STARKVILLE — “It’s been so long since there was energy like that in Davis Wade Stadium.”
Jonathan Bain, a Mississippi State alumnus, was attending games long before he attended classes. He was in town for MSU’s dramatic late win against Arizona State on Saturday, and quickly made his way down to the field from his section when he saw a countdown clock on the Jumbotron, reading “Access to Scott Field.”
Bain had seen some big wins in his time attending games as a student, but nothing quite like the experience he had on Saturday.
“I’ve been attending State games for 25 years or so,” he said. “Saturday night was one of the best atmospheres I’ve ever experienced. I was at the Auburn game in 2014, and we didn’t get to rush the field. But Saturday, when I saw the announcement on the Jumbotron, I sprinted from the upper deck to touch the field because that kid from 2014 would’ve been incredibly disappointed if I didn’t. It was pure ecstasy.”
But that moment came with a cost. The Southeastern Conference announced Monday it would fine MSU $500,000 for violating the league’s “access to competition area” policy.
Recent MSU graduate Cody Blaszczak was at the game with his father and made sure they were among the first to get on the field.
“After the touchdown, I grabbed my dad and ran to the gate and waited until everyone else started going afterward,” he said. “To use Neil Price’s words, it was pure joy. It was amazing to me how excited everyone was, running around and yelling, ‘Hail State,’ and you see people like my dad, who is 60 years old and has never gotten to do this in their life. It almost felt like the community rallied together to help the team get this win, and that was so cool.”
Blaszczak grew up in Birmingham, going to many Alabama games, but he said the atmosphere at Davis Wade on Saturday topped anything he’d experienced before.
“I was at Alabama-A&M Johnny Manziel’s first year, I’ve been to Iron Bowls, and that place gets down. I’ve seen the stadium shake,” he said. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen an atmosphere like I saw on Saturday at Mississippi State. That was one of the most ridiculous things I’ve ever seen.”
The Bulldogs scored a dramatic game-winning touchdown in the final minute to secure an upset of the then-No. 12-ranked Sun Devils, responding to a 20-point run by the visitors to secure the program’s first win against a ranked opponent since the 2022 Egg Bowl.
It was a sensational win for the program, which won just two games in 2024, and the fans stormed the field for the first time since a 2004 win against Florida to celebrate what they hope is the first of many more big wins to come.
An athletic department spokesperson confirmed to The Dispatch that stadium and department staff, as well as local law enforcement, had prepared extensively for fans rushing the field, including safeguards for field equipment. The staff successfully orchestrated a safe on-court celebration at Humphrey Coliseum following a men’s basketball win over Texas A&M in February, and their swift reaction was on display again at Davis Wade as soon as the clock ran out.
Stadium staff moved quickly in anticipation of the rush, dismantling the goalposts and carrying them off the field as fans began clamoring over the fences. While the crowd hadn’t totally emptied the stands onto the field, many fans were on the field before the Jumbotron countdown hit zero.
The price of the party
The famous, aforementioned win over Auburn in 2014, which catapulted MSU to its first-ever No. 1 ranking, saw students attempt to rush the field, but officials quickly stopped the attempt.
The SEC allows for students to access the field after big wins if the opposing team and staff have all left the area.
The conference policy states that “institutions shall limit access to competition areas to participating student-athletes, coaches, officials, support personnel, and properly credentialed or authorized individuals at all times. For the safety of participants and spectators alike, at no time before, during or after a contest may spectators enter the competition area.”
The conference adopted harsher penalties for field storming after Tennessee fans stormed the field in 2022 following the team’s first win over rivals Alabama in more than a decade. Vols fans surrounded Alabama players. In 2023, the SEC revised its policy for schools to incur greater fines for repeated violations: $100,000 for a first offense, $250,000 for a second and $500,000 for a third. This year, the conference moved away from the scaling system in favor of a flat $500,000 fine.
Ole Miss was fined $350,000 last season after fans twice stormed the field at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium in a win over Georgia. The first came with 16 seconds still to play, and the second came once the game had finally ended.
Other conferences have a similar policy for fans storming the field, but the scale is drastically different. For example, the Atlantic Coast Conference fined Florida State last week after fans celebrated on the field after a 31-17 win over No. 8-ranked Alabama, but FSU’s fine was only $50,000. The ACC scale goes up to $100,000 for a second offense and $200,000 for a third, less than half of the SEC’s base fine.
MSU shared the news of the fine on Monday, which will be paid into the SEC’s post-graduate scholarship fund. The fund supports scholarships at all member schools that assist student-athletes who pursue postgraduate studies.
Had the field celebration taken place in a conference game, the fine would have been paid to the opposing school.
“Worth. Every. Penny,” Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves wrote on social media.
Impact
The true impact of winning a game like that can’t be measured until the season is over, but the immediate aftermath is overwhelmingly positive for a team that hasn’t had much to celebrate over the last few years.
In the two seasons after expanding the stadium’s seating capacity to more than 60,000 in 2014, MSU set nine new top 10 attendance marks. Since 2015, the Bulldogs have added just one to that list, a 2018 game against former head coach Dan Mullen’s Florida team.
The stadium wasn’t full on Saturday. There were just more than 50,000 fans in attendance, but the atmosphere created by the fans was certainly a factor, especially with the cowbells ringing.
“What an atmosphere, what an evening,” head coach Jeff Lebby said after making his way from the celebrations to the postgame press conference. “That is Davis Wade at its finest.”
It was the first win over a ranked opponent for the second-year head coach, and his first win over a Power Four conference opponent.
It may only be the second week of the season, but it was a big win in the home opener for a program that hasn’t had a winning season in three years.
“The funnest thing about it for our guys, everything we’ve been through as we’re year two in the program, to see our university show up the way that we showed up tonight for a top 10 team coming here is special,” Lebby said. “I told the guys, so much to be thankful for, and we’re just getting started.”
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Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 34 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
