Rutgers is a school that has great amount of pride, in its academics, research, and culture. A big portion of that culture is sports. Football is definitely the most popular sport to watch, but there is a problem with the fans, especially fans in the student section. At least half of them leave the game long before it’s over. The students at the game have a huge impact on what is happening on the field. About a month ago, a blog on mycentraljersey.com posted a post-practice transcript from an interview with Kyle Flood. In the interview he was asked about his feelings on the Arkansas game not being sold out yet. “I would love for every game to be sold out weeks in advance or even before the season. I think that would be ideal but I think our fan base has shown that when they show up they’re rowdy and they’re disruptive and they’re ready to go. They generate an excitement level in that stadium for our team and a distraction level for the other team, which is an advantage for us. The 12th-man advantage is always what you want when you are at home.” For those who don’t know, each team has 11 players on the field at a time. When Rutgers has a home game, Coach Flood considers the students to be a 12th player on the field giving the team an advantage over the competition.
Former RU-tv Sports Supervisor, Anthony Rodriguez echoed Coach Flood’s sentiments. “Having a true home field advantage makes it tough on the opponent. They have to go to a silent snap count and are more likely to commit penalties on the offensive side of the ball. There’s also an intimidation factor when a team has to head into a hostile environment. You look at big football schools like Penn State, Bama, and USC and they always have 80,000 plus at their games.”
Rutgers is moving into the Big Ten Conference next year. The competition will be much tougher, meaning fan support is going to be crucial. Rodriguez said, “It’s huge because if we don’t fill up our own stadium, then the opposing teams’ fans will. These fans travel well so we need to make sure we are buying the tickets to protect our home and make sure that it doesn’t become more of a neutral site.” Rodriguez also said he hopes that this move into a new conference will change the current culture at games.
Homecoming weekend is a few days away with the capper being the game against Houston on Saturday. Since Homecoming is a week all about Rutgers pride, it’s important that fans come out and stay in the stands for all four quarters. “You need to be there supporting the team. Everything that happens during homecoming revolves around the football team. That is the heart of the week.” Rodriguez ends by saying, “we need to support our team for 4 quarters and make sure Houston leaves the field with a loss.”