In just over one week, the Slippery Rock University Rock Pride football team will be taking the field against Mercyhurst University but in a very different venue. The teams will be competing at Michigan Stadium in Ann Harbor, Michigan.
This will be the first time since 1981 playing at the stadium and the third time ever. Slippery Rock University set the record in 1979 for the highest attendance at a Division II football game with 61,143 people. Unfortunately, the biggest crowd at a Division II football game watched SRU lose against Shippensburg University.
The anticipation and excitement for this year’s game has been high since it was announced, leaving homecoming in its shadow. It’s spread across the campus with a custom logo, t-shirts, and advertisements. Rock Pride Online has featured five different stories these past five weeks about the event.
Well, the staff of The Rocket is jumping on the public relations bandwagon and saying that we cannot wait for the big game.
We’re expecting a big win for SRU (5-0) against Mercyhurst (1-4) with a score that’s sure to leave fans proud and pumped to be wearing green and white. The Rock has seen a great year so far and is currently leading the Western Division of the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference. We hope that this success continues into Michigan.
We also expect to see that attendance record broken.
Now, with a modest just over 8,500 students at Slippery Rock University, we know this isn’t something we can do on our own. It’s going to take some love from the University of Michigan and all of Rock Nation supporting the team and showing their Rock Pride next Saturday to bust the record. We are faithful that it can be done though.
However, as students it is important to us that we recognize the commitment and dedication that the Student Government Association and SRU administration have put into ensuring that students have the opportunity to be a part of this experience as fans.
Currently, six fan buses have been reserved for the game, with seats filling quickly for a seventh. The buses will transport students to the game where admission is free and then back to SRU following the game. SGA brought this to students for just a $5 deposit and, for students with a meal plan, this includes a lunch from the campus food provider, AVI.
We also think it’s awesome that the SRU Marching Pride will be there to bring entertainment to the fans and further support the team.
SGA has planned a pep rally on Oct. 16 at 12:30 p.m. at the Quad. Coach Mihalik, the football team, “Rocky” and the Jamrock dance team will participate.
The SGA Bookstore is also selling merchandise specialized for the event.
The SRU Big House Battle at Michigan Stadium is truly a time for the campus community to come together and embrace the Green and White Rock Pride that runs through our blood.
The Rocket has been documenting everything leading up to this point surrounding the event in a Storify page and will continue doing so throughout the week. The idea is to collect posts, pictures, stories and tweets about the Big House Battle and showcase them online to depict the experience. If you’d like to be a part of it, use #SRUBigHouse on social media.
