Mississippi State gets embarrassed by Tennessee takeover of Davis Wade Stadium

Mississippi State football put up a valiant effort in their 41-34 overtime loss to No. 15 Tennessee in Starkville last Saturday. Despite falling short, the Bulldogs continued to prove themselves as significantly improved under HC Jeff Lebby.

While the loss may not be embarrassing for the Bulldogs, the scenes in the stands of Davis Wade Stadium were...

The east side stands were almost completely taken over by Tennessee fans. Volunteer fans have a reputation for travelling well, and that was on total display. Making it look even worse for the home team was the fact that the Volunteer orange couldn't be more luminous against a whiteout MSU crowd. It looked like a neutral site game.

What allowed this to happen? State fans have been quick to point the finger at university faculty. The faculty have the option to purchase season tickets at a discount, and it is believed that many buy those tickets simply to resell them, making it more likely that those seats end up filled by the visitors.

That may explain some of it, but a takeover of this magnitude can't be explained away that simply. No matter the reasons, Mississippi State has been subject to plenty of trolling over this. Ole Miss HC Lane Kiffin got a shot in while appearing on Pardon My Take, saying the game was played at "Neyland Stadium."

It was an awful look for Mississippi State, and they're likely going to take heat for it for quite some time.

Mississippi State has to protect Davis Wade Stadium moving forward

Last Saturday has to serve as a wake-up call for Mississippi State. Though Tennessee fans travel in much larger droves than almost any other fanbase, this isn't a new problem. For several years now, the east side of Davis Wade Stadium has been regularly infiltrated by visiting fans, limiting home field advantage for the Bulldogs and creating a poor visual on Saturdays.

It's, frankly, unacceptable, and it's got to change. But no one individual group is responsible.

As noted above, much of the blame has been put on MSU faculty for buying discounted season tickets with no intentions of using them and putting them on the resale market where visiting fans scoop them up. They're an easy scapegoat, but while some members of the faculty are guilty of this, the bulk of the blame going their way is unfair.

The reality is that the premium seating options for faculty are limited to one section (not the entire east side), and it was more costly for faculty to purchase those seats this year than in seasons past. Though the faculty resale issue needs to be addressed, that won't solve the overall problem. In fact, the resale issue expands beyond faculty.

There are plenty of season tickets being purchased by MSU fans that are finding their way onto the resale market. People buy the tickets with the intention of attending just a few select home games and put their available seats up on third-party sites where anyone can purchase them.

Not to tell someone they shouldn't buy season tickets if they aren't going to attend every game or argue against the free market, but why not do everything possible to assure those seats get used by a Bulldog? There are plenty of State fans on social media searching for tickets each week who will happily pay the asking price. There are Facebook groups for that exact purpose. You can find a buyer that will be in Maroon and White. Is the convenience of StubHub really worth risking your team's stadium getting taken over?

The other factor is that season ticket sales overall have been dwindling for years and are in an especially rough spot given 2024's results. It's hard to blame anyone for not being eager to buy season tickets after what happened last season, but when those seats don't get sold, they become available for anyone to purchase. It opens the door for a takeover like we saw against Tennessee.

There's a lot that's contributing, but the simple reality is that Mississippi State fans have to be better about protecting Davis Wade Stadium. There's no changing the number of season tickets sold for this season, but other things can be improved upon for the rest of this fall.

Those who can attend games need to. Those who have tickets that they won't be using need to assure they'll be used by Bulldogs. And from a university standpoint, measures need to be taken to incentivize keeping season tickets, both those used by faculty and fans, inside the fanbase.

What happened against Tennessee was an embarrassment for the Mississippi State fanbase, and it cannot happen again. Serious programs do not see their own stadium get taken over. If Bulldog fans expect a serious program, they'll provide serious support.