Ohio State fans storm Memorial Stadium: Bear Territory disturbed?

Avinash Kunnath: This video will live in infamy.

TwistNHook: This question confuses me. There were a lot of Ohio State fans there. I would propose that perhaps 1/3rd of the stadium was filled with Ohio State fans. I don't see how it was "practically doing a red out." It was completely anticipated. Ohio State fans travel well. The team is out here on the west coast in a big game. Fans are going to stream in, not only from the Bay Area, but also LA, Seattle, etc etc.

I think it looked more packed with Ohio State fans, because the red really pops. You would see a giant section of all yellow for the Cal fans. Then, one section over, it'd be partially red and partially blue with other random colors. The blue (and random colors) were completely covered by the red. Red is a strong color and the Ohio State fans love their red! Not a lot of fans in gray Saturday night.

All the Ohio State fans I interacted with were very nice. We tailgated with them prior to the game. I have nothing particularly negative to say about their fans.

atomsareenough: Well, am I surprised? Not really. If I were a Buckeye fan living either in the Midwest or the West Coast and wanted to attend a road game, I'd have circled this one on the calendar. The Buckeyes have won 15 games in a row, they're coming off a bowl ban, and the fanbase seems pumped up beyond belief at the start of the Urban Meyer era. They're one of the biggest universities in the country, and they're a powerhouse football program with a national following and a huge fanbase at home that travels well, and California and the Bay Area is a great destination. So, I'm not surprised that demand was high from Buckeye fans. Meanwhile, Cal is a rebuilding program with a half-century of hardships coming off a disastrous season, and it was pretty expected that top-5 team Ohio State would administer a beatdown, which they did. I think the Tennessee game in 2007 is a pretty good point for comparison here though. That game took place at the height of excitement about Cal football, and while there was a healthy contingent from the Vols, we packed the place with Cal fans. I think even though the Bay Area has a lot of competition for people's attention, when Cal plays well we will fill up Memorial. But playing well is an important prerequisite.

Sam Fielder: Frustrating but not altogether surprising. tOSU is riding high, is a big time program, and is challenging for a national title. Add in the Bay Area as a prime destination and the current state of Cal football and I'm not really shocked that it happened how it did. Hopefully as Cal continues to improve (on defense) the fanbase will grow, get more excited, and will show up in passionate droves for games like these. Not much the Cal Athletics staff can do about it at this point besides continue to encourage people to come on out.

Ruey Yen: When the TV first cut to Memorial Stadium and showed the "red out" (it certainly looked like 2/3 of the Stadium were in red), it was quite disheartening. I just hope that Cal Athletics and the city of Berkeley made a lot of money from these Ohio State fans.

I don't know nor want to think about how the numerous potential recruits think of it.

Cal fans I challenge you to give us some home field advantage in our next home game. You guys can make a huge difference.

— Trigga (@BryceTreggs) September 16, 2013

Playing an away game in what is supposed to be our home stadium is unacceptable.

— Trigga (@BryceTreggs) September 16, 2013

Norcalnick: There's lots of immature sniping going on across the Cal internet-o-sphere, with various factions blaming other factions. Alums think students don't appreciate their great seats. Students don't understand why alums would sell their tickets.

The bottom line is that Cal is a fair-weather fan-base at all levels. That's not necessarily some sort of horrible statement. Most fan-bases are. And it's better than a non-existent fan-base like Stanford. But Cal fans aren't going to pack Memorial stadium for anything less than a pre-season top 25 team. That's been true in the past, and it will be true in the future.

Arguably, the real mistake was scheduling a game against a team like Ohio St. that travels so well. But I found it fun having an interesting fan-base to interact with, and the extra revenue from their fans doesn't hurt either.

The only solution is wins.

Leland Wong: I expected Ohio State to travel well, but not that well. On TV, it looked like a gold student section with everyone else wearing scarlet. One of the posters in the gamethread put it best--it looked like a game at the Coliseum. Looking closer at some pictures, though, it doesn't seem as bad. It's easier to see some bits of Yale blue among the scarlet and it even looks like you could see proper coordination for the Stripe-Out.