Over the offseason, the University of Mississippi spent millions of dollars on expanding Vaught-Hemingway Stadium so that we, as a student body, could have an improved game day experience. So how does the student body show its appreciation? Half of the student section leaves before the start of the fourth quarter.
The first three games in Oxford experienced 90-degree heat, and that was the excuse of the students who left early.
I understand leaving a blowout victory when the weather is that hot, especially in the humidity that Mississippi regularly experiences.
But on Saturday, Ole Miss faced the Memphis Tigers in Oxford. At kickoff, the temperature was 73.4 degrees with 50 percent humidity, perfect weather for a football game in Mississippi.
So why is it that in the third quarter, the new student section was half-empty?
Due to the new expansion, the university added 2,000 student tickets. Do those 2,000 new students in the stadium not care about the Ole Miss football team?
Ole Miss Football Coach Hugh Freeze has taken to the media and has stated that the team needs the student section to be as full as possible to take advantage of being the home team.
Yet, students still flock to the exits after two quarters of football.
Without the student section being full, moments that stick in Ole Miss lore would not have happened. Remember 2014, when Ole Miss upset Alabama in Oxford? When the student section rushed the field and carried the field goal off into the cool, Oxford night? That doesn’t happen if the students leave in the third quarter.
You paid for the ticket. Get your money’s worth by staying throughout the game.
Randy Morgan is a history major from Saltillo.
