After trying over and over, and being turned down, I was almost ready to give up.

Then, came an idea. The idea of all ideas.

“If NFL, NBA, and Division 1 colleges wont give you media passes.. where can we turn to next?”

That’s when the light bulb went off. Why not see if my local Division 2 and 3 teams would be more open to it?

I started with Division 3 and worked my way up from there. After numerous Google searches, and emails sent. It was time to wait.

Then it happened.

I got an email back, Grand Valley State University Athletic Director Tim Nott responded. My heart was racing, did we finally have a breakthrough? It read, “Send me the names and I will put it on the parking list and leave a credential at will call.” That was it. So simple, so concise. No questions asked. I was ecstatic. We had finally made it over the hump. We would be on the sideline for Grand Valley State’s homecoming game vs Michigan Tech.

Kickoff was at 2:00 PM, and we had an hour drive up to Allendale. We took off around 10 AM, as we wanted to get there in time to tailgate.

We got there, found (free!!) parking, and made our way across the street to where it seemed all the action was. Boy we were so right, as the vibes were very high. Loud music, lots of people, and the scent of grilled food permeated the air. There seemed to be fraternities and sororities hosting a party, as the tents and jackets donned the usual Greek lettering. Nonetheless, it was quite the vibe. However, we didn’t know anyone, so it was a pretty quick walk-through affair. In hindsight, we should’ve just joined the party. But it always feels weird to be an outsider in these situations.

We then made our way across the campus, as the stadium was about a quarter mile away. We walked past the indoor facilities, and followed the slew of purple into the beautiful ‘Lubber’s Stadium.’ We were met with a large crowd, large stadium, and an even larger jumbotron. I was totally amazed by their jumbotron, as it is placed directly where the fans walk as they enter the stadium, and absolutely towers over you, in a good way. Standing at 40 feet tall, 72.5 feet wide, with an area of 2,900 feet, it is the largest in Division 2 and one of the largest in the country all together. It is an absolute marvel. I found myself in awe at it at random points throughout the game. I kept thinking, “how can a Divison 2 school afford this thing?”

As we made our way down the concourse, we couldn’t help but notice the large, grassy area in the end zone. This is their informal student section, which I was amazed by. This gives a very intimate feel, as you see students just feet away from the field. I imagine it’s great for when GVSU scores on that side. The stadium was nowhere near full, as we still had about 45 minutes until kickoff, but it was filling fast. We walked down the ramp, and onto the field, where we were met with GVSU’s coaching staff and special teamers preparing for the game.

This is when it hit me, we are really standing on a College Football sideline, with media credentials dangling from our necks. I could touch the players from where I was standing. I took it all in for a few minutes, just looking around and really being in that moment for a few minutes. But, it was almost time for kickoff, which meant it was time for me to go to work. I was making a YouTube video where I went to two College Football games in one day, which you can find linked at the bottom of this article. I had an intro to do, and I had to get into game mode.

We did what we needed to do, then walked over to the Michigan Tech sideline, as GVSU’s sideline was packed with people, and moving afforded us some very necessary space. The stadium was filling fast, and was more than sold out. It holds 10,444 people, but 11,394 people showed up, meaning there were about 1,000 more people there than the stadium seats. The crowd was live too, definitely bringing the energy.

Grand Valley’s offense started with the ball, and they started pretty well. They drove down the field with an 8-play, 78-yard drive that was capped off by a 7-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Andrew Schuster that landed in the hands of Senior WR Griffin Shinrock.

Michigan Tech’s offense was the opposite, their first drive ended in a punt. The defense then forced a punt of their own, but things did not look better the second time around. The offense was pinned deep in their own territory, and to make matters worse, the ball was snapped over the quarterbacks head and landed in the end zone. The Michigan Tech quarterback picked it up, but was hit as he did, and was forced to throw it away. However, he was still inside the tackle box, so it was an intentional grounding, which resulted in a safety. 8-0 GVSU.

The Huskies offense was a lot better this time around, capping off a solid 5-play, 76-yard touchdown drive with an 8-yard run from Jake Rueff to cut the score to 8-7.

GVSU followed this with an impressive kick return, and the offense capitalized on it. In just two plays, they went straight down the field and scored, capped off by a 23-yard touchdown pass from Andrew Schuster to Kellen Reed, making it 15-7 with just over a minute to play until halftime.

Neither team scored a point in the third quarter, as both defenses really stepped it up.

The next point was scored by GVSU, this time a field goal, to put the score at 18-7. It seemed like the game was all but over, with just 7 minutes left, and a two score lead.

However, Michigan Tech was able to put together a nice drive late. Tech had 9 plays for 82 yards, which ended in a 25 yard run by Alex Bueno to make the game 18-15. Tech was within range of winning the game, but they would need a few things to go there way. They needed to recover the onside kick, but if they didn’t, they had to keep GVSU from picking up two first downs.

GVSU was able to recover the kick, pick up the necessary first downs and bleed the clock. Grand Valley was victorious on their Homecoming night. Tech put up a solid fight though, and without a few mistakes, they win the game. I do think GVSU was the better team though.

As the game ended, we had to take off, as we had another game to get to at Hope College, and we were already running a bit late. We basically ran to the car (lost it for a second), and still were running behind.

Did we make it in time? How was Hope’s atmosphere?

Stay tuned for our next article to find out, OR watch the full YouTube video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uKFwukVVZDg&t=2s

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