AMHERST – The smell of grilled meats and the sound of beanbags hitting plywood returned to the parking lots surrounding McGuirk Alumni Stadium.
UMass and Boston College fans played catch with footballs. Some set up televisions to watch other games from around the country.
As the UMass football team prepared for its first home game in nearly two years Saturday, the Minutemen’s fans assembled with pop up tents and coolers.
Mike Duquette has three children that attend or attended UMass. He parked a van and set up an awning with a grill and drinks for family and friends that are just as close.
“It’s a big tradition for us, we missed it greatly,” Duquette said. “All these kids grew up together. It’s an opportunity for them to get back together. It’s a great opportunity for us to get back at it.”
Nick DeFelice, a UMass grad, has been a football season ticket holder for nearly a decade.
“Having no games was tough,” he said. “I’ve got some friends that haven’t been here for a while and we were texting back and forth like ‘hey, let’s get back for the first game and be here again.”
But there was one thing missing. The traditional university-sponsored tailgate in Lot 11 adjacent to the stadium was canceled Thursday night, citing a rise in COVID-19 cases. UMass requires its student and staff to be fully vaccinated.
Most of Lot 11 sat empty save for those viewing a band performance and the UMass Football Gridiron Club event. Lined asphalt baked in the warm mid-September sun.
“It really sucked when we got the email,” UMass senior Evan Motta said. “I think they’re being overly precautious, but they’re probably doing it because in the event that this was a superspreader, the school wouldn’t want to be responsible for that.”
UMass athletic director Ryan Bamford tweeted Friday emphasizing that anyone could purchase parking passes for $10 to enter the parking lots and tailgate.
Motta’s family came out for the game and grilled hot dogs and sausages.
“Last year being home was pretty miserable. I can’t speak for everybody, but it was just like, nothing, kind of dead space and time,” he said.
Jesse Whickel and his friends picked up a parking pass and brought a tray of chicken wings and drinks. They hadn’t been to a UMass tailgate since their sophomore year.
“This is different, but it’s still fun with friends,” he said. “We saw that they were doing this, we jumped on it. We didn’t want to miss it.”
Ultimately 12,118 fans attended the game, the most at McGuirk since UConn visited on Oct. 26, 2019.
“The energy was there. It felt like real football,” UMass running back Ellis Merriweather said. “I’m so happy and proud that everybody turned out.”
UMass coach Walt Bell wants the student tailgate back next Saturday when the Minutemen host Eastern Michigan at 3:30 p.m. The team altered the route it takes to enter the stadium to go by the gathering, had it occurred.
“To me, (Saturday) was an unbelievable opportunity for our institution, and for our team. For those guys not to be there, to me that was a shame,” he said. “But I understand, obviously, I’m not a public health official, but I can’t wait to get our students out there to have a great Minuteman walk to build some energy around this program, go win this university a football game.”
Kyle Grabowski can be reached at kgrabowski@gazettenet.com. Follow him on Twitter @kylegrbwsk.