Colton’s Corner: Giving people what they want

For the first time since I’ve started covering Texas State football, I saw Bobcat Stadium come to life.

Nothing in the last four years has had anything come close to the living and breathing college football atmosphere like the one I experienced on Saturday night.

A stadium packed to the brim with both students and alumni.

Fans screaming at the top of their lungs every time the Bobcats scored a touchdown.

The new lighting system, flashing an intricate pattern, bathing the stadium in maroon.

Alumni excited to see their football team put points on the board.

The Bobcats putting their foot on the gas pedal to light up the scoreboard.

It was just perfect. It was so perfect that I almost questioned myself if this was real or not.

Sure, the atmosphere is alive for basketball, volleyball, softball and baseball– but never with football.

The football energy at previous home games was just mute.

There was no life, no organic passion, no energy.

Nothing. Zip. Zilch. Nada.

But not this time.

I asked many of the alumni who have been to previous games if this was truly different.

The majority of the answers I got was this was the first time they have seen the stadium truly alive since the 2012 home game against Texas Tech.

Some went to the 2016 home game against Houston, which remains the most attended football event at Bobcat Stadium, with 33,133 people in attendance.

Others argue this is the closest the energy had felt this high since the famous 2005 playoff game between Texas State and Georgia Southern.

In other words, it was apparent Bobcat Stadium was missing this type of energy and investment.

It also solved a question that I been asking myself.

Was the Texas State fan base really that passionate about athletics?

The answer is a complicated one but it boils down to this.

Yes, Texas State is very passionate about their teams.

Yes, Texas State will show up in droves to come support the Bobcats.

But expecting folks to continue to accept what had been less than mediocre standards is never going to fly.

Going back before the legendary 2005 season, the powers in charge were begging folks to attend games.

But at that point, Texas State had gone a full 21 seasons with only four winning seasons and zero conference championships.

Between 2012 and 2022, the Bobcats had only two winning seasons.

The point is, you can see what can be accomplished when there is a higher level of support.

That is the vision both Kelly Damphousse and Don Coryell, along with their support staff, are wanting to change.

Now, the vision is slowly coming into full focus. cmcwilliams@sanmarcosrecord.com Twitter: @ColtonBMc