The Game Is Back, but Not Back to Normal

Tributes, tears and touchdowns.

From Piscataway, N.J., to Pasadena’s Rose Bowl, college football returned Saturday, but with a very different look and feel.

Fans trickled through additional security checkpoints at stadiums that stood empty a week ago, when all 58 major games were called off after the terrorist attacks on the United States. The skies above, usually abuzz with small aircraft, were empty, the result of a ban on blimps, helicopters and small planes.

“Football wasn’t the first thing on my mind,” Michigan running back Walter Cross said after his team beat Western Michigan, 38-21. “It took a while to get back into things.”

At the Rose Bowl, Pasadena police tightened security for UCLA’s game against Ohio State. Spectators were allowed to bring into the stadium clear water and small handbags, which were searched by security. Depending on their mode of dress, some people were frisked. Others had to pull off their baseball caps to show they weren’t hiding anything.

Aside from those precautions, there was little noticeable buildup in security. People parked on the Brookside golf course, as usual, and held tailgate parties, threw footballs and drank beer.

Pasadena Police Commander Mary Schander said other stepped-up security measures were used behind the scenes but refused to comment on what they were.

The crowd of 73,723 began chanting, “USA! USA!” before a moment of silence. Then, a fan in the south end yelled, “God bless America, yeah,” and the cheering began.

The Bruins, who wound up beating Ohio State, 13-6, passed out 60,000 placards with the American flag on one side and “United, We Stand” written on the other.

At many tributes, players and coaches from both teams either lined up on their own side of the field or met at midfield to observe moments of silence.

At Annapolis, Md., Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium was patrolled by armed guards and fans filed through metal detectors to see Boston College beat Navy, 38-21. The result didn’t seem to bother the Midshipmen.

“The focus should shift off of us and onto the people who are in the fleet and the people involved in the rescue mission,” Navy linebacker Ryan Hamilton said. “We are just a bunch of kids playing football.”

At Notre Dame, before the Fighting Irish were beaten by Michigan State, 17-10, school President Edward A. Malloy offered a prayer for those who died in the Sept. 11 attacks and their survivors. “At such a time we draw upon the innermost resources of our lives and of our faith,” the priest said.

Authorities barred all aircraft from flying within three miles of major sporting events. No blimps, no helicopters, no small planes carrying banner ads. Also, spectators were barred from bringing in backpacks, large bags and containers.

Security caused long lines at some stadiums.

“We don’t like it because it’s inconvenient,” Spike Millman, a longtime Washington fan from Olympia, Wash., said at Husky Stadium. “But we understand it and we don’t complain about it.”

Patriotic tributes were everywhere.

* At Durham, N.C., where Northwestern played Duke, Northwestern players wore a U.S. flag patch on their right shoulders and an RAW patch on their left in honor of Rashidi Wheeler, the senior safety from Ontario who died Aug. 3 during a conditioning drill.

* At Piscataway, N.J., the 27,000 fans sang “God Bless America,” before No. 9 Virginia Tech beat Rutgers, 50-0.

* At College Station, where Texas A&M; beat Oklahoma State, 21-7, thousands of fans filed into Kyle Field dressed in red, white and blue, transforming the stadium into a Yankee Doodle rainbow.