'It really turn you up': Dayton Wade, Ole Miss fed off historic crowd at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium

When Dayton Wade and the rest of his Ole Miss teammates walked out of the tunnel for the second half it was a different atmosphere than what recent games at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium.

Instead of pockets of empty bleaches and a student section half-depleted, or worse, what Wade saw was nearly 67,000 Ole Miss fans still packed in the stadium. Something head coach Lane Kiffin has been asking for throughout his three-plus year tenure.

The crowd was announced at 66,703 and set the record for the largest attended game at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium in program history.

Following the Rebels 55-49 win over LSU Kiffin, Jaxson Dart, Tre Harris and Quinshon Judkins acknowledged the fans and credited them for aiding in the victory.

After Tuesday’s practice Wade also tipped his figurative cap to the Ole Miss faithful.

“It really turn you up,” Wade said. “Especially when all those fans are for you. They’re cheering you on. They’re causing problems for the opposing team. Third downs, third downs got crazy. (LSU) quarterback (Jayden Daniels) was like, ‘Oh, I can’t even think. Let me call timeout.’

“For us it’s like, ‘Oh, we got that mojo. We can feel that energy.’ Energy never created nor destroyed, it just transfers. They’re just transferring energy into us. Positive energy, at that. That’s something you always want.”

This week’s game against Arkansas is trending towards another sell out, if not one already, and the potential to at least match the attendance number from last Saturday.

For Wade, who transferred in prior to the 2022 season from Western Kentucky, the atmosphere against LSU was one he had never experienced before in his career.

“That was the best game I ever played in,” Wade said. “I’d say by far. That was, hands down, the best game I’ve ever been a part of. Coming out of halftime, still at full capacity. They’re still there, still in it. Whether we’re up, we’re down. Fans still in it. That’s just what you see as a player.”

Once the final pass from Daniels fell incomplete the Ole Miss fans took the party onto the field.

Students started pouring out of the North End Zone section and fans followed suit along the east, west and south sides.

The Southeastern Conference fined Ole Miss $100,000 for violating the league’s access to competition area policy. It was the school’s first offense since the revised policy was approved by all 14 schools during the spring meetings.

Ole Miss athletics director Keith Carter also issued a statement regarding the fans and students who threw objects onto the field late in the game following an upheld call of a touchdown catch by LSU’s Briant Thomas, Jr. to give the Tigers a 49-40 lead at the time.

“As our program continues to experience big wins like Saturday, our fans should be more accustomed to those moments and avoid field storming situations,” Carter said. “There are fines involved, but more importantly, there are safety concerns that come with that. We have the most passionate fans in college athletics, but we must reserve the playing field for our student-athletes and coaches.

“Throwing of debris will not be tolerated,” he said. “Addressing this issue starts with our students. While we are proud of their tremendous turnout and support of our team this season, individuals who are found to be throwing objects will be removed from the stadium and subject to ejection from future games.”

Carter also noted there is surveillance footage being reviewed from the game and exploring surveillance opportunities for future games to avoid a similar incident from occurring.