Medill freshman and marching band member Molly Collins was at football games all season.
She had to travel 1,200 miles from Evanston to see Northwestern football fans out in force.
“I’ve never seen so much purple in my life,” said Collins, who played with the marching band at the Alamo Bowl in San Antonio, Texas.
Collins, who is from Illinois, took a flight chartered for NU fans from Chicago O’Hare International Airport. The fans practiced NU traditions throughout the flight, including singing “Go U Northwestern” as the plane took off, she said.
Zachary Wittchow, a Weinberg sophomore, drove 19 hours from Wisconsin and stayed with seven other people in a San Antonio hotel room.
“I couldn’t think of anything more fun to do over Christmas break,” he said. “The whole drive down was fun, the hotel experience was fun.”
Superback Mark Woodsum said the fans provided a high-energy atmosphere.
“There was a really good turnout and the fans were in it to the end,” the Weinberg senior said. “(The stadium) was pretty 50/50 as far as color division, but the Northwestern fans seemed very condensed, so their cheers and voices were loud and echoed.”
Kelly King, who flew from St. Louis to the Alamo Bowl, agreed that the stadium was evenly divided.
“I thought we looked more spirited,” said the SESP junior, adding that NU fans found pompoms on their seats when they entered the stadium. “Everyone in the NU section had pompoms.”
San Antonio native Kathryn Wittman, a McCormick sophomore, said her hometown transformed from a tourist attraction into an enthused city.
“It was awesome to have a lot of people from school in my hometown,” she said. “The coolest part was just being downtown and seeing masses of purple people.”
SESP junior Claire Olszewski flew with her mother from Washington, D.C., to attend the game.
“Alumni were super excited to talk to us (and) were wearing T-shirts from bowl games from forever ago,” she said.
The marching band played at halftime and before the game, which drew more than 7 million TV viewers on ESPN.
“It was definitely the most amazing crowd we’ve ever performed in front of,” Collins said. “At Northwestern games, not everyone knows the alma mater. But (at the Alamo Bowl) everyone knew. Hearing that was amazing.”
Fans were overjoyed when Missouri missed a crucial field goal seconds before the fourth quarter ended, ushering in overtime.
“I actually lost my voice because I was screaming,” Collins said. “Even though we lost, seeing how excited our fans were made the whole trip worth it.”
Woodsum said he was grateful for the NU turnout.
“This is a special memory that I’ll remember forever,” he said.
