re: Fans leaving early - Notre Dame comparison

So I actually have a similar perspective to OP - went to LSU for undergrad and finished my Ph.D. @ ND a few years ago. Notre Dame attendance has a few things going for it:

1. When the game starts, all on-campus tailgates at ND have to shut down. There's no going back to the Powalski's (or whatever midwest last name) tailgate to eat brats and simultaneously watch the Irish beat down the Lobos AND watch USC lose to BYU on the second TV.

2. There's not too many places to go right near campus to go do something else. Things improved massively during my tenure there but still there's only a handful of places (Brother's, O'Rourkes, the Backer, ?) right at the edge of campus to eat/drink/watch football.

3. Most of the undergrads live on campus so the alternative to leaving the game is to go back to the dorms. Added to this is since most of the students graduate in four years, about 50% can't legally go out and get boozed up.

4. Most of the non-student tickets are people from out of town. I knew a lot of the season ticket holders would come in from at least Chicago, a big part from well beyond there. If you're making the trip, you're watching the game.

Idk, overall its just a different atmosphere. Tailgating is a little stale sometimes - you could only set up tailgates in the parking lots, drinking games on campus are banned, but you really can't beat the scenery and the history. It felt like college football Disney World sometimes. Night games there where pretty tight though and things could get rowdy.