By Kevin Acee
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
September 18, 2004
ANN ARBOR, Mich. – One by one San Diego State's football players emerged from a tunnel into the dark, gray afternoon.
Once on the field, some stopped. Others simply slowed. Every one of them turned his head to one side and then the other, some even pirouetting to take in the full 360 degrees.
There they were in Michigan Stadium, the Big House.
"Small," said a few.
"It's not anywhere near Ohio State," said another player.
Some just shrugged.
After a 40-minute walk-through practice viewed by the ESPN crew that will announce today's 9 a.m. PDT game and more than 50 boosters and staff members, the Aztecs returned to their hotel, absolutely underwhelmed by the storied stade.
"I was talking on the plane how growing up everyone emulates Michigan," center Taylor Schmidt said. "Now that I'm here, it's not all that ... I don't know."
Yes, the Big House left the Aztecs speechless for exactly the opposite reason than would be expected.
"It's got a lot of history, but it doesn't seem any different than Colorado (where SDSU played in 2002)," offensive tackle Mike Kracalik said. "Ohio State seems more intimidating. It will probably be more intimidating with 110,000 people in it."
As he surveyed the place, SDSU President Stephen Weber surmised: "It looks small now; it won't look small tomorrow."
No stadium in the country seats more people. An NCAA-record crowd of 112,118 watched the Wolverines play rival Ohio State last November. Michigan has played 181 consecutive home games in front of more than 100,000 people and its past 13 home games in front of 109,580 or more. The program has led the country in attendance 29 of the past 30 years.
Michigan is 352-103-15 all-time at Michigan Stadium and 53-6 in nine seasons under coach Lloyd Carr. The last team from outside a BCS conference to win here was Navy in 1967.
It is called the Big House (probably more often than Michigan Stadium) because legendary TV announcer Keith Jackson nicknamed it.
Ann Arbor's population doubles the day of home games. People decked out in maize and blue come from all over, with "M" flags on their cars. The area around Michigan Stadium becomes a carnival of sorts, as a golf course across the street is turned into a parking lot and party spot.
Plenty of history has been made here. Since the stadium was completed in 1927, when the capacity was a mere 85,753, three Heisman Trophy winners, 95 first-team All-Americans, five national championship and 30 Big Ten championship teams have called Michigan Stadium home.
But on its own, the Big House is simply an overgrown high school stadium. There are no chair backs. Official capacity is listed at 107,501, but they squeeze the extra few thousand into those bleachers. To increase the capacity by 5,000 before the 1998 season, they simply made the bleachers narrower.
Despite its size, Michigan Stadium has a reputation for being relatively quiet. The crowd is older, and it gets riled up for Notre Dame, Ohio State and certain third-and fourth-down situations in games such as today's. And the stadium slopes back at such a flat angle that noise is not bottled up as it is at Ohio State.
But with the big crowd today, SDSU will know it's in the Big House.
"The players will feel that tradition when they go into the stadium (today)," said former Notre Dame coach Bob Davie, who now works for ESPN. "San Diego State will know it's in a big-time situation. Those kids will have something to remember."
. Thank you.
