SDSU Showed the Potential for Big-Time Football—But Do They Have the Will to Sustain It?

Last weekend San Diego State was faced with a daunting task. Hosting 3-0 CAL after suffering a frustrating road loss and a bye week wasn’t ideal. But it was an opportunity.

It was an opportunity for the Aztecs to put some much needed ‘spect back on their name and boy did they do that and then some. The Aztecs 34-0 victory tied for the 4th most lopsided shutout by a non-power conference team vs power conference team since 2000. Cal’s most recent shutout loss to a non-P5 team occurred way back even further. Try 1970 vs Rice, 28-0.

This was without a doubt, a game for the ages for both in-state rivals—and don’t fool yourselves, this is a rivalry. Both teams in their head-to-head history now have 5 wins a piece. The biggest decider? The home team has won every time.

With this new found insight to the matchup, is there any confusion as to why this game’s ticket came with the 2nd highest price tag for CAL, only behind their fiercest cross-town rival Stanford? On paper it makes sense. But the games aren’t played on paper.

Now in it’s fourth year of operation, Snapdragon Stadium has seen SDSU football attendance steadily decline each season since the building opened. A power conference invitation never materialized for the University and the ticket pricing never adjusted back to Mountain West rates. Add that to the lackluster play on the field and it made a perfect storm for college ball in San Diego to be an afterthought.

Fans and media reporters alike have all begged the administration to lower the prices and readjust to the reality of the present situation. It appears as if they’ve finally opened up their heart and their pocket book.

Opening up overflow seating areas where more students could attend the game was a great start for last week’s game. The celebration angles of the 2015 Mountain West Championship team was a no brainer. Giving the game a quirky theme where San Diego’s beaches were highlighted was a fun idea—despite the tailgate party taking place in Mission Valley, where a dairy farm used to sit.

Utilizing former AztecLegends like Donnel Pumphrey and Christian Chapman to promote the game was a terrific effort to put their faces back on the marquee and connect with those fans inspired by their years on the Mesa. The $15 flash sale for one evening made it clear to fans that the University was listening and able to give what they had been asking for out loud.

Lower ticket prices.

All the planning, hard work and plotted steps paid off big time for the Aztecs in the community. It was a magical night of football where the defense dominated with scoop & scores and pick-sixes. The energy from the Aztecs players made a pickle ball of the CAL team and the fans in the stands were gladly smacking them back & forth in a rally of momentum unseen in Snapdragon Stadium.

“They had three or four pre-snap penalties that were a direct correlation to the crowd noise and the environment.” said SDSU head coach Sean Lewis. “I mean, a good number of those back-to-back occurred down near our student section.“

Go figure, you open up the stadium’s empty seats to more actual students and there you go—instant youthful energy—something Snapdragon had been lacking in. At the old Qualcomm stadium that sat nearly 60,000 seats many students were admitted to free allotment of tickets in the cavernous bowl. SDSU’s owned & operated new facility is quite literally half that amount. Consequently that former amount of students allowed in became much less of a number.

If there’s one thing about college aged young people that transcends the times, it’s that they want to be around each other. Youth gravitates towards youth. For something to grow, you must facilitate and encourage it to do so. Even when the outcomes are not always wins, there will be youthful energy around if you make the environment attractive enough for them to be themselves.

“Tremendous effort by the whole community showing up and showing out. Again ticketing, marketing, staff, I mean, everyone that are the behind-the-scenes heroes to to make that happen. And I think everyone who was there walked away with a tremendous experience that they’re going to tell everyone about and come back to and we get to do it again, not this Friday, but next Friday.“

The same phenomenon could be said for the actual sports fans in San Diego. The community loves football. It’s evidenced through the pride in the high school ranks, to the previous NFL franchise that called San Diego home for over 50 years. They want to be where the true big event, sports action is. But they are not foolish fans either. They know the value of good football and team ownership. They know when they are being overly commercialized. They’ve learned the hard way.

Lowering the ticket prices allows those casual fans to step inside the building and get their passions going again. Passions ignited by all the senses that only a live sporting event can stir up. It may not always make the most financial sense, but an investment in people may not always do that in the beginning.

For one game SDSU decision makers and administrators allowed the real, educated football fan in San Diego feel welcomed enough to call Snapdragon Stadium their home. In return, Aztec football did not let them down.

“We’ll continue to get out in the community. We’ll continue to engage. But, you know, when you have a crowd like that, that creates energy, creates a buzz that directly impacts the game.” Sean Lewis.

The Aztecs now have a short break in the action. A road game vs Northern Illinois allows SDSU staff to continue to listen to their base, plan accordingly and do it all over again—right?

Waiting for them will be a short week vs Colorado State and their Air Raid offense on Friday night, October 3. We will find out very quickly wether all the actions taken, decisions made and niceties shown in that one game were positive steps in the right direction. Or does the skeptic say it was all just a charade, a display of good will, drummed up to flaunt the newest facility before the Bears from Berkeley.

Either way, I guess I’m good with it. I have no reason not to be. And if you’re not, you can always pay your fee and come down to make some noise with us in the rowdy section.

“So, it’s like, man, come have fun, right? Like, everyone else in the society right now, you’re told to be quiet and don’t get too loud, don’t be too rowdy. Well, come to the football game and make some noise and have a lot of fun with your friends and enjoy some kids that are competing their tails off.“

“Be proud to represent the city and our university.“