The first ejection of Saturday’s football game between the Oregon Ducks and the California Bears didn’t happen to a player on the field.
It occurred at halftime when Crowd Management Services and the Eugene Police Department removed an angry, intoxicated student from the Autzen Stadium grandstands.
The unidentified student, who recently turned 21, wasn’t cited, but EPD Sgt. Tim McCarthy took over, handcuffed the student and placed him under protective custody because the student was verbally resistant.
Police confiscated a flask of alcohol, the student received a criminal trespass warning and police escorted him off stadium property.
Monday’s EPD crime log featured 14 incidents from Saturday’s game, which don’t include ones such as Sgt. McCarthy’s when no citation is given. Similar to past weekends this season, EPD and CMS worked to handle a fight in the student section, remove beach balls thrown onto the football field and arrest a student who was fined for possession of marijuana and alcohol.
When enthusiasm turns to chaos in the middle of 45,845 screaming fans, the Star Plex Crowd Management firm and the EPD are expected to step in and take necessary enforcement measures. But in the massive crowd, some students said major problems are overlooked by those in charge.
Jill Methvin, a junior education major, said she twice reported to CMS that a rowdy group of students next to her were smoking marijuana and drinking alcohol.
Methvin said CMS told her they would keep an eye on the group, but when they patrolled the aisles, Methvin said they did nothing to control the problem.
“I was just annoyed that I had already asked security once to tell [the group] to move,” Methvin said. “Everyone around us was frustrated, and I was pissed I was getting pushed and knocked over.”
In the third quarter, Methvin briefly blacked out when one of the students elbowed her in the head. Her boyfriend, Paul Williams, a sophomore sports marketing major, caught Methvin and carried her out of the stands. She was transported by paramedics to Sacred Heart Hospital, where she was diagnosed with a concussion.
“The incident could have been prevented,” Methvin said, who was at home recovering Sunday night. “Security could have told the group, ‘You need to move, settle down or leave the game.’”
Events Manager Vicki Strand in the Department of Intercollegiate Athletics has the weight of crowd control on her shoulders. She contracts with the Star Plex Crowd Management firm and the EPD to regulate events such as football games.
“The hardest part about crowd management is that there is a thin line between protecting the fans from themselves and from their surroundings,” Strand said.
She said a day game generates about six ejections, while a night game may generate more than two dozen.
EPD Capt. Thad Buchanan said the number of problems depend on the rivalry and intensity at the game.
Strand agreed and said home games have fewer problems when the Ducks are winning because fans are excited and more interested in the game.
McCarthy said many students become more dangerous because they incorrectly think they know their rights and refuse to cooperate with officers.
CMS Supervisor Dan Knauss said his group mostly handles duplicate tickets in the student section and people standing in the aisles, which must remain clear as fire lanes.
Knauss said there tends to be more intoxicated students at evening games.
“The most prevalent occurrence is standing room only ticket holders trying to get into the seating areas,” Knauss said.
When the students rush the field at the end of the game, CMS protects the team and referees as they leave the field and maintain general crowd safety.
Senior Associate Athletic Director Sandy Walton said CMS and the EPD are people who have been in the same positions for a long time.
“People are dedicated to what they do. They’re professionals,” Walton said.