EAST LANSING – Two days after he was named Michigan State’s new athletic director, Alan Haller was on the road for the football team’s season opener at Northwestern.
Prior to the Spartans’ 38-21 win last week, he walked around tailgates speaking with Michigan State fans. He plans on doing the same for every home game this season.
Football is back and so are fans, who were banned last season by the Big Ten due to COVID-19.
Michigan State (1-0) will host Youngstown State (1-0) on Saturday (noon, BTN) in its home opener in East Lansing. It will be second-year coach Mel Tucker’s first game coaching with fans at Spartan Stadium.
“I’m really looking forward to this Saturday, playing in front of our fans,” Tucker said. “They’ve waited and we’ve waited a very long time for this. We’re extremely excited in anticipation of having a packed Spartan Stadium – the band, the cheerleaders, the dance team, Sparty, the student section, the alumni, former players running out of the tunnel.
“That’s a great thing about the green and white and being a Spartan and college football in general. It’s going to be a great day to play football so we’re just preparing for that opportunity.”
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The last time fans were allowed at a game at Spartan Stadium was Nov. 30, 2019. Michigan State edged Maryland 19-16 to become bowl eligible in what proved to be coach Mark Dantonio’s final home game.
With the Big Ten prohibiting fans last year, crowds were limited mostly to family members of players and staff. Dantonio, who retired on Feb. 4, 2020, after 13 years leading the program, was one of the 376 listed spectators for the season-opening loss to Rutgers.
“Eerie,” Dantonio said Tuesday of the experience. “Not only first year away from football but just the way it all went down was very eerie.”
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The largest crowd Michigan State played in front of last year was officially listed at 1,441 in a blowout loss at Iowa and there were zero fans for the final three games. That included a season-ending loss at Penn State in which quarterback Payton Thorne made his first career start for the Spartans. He followed that up with his first win as their starter at Northwestern last week in front of a crowd of 34,248 at Ryan Field that included plenty in green and white. Thorne’s now getting ready to take his first game snaps in front of fans at Spartan Stadium.
“It’s going to be nice,” the redshirt sophomore said. “I’ve never really played in front of fans like that. Northwestern was cool but playing here is going to be a lot of fun in front of fans. I was on the sideline my freshman year (in 2019) for our home games but never actually on the field. Definitely envisioning a packed house and an excited crowd and we’re looking forward to it.”
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Michigan State isn’t restricting capacity due to COVID-19 but masks must be worn in all indoor areas of the stadium, just not in outdoor seating. It’s unclear how many fans will show up but it will be a huge change from cardboard cutouts in seats and crowd noise pumped in through speakers over a nearly silent stadium.
Michigan State distributed about 6,000 free tickets for an open spring practice on April 24 and there were thousands in attendance for a “Meet the Spartans” practice on Aug. 23. Those were both opportunities for Kenneth Walker III, a transfer running back from Wake Forest, to play in front of limited crowds in East Lansing. After posting 23 carries for 264 yards and four touchdowns at Northwestern in one of the best rushing performances in program history, he’s now heading into his first home game in green and white.
“I’m super excited. … Being able to see the fans in the stadium, I know it’s going to be jam packed,” Walker said Thursday night on Tucker’s weekly radio show. “I’m really excited for that.”
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