Unlike prior football games this season, the Zona Zoo section at Saturday’s Homecoming victory over California was not full, said Zona Zoo director Michael Huston.

As time ran out, the student section stormed the field for the fourth consecutive year – but many students missed the celebration because they left early.

Although the exact turnout in the student section was unavailable at press time, Huston said students didn’t have to be turned away at the game.

At halftime, with Arizona down 17-3, students were seen leaving Arizona Stadium.

“”Half of my friends left,”” said Allan Mendelsberg, a pre-business junior, during the on-field post-game celebration. “”They said it was too hot out. A lot of them were drunk. They don’t deserve to be a part of this. They’re not true Arizona fans if they’re going to leave and have no faith.””

Tom Phillips, a pre-communication sophomore, said several of his friends left the game as well.

“”That’s really too bad, because they missed out on a great second half,”” he said.

Phillips added that he was not impressed with the first half, but he was still upset that the students showed such little faith in the team.

“”They’re pretty much idiots,”” he said.

Even players on the football team noticed the crowd, or lack thereof, toward the end of the game.

“”The crowd was sitting down for a while,”” said cornerback Antoine Cason, who intercepted a pass and ran it back for Arizona’s final touchdown in the fourth quarter. “”The fans are going to be behind us, but when we get down, we can’t give up, and if they left, then hey, they missed a good one, but we still love the fans, and we’ll never get down on them.””

Jeremy Reitman, a pre-communications junior, said he went to the game, but as soon as he got there, he left.

“”I went to the game for about a minute,”” Reitman said. “”I saw the score was 7-0. …I was like, ‘We’re no good, and I’ve got to go home, because I’m drunk.’ And then I passed out.””

Leo Grifka, a pre-business sophomore who left the game after the first quarter, said when he saw the game getting better on television, he went back with hopes of being re-admitted into Arizona Stadium.

“”I was really frustrated at the beginning of the game, too,”” Grifka said. “”You can’t really blame them for leaving. I felt bad, so I came back.””

Grifka, who was re-admitted, said he rushed the field and climbed on top of the crossbars of the goalposts following the Wildcats’ victory.

“”We just sprinted down to the field after that interception,”” Grifka said. “”We were one of the first ones down there, and we got on the goalposts.””

Grifka said he is not afraid of being prosecuted by police, despite an announcement that warned students they might face prosecution for climbing the goal posts.

University of Arizona Police Department officials could not be reached for comment as of press time.

Daniel Waks, a history sophomore, said he left after the first quarter because the Wildcats were playing poorly at the time.

“”I didn’t think we had a chance,”” Waks said. “”Plus, I didn’t want to face the embarrassment.””

After Waks went home, he said he watched the game on television while playing solitaire on his computer.

“”I regret wholeheartedly leaving, especially since I lost the solitaire game, and it was my last opportunity to go to a home game for the year,”” he said. “”It was a dumb choice on my part.””