I think when the game is in hand and the opponent isn’t a rival by any stretch, this is what you are going to get. You’ll get fans leaving early to go back tailgating, bars, or just going home. If this game was against Iowa, USC, Michigan, Ohio State you’d have more fan engagement till the very end. I think Illinois sports have shown for a long time now that the level of the opponent is what determines how much juice is in the crowd. And maybe how close the game is? Seems the same amount leave early during blowouts whether for or against us.
Illinois 24, Maryland 6 Postgame
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I think when the game is in hand and the opponent isn’t a rival by any stretch, this is what you are going to get. You’ll get fans leaving early to go back tailgating, bars, or just going home. If this game was against Iowa, USC, Michigan, Ohio State you’d have more fan engagement till the very end. I think Illinois sports have shown for a long time now that the level of the opponent is what determines how much juice is in the crowd. And maybe how close the game is? Seems the same amount leave early during blowouts whether for or against us.
This. I do not understand why the campus and town does not fully support this program. I drive the 3 hours 2 times per year to attend games and know alums who LIVE IN C-U and do not attend games. It’s nuts.
Been to all home games this year and I have a two hour drive each way. Will miss NW due to holiday travel.
More interestingly.. I have 4 seasons tickets and past few games I have sold 2 of them since others weren't able to join us. Every time someone has bought my apres this year (usually a day or two before they game) they either don't show up at all or leave after 1 quarter..
Decades of irrelevance and letdowns take more than a couple of years of success to reverse for the more casual fans in the base. Of course, everyone here is going to support the team through thick and thin. But many fans, especially today with all the other distractions available, are less enthusiastic. We need more games like Michigan last year. A super hyped game where the team came out matching the hype and were able to get a huge victory. There have been some letdowns this year with Ohio St and especially Washington. The Ohio St game was super hyped and the fans showed up big - just like they had for USC. But the team was not able to ever really threaten OSU, so it was a bit of a letdown. And the Washington game was just ugly for the team. Not blaming them, but you have to take advantage of those opportunities to at least give maximum effort and give yourself a chance at winning; just didn't feel like we were able to do that in those two games specifically. Not to mention the beatdown at Indiana where we just looked like we didn't belong on the same field. Those things put a damper on enthusiasm.
All this is not to downplay what Josh and BB have been able to do. And I believe we have the right men at the helm (Josh & BB, others need to be added). But it will take some sustained success to convert more believers in the more casual fan base. JMO
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Illini2010-11
- Sugar Grove
They probably bought the seats to sit elsewhere near friends/family. But your general point does stand.
It is going to take sustained success to change some of the fan culture. I kind of fear how empty the stands will be against NW, considering we will possibly be 8-3 going into the game.
We should have won 35-6 if we had a brain and scored on the goal line series and the not needed holding penalty on the touchdown. That would have been better for us. Plus we shot ourselves constantly in the foot in the first half with those two reversals. We cannot play this way next week and especially against a solid NW team. It saddens me how we have taken a 1st round possible All American LB and turned him into an honorable mention B1G player and 4th rounder in Jacas. Why would any decent LB.Edge come here they way we refuse to rush the QB? Why isn’t Josh demanding that Henry be fired and get a guy in here that will run a 4-3 with an edge LB constantly rushing the QB? We need to send 5 to the QB on every third and long.
They have? They could not sniff what the QB ate earlier in the day. They were miles from any kind of sack. The QB threw low and many of his passes were short of the target. But we left several of their receivers open all day. Their offense is garbage and we put zero rush against them. But a win is a win, ugly as it was.
^^^ Maryland had three sacks allowed all year coming into the game. The fact that we got one (0.5 Jacas/0.5 McCullum) is actually quite the achievement.
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It's genuinely sad this portion of the fan base feels this way, despite what will be another 8 or 9 (possibly 10) win year, in which all of our victories (minus USC) are by more than two possessions.
lstewart53x3
- Scottsdale, Arizona
There are two types of fans:
- Those who enjoy the best stretch of football the program has achieved over the past 50 years.
- Those who are still just as unhappy as they were when we were 2-10 less than a decade ago.
B1G wins between 2010-2020: 22
B1G wins under Bret so far (with two to go): 22
We won. By 18. In a historically good stretch of football for this program. Everything’s gonna be okay.
Do you know how many times Marylands QB has been pressured this year and how
Many times he’s been sacked?
Obviously not
Seriously, I thought the complaint last year was that we won too close
Illini2010-11
- Sugar Grove
"I am so mad. We held Maryland to only 6 points. That is so unacceptable for the defense in a B1G conference game."
There have been times to complain about the defense this season, but yesterday was not one of them. Maryland had less than 300 yards of total offense and just over 50 on the ground (about 3 yards per carry carry). The line play was fantastic, even if it only resulted in one sack.
This team is 7-3, but if you didn't know better, you could think the team is 5-5 given some of these posts.
OrangeBlue98
Iowa is not in a great spot right now (LvilleILL1)
- Des Moines, IA
Six points given up. The end.
This is really it. Sustained winning (going .500 at minimum) is what you need to build relevance, and once you have that you can build/promote the culture. Without the winning, the general fan does not really care, the general student doesn't care, and the broader community doesn’t care. Particularly with the students, I can't blame them for any attendance/cheering criticisms that have been leveled against them because they don't know any better. The student culture is something that needs to be passed down through the classes and when you are so terrible and awful for so long, the culture fades and people become apathetic.
Actually, Maryland held Maryland to 6 points.
lstewart53x3
- Scottsdale, Arizona
The Illini barstool page on X called out the student section for leaving at half time.
This was their response:
^^^ that’s from the official Block I account on X. I would link to it but it has since been deleted.
The idea that this football team no longer deserves the support of students because the team likely won’t make the CFP is insane.
No other student section in the country thinks like this.
Over the past 2 past years, this group of guys has given these students 17-6. SEVENTEEN and SIX.
From 2016-2020, they went 17-40.
From 17 wins in 57 games to 17 wins in 23 games and they don’t deserve students in attendance on a perfect fall day!? Are you kidding me?
This fan base is so far behind the success on the field it’s unbelievable.
The players who work their a** off all year long, Luke, a generational QB, and Bret, who sleeps in his g**d*** office deserve so much better than that.
This was their response:
^^^ that’s from the official Block I account on X. I would link to it but it has since been deleted.
The idea that this football team no longer deserves the support of students because the team likely won’t make the CFP is insane.
No other student section in the country thinks like this.
Over the past 2 past years, this group of guys has given these students 17-6. SEVENTEEN and SIX.
From 2016-2020, they went 17-40.
From 17 wins in 57 games to 17 wins in 23 games and they don’t deserve students in attendance on a perfect fall day!? Are you kidding me?
This fan base is so far behind the success on the field it’s unbelievable.
The players who work their a** off all year long, Luke, a generational QB, and Bret, who sleeps in his g**d*** office deserve so much better than that.
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When was the last time we stopped a BIG team on 4th and goal? I swear its been ages.
GrayGhost77
- Centennial, CO
I believe it was earlier this season?
blackdog
- Champaign
As long as I have been attending games Illinois fans have only been interested when it was cool to do so. Mostly that means when the VISITOR is someone to be excited about.
Not making excuses, but we’ve been so bad for so long, there has been zero game day culture and it takes time to build.
Hopefully the incoming freshmen get into the games and keep it going so it becomes a key part of the student experience and it builds from there.
lstewart53x3
- Scottsdale, Arizona
Unless you’re Indiana.
Or Kansas.
Or any number of teams whose fan bases show up in droves the second they start winning.
Yup. We have a unique issue.
Kansas gets good? Fans show up.
IU gets good, fans show up.
Heck, Purdue is just mediocre and fans show up.
There is something too transactional about a huge chunk of our fanbase. “I’ll show up when you’ve earned my fandom.” “I’ll stick around if you’ve met my expectations.”
It’s not everyone, but it’s a large chunk, to include many students.
blackdog
- Champaign
Transactional is a great way to describe it. I'll cheer when you give me something to cheer about. You can say its because the football team has been bad for so long but its the exact same thing at basketball games. Most people are just politely clapping during pregame introductions and stand quietly to start the game unless the team comes out hot. Drives me nuts because when people finally gets into games both Memorial Stadium and SFC become GREAT places to be.
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