The last time Washington State played Oregon in Pullman, things got a little wild.

Thousands of people woke up before the sun to watch ESPN College Gameday make its debut on the Palouse before waiting 10 hours to see the Cougs upset the Ducks in Martin Stadium.

This weekend, the Ducks make their return to campus, but the atmosphere will be a little different. Due to Pac-12 regulations, no fans will be allowed to attend games. That means students, alumni and band members will have have to watch the game on FOX this Saturday.

But despite thousands of empty seats, WSU is going the extra mile to make the viewers at home feel like they’re watching a traditional home game and help the team feel a little more at home.

The team had previously announced that they are selling fan cut-outs to fill the seats, but they’re also turning their focusing on in-stadium audio to help out. The team will be using crowd noise, recordings of the band and will even have Glenn Johnson on hand to call the game from behind the PA microphone.

“I would say from a scale of one to ten, it is a heavy eight,” Director of Marketing and Fan Experience Jennifer Chow told KREM-TV in Spokane. “It’s pretty close. We have band recordings that our band recorded for us, and Jaws is very interactive on the band side.”

The school has set up sound cues that they will use during major events, including specific crowd reactions and songs from the band after a touchdowns and, of course, Glenn Johnson will provide his iconic “TOUCHDOWN COUGS!”

“Thinking about no fans in the stands initially and how we can make this really meaningful to to our student athletes is something we’ve taken to heart,” Associate Director of Athletics Matt Zollinger told KREM-TV.

The Cougs kickoff their first home game of the season this Saturday at 4 p.m. on FOX. Tim Brando and Spencer Tillman will be on the call for the game, just like they were for the last WSU/Oregon matchup in Pullman back in 2018.

Links

Five key stats from the season opener that indicate a shift in offensive culture at Washington State | The Spokesman-Review
Times are a changing at Washington State. It’s 2020, what else do you expect?

No. 11 Oregon and WSU bring young QBs to Pac-12 North test | Sportsxchange | news-daily.com
The Nick Rolovich era at Washington State opened with a victory against an Oregon school. Can the Cougars make it two in a row?