Game days feature tradition

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It’s less than 10 minutes until kickoff. The CMU football team begins cramming into the inflatable helmet on the north side of Kelly/Shorts Stadium.

AC/DC’s “Thunderstruck” kicks in while the jumbotron lights up with CMU football highlights. Thousands of fans clad in maroon and gold begin screaming. Players jump and push each other in excitement.

Suddenly, the team stampedes onto the field, rushing to the jubilant student section on the opposite side of the field as the marching band plays the Chippewas fight song.

It’s a home-game ritual seen at every Central home game. But for sophomore wide receiver Antonio Brown, it never gets old.

“Just running to the student section, with everybody giving hugs and love – it gives me that juice and that passion to go out and make things happen,” he said.

The team has that atmosphere to look forward to when it opens the season at 7 p.m. Thursday against Eastern Illinois.

Ticket sales for the game were at around 15,000 as of Monday. Kim Hudson, manager of tickets and promotions at CMU, said she anticipates up to 24,000 in attendance.

The Chippewas have won nine of their last 11 season openers, with two close losses against Bowl Championship Series opponents Indiana (20-13) and Boston College (31-24).

Coach Butch Jones remembers last year’s season opener, in which CMU beat Toledo 52-31, as one of the best he’s seen.

“The student body turnout, the jumbotron, the band … everything made it an electric atmosphere,” he said. “Our students didn’t leave at halftime – they stuck around. There’s an onus that comes with our fans that will support the team from the first quarter to the last.”

While nothing drastic will change with the use of the jumbotron and on-field promotions, organizers will try to enhance each home game as the season goes on, said Nick Williams, associate athletic director of marketing and sales.

“Promotions may be a little different, but nothing major,” he said. “Last year was great with the video display – that impacted game day 100 percent.”

The department is going for a “Maroon Out” during the Central-Western game on Oct. 18 in which every fan wears maroon.

The first 5,000 students at today’s 6 p.m. Wares Fair and Fire Up Fest will receive a maroon T-shirt to wear to that game. Otherwise, the shirt is available for $5 at the CMU Bookstore.

The goal is 25,000 fans per home game this season, Williams said. Either way, players think Kelly/Shorts Stadium will continue its reputation as one of the best game atmospheres in the MAC.

“It’s going to be totally ridiculous,” Brown said. “We have amazing fans that give excitement and encouragement.”

bmanzullo@cm-life.com