Sticking around
Something funny happened during CMU's 38-28 win over Western Michigan on Saturday at Kelly/Shorts Stadium.
It wasn't the fact that a record crowd of 30,302 people showed up to witness it. It was the fact that a great majority of that number managed to stay throughout the entirety of the game.
That happened to be one of the first things senior quarterback Brian Brunner noticed when he came out of the tunnel at halftime - that the student section wasn't smaller and the stadium still was filled to the brim.
This was an encouraging sign. After all, whenever a team faces an opponent as daunting and as hated as Western, it's going to need as many fans to root for it as it can get.
Most of the fans even stuck around for the trophy celebration, a time when, during any other Kelly/Shorts game, about 80 percent of the crowd would already have headed to the exits.
We consider that an excellent performance on behalf of the students, fans and alumni who took the time to stay. The only thing that CMU can try to do now is receive an encore from them on Nov. 19.
That is the day when No. 20 ranked Ball State comes into town for a 7 p.m. Wednesday game. If the Cardinals remain undefeated or in the Associated Press Top 25, that game is the Chippewas' first great opportunity to beat a ranked opponent in Division I-A. Either way, the game likely will determine the MAC West champion.
Not to mention that it's CMU's only home game the rest of the year.
Yeah, it's a Wednesday, which isn't exactly convenient, especially for out-of-towners. But it's not for another month from now, so that's plenty of time to clear your schedule, whether you are a student or alum.
Work together and create another deafening atmosphere, one that certainly helped the Chippewas against the Broncos on Saturday.
And make sure to stay the entire game as well.
