Massachusetts football offensive tackle Tyrell Smith was in the midst of the short walk to practice from campus to McGuirk Stadium, when a car stopped next to him and two other teammates.
The driver inside was a local UMass fan and excitably told Smith that he couldn’t wait to bring his children to Saturday’s Homecoming matchup against Bowling Green. For Smith, those types of encounters with fans are as unusual as they are are exciting.
“I’ve never heard so much football talk in my three years here,” Smith said. “It’s exciting. The campus is excited, the team is excited, so it’s going to be a great time.”
Saturday marks the first game at McGuirk Stadium in three seasons, as the Minutemen played their home games at Gillette Stadium since making the jump to Division I FBS football. For many players and fans alike, it’s the first true on-campus football experience of their college careers.
“I never really got to play here except for spring games and practices,” Smith, who is a junior, said. “So I feel like it’s going to be a great environment. A lot of people on campus are talking about how they can’t wait to come.”
As of Wednesday, students inquiring about tickets at the box office were turned away. Entering the week, UMass was 3,000 tickets shy of a sellout. And as the buzz intensifies, players are experiencing the excitement firsthand.
Minutemen quarterback Blake Frohnapfel – who is a graduate student – said Tuesday that one of his classes of 30 people started a Facebook group titled “Blake’s first game at McGuirk.” Safety Joe Colton noted that when he drove by the Stadium, he saw a line of porta-pott and hoped to see the entire field filled with tailgaters.
Many players are eager to play in a more comfortable environment.
“UMass is kind of looked at as the zoo,” redshirt senior linebacker Stanley Andre said. “(It’s) just a large, populated community in which we’re really excited to perform in front of. We’re excited to play here, it’s been a while.”
Andre is one of the few players who remember what it’s like to play a game at McGuirk. He played in 11 games as a freshman and although he can’t vividly recall his playing time at McGuirk, he fondly remembered the atmosphere.
“It’s a great venue for the students to come out and support us and the alumni to come out and support us,” Andre said. “I’m sure we’re going to have a lot of people there supporting us and really just bleeding UMass football because that’s what we need, we need all the support we can get.”
Minutemen receiver Marken Michel also played three games at McGuirk as a freshman in 2011. Now, as a redshirt junior – Michel left the program in 2013 for unspecified reasons – he’s had a chance to reflect on his first go-around at McGuirk.
“Honestly, it feels like it was yesterday,” Michel said. “The stadium was always packed, so for a freshman coming in it was kind of overwhelming being in a college atmosphere.”
Michel said that he’ll notice the crowd when the team first runs onto the field – he believes that’s the only time the crowd truly makes an impact – but the true draw is trying to impress his peers which he sees around campus. He’s also doled out advice to younger players on the team who haven’t played a true home game at McGuirk before.
“The young guys always come up to me and ask me, ‘How was it?’, Michel said. “I always tell them it was great. We had a lot of fun. It’s just a thing when you’re playing in front of your classmates and the people you see on campus all day, it’s a different feeling.”
When fans file into McGuirk, they’ll see a stadium with drastically different aesthetics after three years of renovations. According to Colton, the new performance center, press box and field turf will only enhance the atmosphere.
“When I first got here, what this place looked like … the old field was cement,” Colton said. “It wasn’t painted, it was rusting all around. To have it be like this now and have everyone coming back, everybody’s ready for a new beginning and a home game, it’s great.”
Mark Chiarelli can be reached at [email protected] and followed on Twitter @Mark_Chiarelli.
