TheStateUofMS said:
I know it was UAB, but it was homecoming, and I believe the attendance was a little over 34,000. That's pitiful.
It was pitiful, in fact the most pitiful home attendance I've seen with the exception of 2001 Troy State (which was credited with 26K people). And if you believe there was actually 32,310 people in the stadium that day, then you might actually believe there were also 36,000 people in the stadium two weeks ago.
HOWEVER, in the interests of context, MSU was 1-4 at the time, coming off not only three years of Sherill Implosion, but previous three weeks included the Maine Debacle, a 51-0 waxing at LSU, and a dismal 31-13 loss at Vanderbilt. On top of that, there was a 100% chance of rain, and it did so that morning before the game, and during as well. I actually went that morning to what was then the new Academy Sports on County Line and bought a pair of duck boots for the sole purpose of wearing them to that game, because I was not going to have soaked feet again like I did at the 2003 Egg Bowl.
So yeah, attendance sucked, but like the Troy State game, the weather was miserable, and everybody knew it was going to be miserable, so nobody showed up. At least there wasn't a tornado warning.
And for the record, during all of the Croom years, the attendance only dropped below 40K three other times, all during 2006, during a 6th straight year of suckitude. So we didn't just routinely not show up for the homecoming games at all like Ole Miss has recently.