2026 SWAC Football Attendance - Week 7

[BulldogM.Ed.23]

I still chuckle at my first JSU homecoming experience (much respect).

I shared before I took a Greyhound to meet up with my girl at the time who stayed in the Jackson area. She was to pick me up at a bus station in one of those small towns nearby (Meridian or Vicksburg or something like that). As I waited, the folks that ran the bus station (it was a couple and another person that could have been family) were literally going kick me out, telling me they had to shut the station down and I needed just go outside wait for my ride. Luckily my girl arrived, took me to Jackson and we made it to JSU homecoming later on that day. Who did I see when we got there? The same peeps that ran the station. ...yeah, it was quite festive. J-S-U Rocks the house! LOL!

Yeah man, I learned that day, you guys are very serious about homecoming! LOL

 

[97JSULEGEND]

That back area used to be fenced off as well. All we gotta do is put that fence back up

It's still has the fence; it's just along the street where you get into the tailgate area, and the football team enters has no fence. The only barrier now is RVs. It would then force folks to walk in the street to enter the stadium.

 

[NastyD]

It's still has the fence; it's just along the street where you get into the tailgate area, and the football team enters has no fence. The only barrier now is RVs. It would then force folks to walk in the street to enter the stadium.

They'll be fine. A little exercise ain't never hurt nobody

 

[NastyD]

I still chuckle at my first JSU homecoming experience (much respect).

I shared before I took a Greyhound to meet up with my girl at the time who stayed in the Jackson area. She was to pick me up at a bus station in one of those small towns nearby (Meridian or Vicksburg or something like that). As I waited, the folks that ran the bus station (it was a couple and another person that could have been family) were literally going kick me out, telling me they had to shut the station down and I needed just go outside wait for my ride. Luckily my girl arrived, took me to Jackson and we made it to JSU homecoming later on that day. Who did I see when we got there? The same peeps that ran the station. ...yeah, it was quite festive. J-S-U Rocks the house! LOL!

Yeah man, I learned that day, you guys are very serious about homecoming! LOL

 

[97JSULEGEND]

They'll be fine. A little exercise ain't never hurt nobody

I agree the main area must be locked down. You have to have folks man the entry gates for wrist bands and lock down the zone. You know folks tailgate all over the place like up by the offices and the overflow at the farmers market. I just see a lot of loop holes that would need to be closed off. As folk can get get ugly between the tailgate area and walking to the stadium. YNs gone act a fool no matter how you police it.

 

[In_The_662]

Somebody pulled a gun at the tailgate this year. Someone actually got shot last year, I wish we could only let ticketed or wristbanded people in the tailgate minus the kids. If we could boost attendance, generate some revenue and run out some people, I would be for it.

After what happened at JSU and Alcorn last year, I prayed we got through Homecoming last year with no incidents (we did)

Just a sign of the times. Gonna have to just be on alert and let the powers that be take the necessary precautions. I have suggested for years that Valley do the "buy a game ticket to get on campus" thing for Homecoming, JSU and Alcorn but to no avail.

 

[CEE DOG]

We were tailgating right by where it happened last year. But the way the tailgate area is setup folks can just sneak in or walk up. You would need to rope off all those open areas. A lot of folks walk through the tailgate area to get to the game from the neighborhood beside the stadium. On campus, A&M can control it better, but I've been to their homecoming, and I can see where non-paying folks can still get in. I'm all for it, though!

You can't get in anymore at A&M. We put a fence all around the tailgate area now. This is why the cost went up but it's worth it to keep these kids out who are up to know good. A&M also brought in sheriff's from Birmingham and surrounding areas to work the area freeing up Huntsville Police to patrol more areas around the stadium.

 

[CEE DOG]

Place a really tall gate around the entire area with a few entrances that have metal detectors like A&M to check for weapons and also scan tickets and it could work properly. Have game day parking/RV slots ready to show to enter the gates as well that should be pre-purchased with security at the entrance and I think this is all doable. Just takes a little effort and time to plan of course but it’s not impossible at all

Yep we also brought in sheriff's departments around the state to patrol the tailgate area while Huntsville Police department took care of the other areas. All our school's have to do is tell people why they are raising the cost and grown folks will pay for access.

 

[97JSULEGEND]

You can't get in anymore at A&M. We put a fence all around the tailgate area now. This is why the cost went up but it's worth it to keep these kids out who are up to know good. A&M also brought in sheriff's from Birmingham and surrounding areas to work the area freeing up Huntsville Police to patrol more areas around the stadium.

Which is great and probably helps with campus security overall, which is a worthy investment. We're at the vet 5-6 times a year max, so getting the funding to beef that up has to be allocated. Hey I've been in the back end hole many a night ready to get the heck out of dodge because those YNs are out. Many are just regular kids; they're just playing the YN. I just want it to still be inviting to the fans and professionally done.