When Emporia State football coach Garin Higgins scheduled Thursday’s home opener against Southwestern Oklahoma State, he did so with the fans in mind.
Thursday night football games have traditionally been well-attended, and Higgins thought the opener would be a perfect opportunity to schedule on a Thursday night.
“I’ve been a part of Thursday night games before and I always thought they were fun,” Higgins said. “To me, everybody is excited for football season to get started and always the early-evening games at the beginning of the season are fantastic. I think if you can do it on a Thursday night, we’ll have been in school for a week, so nobody’s going to be going home. Nobody is going to be going anywhere so I would think you would have a packed house, an energetic crowd.”
It’s looking as though Higgins’ prediction could be right. Emporia State has sold 800 season tickets and 500 single-game tickets so far to the opener. “That’s a good number for a single game,” said Don Weast, ESU assistant athletic director for media relations. “Usually we’re just a couple hundred for a single game.”
Weast said he’s hoping for a crowd of 5,000-plus. In last season’s opener — a 42-0 win against Western State — 4,907 attended the game.
The Hornets averaged 4,495 in 2008, and their best attendance was 5,106 for the MIAA home opener against Fort Hays State. If history is any indication, Thursday’s game will top that mark.
In the last Thursday night game on Aug. 26, 2004, against Fort Hays, the Hornets drew 6,536. Two years earlier against Fort Hays on a Thursday night, 6,122 attended a 38-7 ESU win, which was shown on Metro Sports.
On Aug. 31, 2000, against Fort Hays, 7,305 packed Welch Stadium to see the highly anticipated debut of Nebraska transfer running back DeAngelo Evans.
This year’s Emporia State team may not have the buzz that Evans generated, but there is some excitement around the program. The Hornets brought in several players expected to make an immediate impact, including running back La’Darrian Page, a juco All-American, and freshman cornerback Julian Dozier, who was rated as a three-star recruit by Rivals.com. The Hornets also return most of their top players from last season, such as quarterback Andre Sloan El and leading tackler Katrel Larkins.
The athletic department is also trying to build up excitement around the game with several events before and during the game.
The 2009 ESU baseball team, which won the MIAA championship and made it to the National Championship game, will have a ring ceremony on the field at halftime.
The first 1,500 fans will receive a free 2009 stadium cup, which fans can bring to every home game this season and purchase drinks for 75 cents.
Before the game, several tailgating events are going on around campus. The Black Hole, an event hosted by E-Zone, ESU’s official student support group, will start around 4 p.m. north of the Student Rec Center. The Water’s True Value Watering Hole, a catered tailgate, starts at 5 p.m. on the Milton Tennis Courts.
Tickets are still available for Thursday’s game and can be purchased in advance at the ESU Athletic Ticket Office inside the Memorial Union, by calling the toll-free ticket line at 877-341-NEST, or online from the ESU Athletics Web site. Weast said he expects a large walk-up crowd. Ticket booths open at 5:30 p.m.
“I think we always have really good walk up,” he said. “Our openers are always better attended games, and traditionally we’ve gotten a really good following with the Thursday night games. It’s been five years since we’ve had one, but those generally, especially early in the season, those are really big games. Our students are able to stick around a little bit easier. It’s easier for people with jobs that work on a Saturday during the day, they can come to these.”