issues with students fighting and pushing each other," Izen said. "So now, it’s not a single-file line, but it’s not a big group, to try and minimize the danger."

On Aug. 30, MSU freshman Madeline Kauffman stood in line for hours. She said the student section line was out of control and scary at times. For a while, she was in the "middle-to-back" section of the line, behind the STEM building. She said the students were rowdy and unsafe.

"It just felt two degrees away from a stampede," Kauffman said. "The group I was with, like half of the people were about to pass out. No one was around policing it, and everyone was cutting and getting mad at each other."

Though the new policies were in place, there were still issues at the game on Saturday.

Students were let in at 1:30 pm, two hours before kickoff. At its worst, the student section line wrapped around the STEM building and the last person in line was outside of the front of the Central Services building. 

The game started at 3:30 p.m., which had an attendance of over 70,000. Though thousands of students were let in within the first hour, more started to get in line and it began to move slower. 

Students said getting in line before 2:30 p.m., the wait was upwards of 15 minutes. After that, students were waiting in line for upwards of 45 minutes. 

This begs the question: does the university have ineffective policies for student section lines, or is the problem that students are getting in line too late?

Overall, there are more students going to MSU football games than last year and at the end of the year before. They want to see the new team and the school spirit. 

Students will need to be aware of the possibility that the university may have oversold student section tickets, not expecting so many students to attend games.

Last week, Kauffman stood in line for hours but failed to get a student section ticket, seat and bracelet.

"I did not really get into the game. They ran out of student tickets and neglected to tell (us) they ran out of student tickets," Kauffman said. 

Zoology freshman Lexi Clark had a similar issue Aug. 30. She said when trying to find a seat, "there wasn’t a lot of space."

"Like half the people didn’t get in until after halftime. They were waiting for people to leave the stadium to let more people in," Clark said. "I think they oversold tickets."

At the game Saturday, herds of students left the game before the first quarter ended, most of them saying they couldn’t find a seat and it was too crowded in the student section.

Michigan State’s next home game is against Ohio State on Saturday, Sept. 28. Students who show up closer to kickoff may find it difficult to earn a seat, and many may not make it into the stadium until after the game starts.