Pregame: Illinois vs Toledo, Saturday, September 2nd, 6:30pm CT, BTN
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The Galloping Ghost
- Washington, DC
Hammer Toledo
ChiefGritty
- Chicago, IL
DaChief4ever
- Urbana
Always interesting how pumped we are during August......hope we can maintain and not disappoint.
redwingillini11
White and Sixth
- North Aurora
Fighter of the Nightman
- Chicago, IL
I'm "nervous" for this one because Toledo is a good football team, but not in the way I would be truly nervous in years past ... I have no doubt Bret and Co. will have our boys ready to play and will not take Toledo lightly in any way, shape or form. We have a tough trip to Lawrence coming up six days after and a massive home game against PSU a week after that, so I think everyone knows how important it is to start this season off strong.
Illinois 31
Toledo 14
I also hope we can give the staff and the team a nice gesture by having over 45k in the stands. While having below 55k or so for the home opener is still well below "big boy program" levels, it takes time to reengage the fanbase, and 45k would represent a very big (nearly 20%) increase from last year's crowd vs. Wyoming. Not sure if our boy @IlliniInBuckeyeState has seen any movement on the sellout tracker, but it looks like as of now the west side will be pretty much full, East Main will be decently full but will have splotches of empty areas, the Horseshoe will be full at the bottom and empty in the last several rows and the East Balcony will be quite sparsely populated. For reference of where I feel we should be getting back to as a respectable program, here are past home openers vs. non-Power Five opponents:
2022: 37,832 vs. Toledo
...
2016: 48,644 vs. Murray State (Lovie's first season created an uptick)
...
2011: 45,154 vs. Arkansas State
2010: 52,217 vs. Southern Illinois
2009: 62,347 vs. Southern Illinois (above current capacity but not quite a sellout in 2009)
2008: 60,131 vs. Eastern Illinois (see above)
2007: 48,301 vs. Western Illinois
2006: 45,444 vs. Eastern Illinois (for a 2-10 Illini team that was 2-10 the year before)
...
2004: 46,106 vs. Florida A&M (for a 3-8 Illini team that was 1-11 the year before...)
2003: 56,304 vs. Illinois State
2002: 46,258 vs. Arkansas State (pretty bad showing coming off Sugar Bowl season)
2001: 45,674 vs. Northern Illinois
So, moral of the story I guess is that while it will take time to reengage even more fans and the nature of attending a game vs. watching on TV has drastically changed in recent years, even a bad Illini team should be putting 45k+ in the stands every game. There are just too many people in the C-U area, Central Illinois and at least SOME able to travel from Chicago, St. Louis or wherever not to have that many in attendance (i.e., it just speaks to apathy and nothing else). For years where we have a bit of hype like 2008 or 2009, it seems we can easily get above 50k.
So - getting close to 50k for this opener would be a pretty meaningful statement that our fan base is fully behind this staff and team!
Illinois 31
Toledo 14
I also hope we can give the staff and the team a nice gesture by having over 45k in the stands. While having below 55k or so for the home opener is still well below "big boy program" levels, it takes time to reengage the fanbase, and 45k would represent a very big (nearly 20%) increase from last year's crowd vs. Wyoming. Not sure if our boy @IlliniInBuckeyeState has seen any movement on the sellout tracker, but it looks like as of now the west side will be pretty much full, East Main will be decently full but will have splotches of empty areas, the Horseshoe will be full at the bottom and empty in the last several rows and the East Balcony will be quite sparsely populated. For reference of where I feel we should be getting back to as a respectable program, here are past home openers vs. non-Power Five opponents:
2022: 37,832 vs. Toledo
...
2016: 48,644 vs. Murray State (Lovie's first season created an uptick)
...
2011: 45,154 vs. Arkansas State
2010: 52,217 vs. Southern Illinois
2009: 62,347 vs. Southern Illinois (above current capacity but not quite a sellout in 2009)
2008: 60,131 vs. Eastern Illinois (see above)
2007: 48,301 vs. Western Illinois
2006: 45,444 vs. Eastern Illinois (for a 2-10 Illini team that was 2-10 the year before)
...
2004: 46,106 vs. Florida A&M (for a 3-8 Illini team that was 1-11 the year before...)
2003: 56,304 vs. Illinois State
2002: 46,258 vs. Arkansas State (pretty bad showing coming off Sugar Bowl season)
2001: 45,674 vs. Northern Illinois
So, moral of the story I guess is that while it will take time to reengage even more fans and the nature of attending a game vs. watching on TV has drastically changed in recent years, even a bad Illini team should be putting 45k+ in the stands every game. There are just too many people in the C-U area, Central Illinois and at least SOME able to travel from Chicago, St. Louis or wherever not to have that many in attendance (i.e., it just speaks to apathy and nothing else). For years where we have a bit of hype like 2008 or 2009, it seems we can easily get above 50k.
So - getting close to 50k for this opener would be a pretty meaningful statement that our fan base is fully behind this staff and team!
lstewart53x3
- Scottsdale, Arizona
TheFlyingIllini1317
- Chicago, IL
Toledo will be a tough early test, but should we definitively be worried we have to sweat this game out in the fourth quarter?
pruman91
- Paducah, Ky
Torpedo Toledo
mhuml32
- Cincinnati, OH
Is the 2022 number the attendance from Wyoming last year? Or the projection for Toledo this year?
34 - 13 Good guys, 21-6 at half-time and we dial it back in Q4
Fighter of the Nightman
- Chicago, IL
Yep - my bad!
Fighter of the Nightman
- Chicago, IL
I agree. Certain schools like Iowa, Nebraska and Wisconsin have remarkably "static" fan support at a very high level ... Lincoln's Memorial Stadium and Kinnick Stadium will be full most Saturdays regardless of what those teams' records are. On the flip side, you do not see some massive uptick in Hawkeyes apparel in Des Moines when they are ranked #2 in the country (as they were two years ago) vs. when they are unranked ... there is just always a lot. On the extreme other end of the spectrum is Rutgers or UCLA, where their fan support goes from non-existent to UCLA filling much of the Rose Bowl or Rutgers breaking New York City media market ratings records when either is good!
I think Illinois is somewhere in the middle but closer to the latter. Using where I live (Chicago) as an example, Illini fans practically evaporate when we are having a 2-10 type season, and they come flooding out of the woodworks when we are good. When you think about it, it is pretty amazing that within the span of 10-15 years, our home opener can fluctuate from 30,654 vs. Akron in 2019 to 62,347 in 2009 ... that is over DOUBLE. We have a decently sized camp of extremely loyal fans, but we have a relatively massive group of fans who are just plain tired of being tortured when it comes to football and they're slow to buy back in ... my dad LOVES the Illini, but he falls in this camp, as he just isn't willing to spend all this money to drive 4 hours to Champaign to watch a team that is a massive disappointment. However, when they're good, he's back in. It's not that he ever stops being a rabid Illini fan, it's just that actually attending a game (especially for out of town fans) is a huge investment of time, energy and most importantly money, and people want to feel that the product is worth it.
I think this season is an absolutely massive opportunity to take a step forward in perception among both our fans and the nation ... anyone can put together an 8-4 season once. We have a schedule that gives us an EXCELLENT chance to solidify the Bielema turnaround as decidedly not a fluke, and it starts with Toledo! If we can start out 2-0, I am actually quite confident we will be pushing a sellout for PSU.
lstewart53x3
- Scottsdale, Arizona
24-13 good guys. Cover the spread.
I think we win. They Cover.
I live in Toledo & get to see them often...it's a very good program. They have a ton of talent returning especially their QB who can be erratic but electric. If their high-powered offense gets going & they put up some early points, it could make things very interesting. The concern is that we just don't really know what to expect offensively with a new QB & an unproven RB group. Defense & ball control will be the keys to this game.
For those who were at the FAMU home opener, that marching band put on one hell of a show. Probably the most memorable game I saw in person next to our 2002 overtime loss to OSU in prime time with that miracle 50yd field goal at the end of regulation to tie it. I still contend Walter Young caught that pass in OT that would've tied it up. Hell of a game.
Take a look at attendance at Kinnick before Fry came in '79. Same thing at Camp Randall before Alvarez.
- Status