The football team made it three straight Homecoming wins Saturday. Its student fans made three straight sieges of the Arizona Stadium field.
“”It’s a time of celebration and joy for the Wildcats,”” said studio art senior Carly Cutrone. “”I’ve done it every year. It’s a tradition.””
A message from the loudspeaker warned students against going onto the field, but as in past years, the warning was ignored.
“”This was a great game,”” said John McCay, a freshman whose major could not be verified. “”We kicked UCLA’s ass. It was amazing, and we were on the field where it all went down.””
The University of Arizona Police Department repeatedly warned against students rushing the field due to the possibility of injuries, but that did not deter students, either.
“”No one’s gonna get hurt,”” Cutrone said. “”We’re all excited. Rushing the field together is a bond because we won Homecoming.””
Although still considered an upset by UA fans, the 2007 Homecoming victory wasn’t quite the shocker the previous two games had been. In 2005, Arizona defeated a previously undefeated No. 7 UCLA team. In 2006, the win came against No. 8 Cal, also undefeated.
These Bruins were unranked, which left the question of whether the fans would rush the field up in the air.
The last two seasons, students were on the playing field before time had even expired. On Saturday, however, students waited until the clock hit triple zeroes, then cautiously jumped over the fence and began slowly flooding the field.
Security and police officers did their best to get the students off the field as soon as they could, but for the students who celebrated with the victorious Wildcats, it was all worth it.
Studio art senior Abbey Golden, adding that anyone who believes students shouldn’t have rushed “”doesn’t know what it’s like to have fun.””
UA linebacker Spencer Larsen said he was also surprised to see students rush the field.
“”You would understand a big ranked team,”” Larsen said, “”but that’s fun for them. I wish everyone could get the feelings that we have playing in front of a big crowd like that.
“”I don’t know if as a fan how it would feel like running out there.””
– Mike Ritter contributed to this report
