The infamous “Jump Around” as seen from the football field among UW Band members.
As the University of Wisconsin football team kicked off their season Saturday night with a victory over Northern Illinois University, noticeably fewer students were booted from the game than from night games in seasons past.
A total of 29 people were ejected from the game, 19 of whom were students, according the UW Police Department.
Violations included possession of alcohol, excessive intoxication and throwing of objects.
The university has not yet said how many of the ejected students will be connected to the University’s Show and Blow program, which requires previously ejected students to take breathalyzer tests prior to every remaining game this season.
Compared to years past, these numbers suggest some improvement in fan behavior.
During the Ohio State and Penn State night games during the ’08 season, 86 and 76 people were ejected, respectively.
Students nevertheless remain concerned about the Show and Blow program including UW sophomore Nick Johansen, who said he was wrongfully ejected from Saturday’s game for underage consumption.
Accused of vomiting in the stands, Johansen said he was wrongly identified by other students in the section and was promptly handcuffed and escorted out of the stadium with a $270 underage drinking citation.
“[The cops] just came up to me and arrested me immediately, I didn’t get a chance to say anything, they just put the handcuffs on and walked me out. … I was honestly just arrested for no reason,” Johansen said.
Should he be connected to the Show and Blow program, Johansen said he would likely not go to any of the remaining games this season.
Johansen expressed concern over what he would do with his tickets, as he predicts it will be difficult to sell or even give them away to other students who will also need to blow before every game if they use his voucher.
Though he recognized the potential merits of the program, Johansen said he still felt his particular case was a serious injustice and hopes something is done to prevent similar incidents to students in the future.
“It just sucks; this should never happen to anyone,” Johansen said.
Many UW students see the drinking culture surrounding football games as undeniable, yet unavoidable.
“People just want to get drunk, it seems like it’s all they want to do,” UW senior Paul Swan said.
Swan added the Madison drinking culture is also likely why students do not typically show up to the games until halftime.
Despite the evening start time, there were still large vacant areas in the student section until the end of the second quarter.
“It is a big problem, because a lot of teams in the Big Ten like Ohio State and Michigan, their stadiums are just filled by kickoff,” UW alumnus Alex Hicks said.
UW senior Patrick Fuchs, who was unable to get season tickets this year, said when he has tickets he never misses a single kick-off and finds it annoying when people who are lucky enough to have tickets do not show up until the second quarter.
