Sights and sounds from Northwestern's first lakeside stadium game

Last week, the Northwestern Wildcats opened their season against the Miami (Ohio) RedHawks in front of a sellout crowd of 12,023 fans.

That is not a typo.

Northwestern's temporary, lakeside football stadium – dubbed Northwestern Medicine Field at Martin Stadium – was one of the biggest stories of Week 1 of college football. It will be the Wildcats' residence for two years as the school works to build a new, permanent home for the team.

The roughly 12,000-seat stadium opened its doors to fans for the first time last Saturday for the Wildcats' 13-6 win over Miami. USA TODAY asked fans and Northwestern team personnel about their experiences at the temporary field before, during and after the game.

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Northwestern's new (but temporary) gameday experience

Unsurprisingly, the first thing fans will realize as they arrive at Martin Stadium is that it's small. Compared to the football stadiums of other Power 4 programs – which can range anywhere from about 50,000 to over 100,000 people – the 12,000-seat capacity at the Wildcats' temporary home field is noticeably smaller.

"It feels like a high school football game," said Will, a Northwestern alum who attended Saturday's game.

There are a few tell-tale signs that – despite its size – Northwestern Medicine Field truly is a college football stadium. There are Big Ten logos on each 25-yard line, luxury seating options behind the southern end zone and the camera wells full of high-tech equipment.

That is not to say that Northwestern's temporary solution was shoddy or felt like a last-minute scramble to prepare. Multiple fans told USA TODAY that they were impressed with the temporary facility.

"It looks like they've done a fantastic job," said Chris, a Miami fan who had been to previous Northwestern games at Ryan Field.

The second thing fans might notice is the view. The "lakeside" descriptor for the stadium is no joke, as the easternmost stands in the stadium are separated from the waters of Lake Michigan by a single paved walkway and a few hundred feet of rocky coastline.

That proximity lends itself to some incredible views of the Great Lake, with its calm water shimmering in the sun on a beautiful summer day like Saturday. Spectators might witness a few boats pass by in the water just behind the stadium's seating throughout the course of the game while enjoying the cool breeze that comes off of the lake.

“I wish they would build the permanent stadium here," said JD, another Northwestern alum taking in the game on Saturday. "They need to build it… here. On the lake.”

Once the game begins, a third thing fans may notice is how much quieter the game feels than any other big sports event.

"“It feels tiny, it feels like – I mean, I’m a Miami fan so it doesn’t bother me – but it doesn’t feel like Northwestern has any type of home-field advantage," said Adam, a fan sitting behind the southern end zone. "It feels so quiet in here."

At almost every other major sporting event – whether it takes place within a professional league like MLB or the NFL or within the NCAA-ruled realms of college football and basketball – there is a general, baseline level of crowd noise at any given moment. There are the roars during the most exciting plays and moments of silence during the most intense, but in between all of those moment is a general "buzz."

That buzz is noticeably quieter at Northwestern's temporary stadium. If a single fan stood up and yelled at a player or chanted "de-fense" in between plays, it was audible – even from across the field. Even as some pro-Northwestern sections attempted to make more noise to throw off Miami's offensive rhythm, RedHawks quarterback Brett Gabbert was still able to use a clap cadence to signal for the snap with no issues.

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In-game experience gets mixed reviews

Early impressions from fans of each team were positive. According to several fans, the stadium looked good, the lakeside tailgating experience was fun and the location was easy to find on campus.

Once the game began, the range of opinions became more mixed. Some hiccups naturally emerged during the first game at Northwestern's new home, and that was a cause for critique for a few fans. Notably, Miami fans were more critical of the stadium and their experience, while Northwestern fans were generally more forgiving.

Miami fans Jason Godawski and Mariana Niekamp felt that the flow of pedestrian traffic at and near the entrances was a nuisance while trying to enter the stadium. Once they made it inside, their outlook didn't improve as they tried to find their seats.

"There was a little bit of confusion finding, especially here on the south end, where to go to get to your specific section," Godawski said.

There weren't many obvious signs in the stadium indicating which entrances led to which section. Niekamp said they tried to ask ushers where to find their seats because of this lack of clarity, but the ushers pointed them in the wrong direction.

John, another Miami fan, had a critique of his own: there wasn't enough water. He and Adam said they felt like the lack of free water stations was an oversight, especially on a hot summer day in Evanston.

There was one other notable hiccup as well. The main scoreboards on display on the eastern section of midfield only displayed the score below a camera feed of the game. There were game clocks and play clocks behind each set of uprights, but those weren't easily visible from everywhere in the stadium. In addition, the down and distance information was only available on a smaller screen in the northeast corner.

A Northwestern official said after the game that those scoreboard setups were not intentional and that the issues should be resolved by Friday night's game, A 26-20 loss to Duke.

Reviews were not all bad. Several Northwestern fans said they liked and were impressed by the amount of fan energy present at the game, even with a diminished capacity. Others praised the school's ability to transform the area that was once a soccer field into a stadium ready to host college football games.

Even when asked if there was anything they'd like to be different about the stadium and their experience, these fans' criticisms were far from harsh. Northwestern alum Will wished for better pretzels, while Van Andres noted that cupholders might be nice.

Martin Stadium through the eyes of the Wildcats

Wildcats fans weren't the only ones pleased with the experience. Northwestern head coach David Braun and a few of the Northwestern players also came away with positive opinions of their new home after their first win there.

"Gosh, I don’t know if there's anything to compare it to. I mean, it's just so unique. But it was awesome," Braun said after the game. "Really proud of everyone that pulled this off."

Defensive back Evan Smith said he gave himself a moment before the game to take in his surroundings.

"I sat on the bench for about 10 minutes and kind of took the scenery in. It was surreal just to see the progress of the stadium throughout summer and how it was built, and I knew it was gonna be a big crowd today. It was a fun environment, and I think we really enjoyed it," he said.

Wide receiver Bryce Kirtz echoed the positive sentiments as well, saying he appreciated the intimacy of the stadium with the stands' close proximity to the field.

"It was just amazing, honestly," he said. "It was everything we’ve talked about the past couple months, and then to finally see it out there and being able to play in front of all that was just amazing."

Multiple players also shot down the notion that they had to adjust their mindsets when playing in front of a smaller crowd.

Defensive back Robert Fitzgerald said, "In my experience, when you’re out there, you don’t really hear the noise. It doesn’t matter if there’s 10 people there, 10,000, 100,000 people there. You’re just playing football."

"At the end of the day, the culture of this team is: you can go put the ball in the middle of the street, we’ll go out there and go play," said quarterback Mike Wright. "We are very much appreciative of all the fans, all the people who support us. But our main job is to go out there and go play football and go win ... Our mindset is really not about who’s watching. It’s about going out there and executing the gameplan and getting the win."

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Northwestern's lakeside field delivers on unique gameday experience