Like many other college football venues this season, Army is dealing with limited seating capacity. But that didn’t keep the cadets from showing some real energy in the stands on Saturday against Middle Tennessee State.

Fans were not allowed for the game, and won’t be for the Sept. 12 game against Louisiana-Monroe, but nearly 4,000 cadets made up for the coronavirus pandemic restrictions for the national television audience on CBS Sports Network.

The cadets at West Point have been restricted to who enters and leaves post as one step toward preventing the spread of COVID-19.

Senior co-captain Amadeo West said the restrictions in a way gave Army an edge.

“We’ve always had a natural bubble,” West said, according to Military.com, “so that’s worked to our advantage in terms of playing this game and playing it safely. On top of that, what’s different about this year is essentially people having more health protocols and being more sanitary: washing their hands, maintaining social distance, wearing your mask as long as you are out of your room.”

Those attendance restrictions were different than other football stadiums, college and pro, around New York state. Because the U.S. Military Academy is federal property under federal jurisdiction, it has the latitude to allow cadets to take to the stands for Army’s home games in spite of state restrictions, the Times Herald-Record reported.

The crowd, which will not include any fans from outside the insular West Point campus, amounted to about 12% of Michie Stadium’s total capacity.

The cadets, who live at West Point and are not permitted to leave during the COVID-19 pandemic, were to be spaced apart in a socially distant manner, according to the academy. They were not be seated behind the MTSU bench.

“We are taking prudent measures to limit COVID-19’s spread, and all cadets will be tested, and protocols are in place to safely play the season,” Lt. Col. Chris Ophardt, West Point’s director of communications, said in a statement.