Yep for sure. With lack of depth for decades it’s been the storyline for Illinois football.
Illinois vs Michigan State, Saturday, November 16th, 1:30pm CT, FS1
and having our offense in 3rd and long consistently also didn't help
I don’t know much about msu this year other than smith is a solid coach but in year 1. Hopefully their players aren’t “starting to get it”. If they do it would of course be against Illinois.
Talent-wise not sure they have an advantage over Illinois, and with the bye Illinois should heal up a bit. Also gives time for some guys that will need to step up time to prepare. So I think this game, like most others, will depend on the illini playing well fundamentally with minimal mental mistakes. Basically it’ll be won or lost depending on how they practice and prepare. Shouldnt need anything magical or heroic. Goal now, at least for me (like it matters), is 9-3.
Any thoughts on individual matchups vs the Spartans?
Talent-wise not sure they have an advantage over Illinois, and with the bye Illinois should heal up a bit. Also gives time for some guys that will need to step up time to prepare. So I think this game, like most others, will depend on the illini playing well fundamentally with minimal mental mistakes. Basically it’ll be won or lost depending on how they practice and prepare. Shouldnt need anything magical or heroic. Goal now, at least for me (like it matters), is 9-3.
Any thoughts on individual matchups vs the Spartans?
Updated Memorial Stadium Sellout Watch for Michigan State:
It seems ticket sales are quite slow for this game at the moment. I'd be surprised if we see the tracker go higher than 50,000, though announced attendance might break it.
Revisiting something I shared a couple weeks ago: in order to average 54,000 tickets sold per home game this season, ticket sales for Michigan State need to exceed 47,410. I think that has already happened. In order to move the average up to 55,000, the ticket sales would need to be 54,410, which I think is going to be a bit out of reach. So we will likely end up averaging 54,000+ per home game this season after averaging 49,698 last season.
It seems ticket sales are quite slow for this game at the moment. I'd be surprised if we see the tracker go higher than 50,000, though announced attendance might break it.
Revisiting something I shared a couple weeks ago: in order to average 54,000 tickets sold per home game this season, ticket sales for Michigan State need to exceed 47,410. I think that has already happened. In order to move the average up to 55,000, the ticket sales would need to be 54,410, which I think is going to be a bit out of reach. So we will likely end up averaging 54,000+ per home game this season after averaging 49,698 last season.
Homecoming 2019
- Chicago
Need to win out to keep our momentum into next season, a 10 win season is still in play, which would be incredible.
The Mn game was a very good turnout except for the student section. Hope to see the student section packed like sardines. No excuse because of an early start time.
I hope the team can do better this year against a first year BIG coach. With a win.
Sounds like the students did turn out, but sat with their parents instead of the student section. We saw two students at Big Grove after the game, seated with their four parents, who came to town for the game.
I have a couple of Block I (when it was actually Block I and not a random student section) season tickets (1967, $12; 1969, $14), on which it listed the start time for all games as 1:30. There was no TV so no commercial timeouts, which meant a game time of about three hours.
>>>>>>>>Old school<<<<<<<<<<
We saw a lot of parent/student combinations in Section 227, many wearing "Dad's Day" sweatshirts. Likely those students would be in the student section otherwise. On the other hand, regular stands may have looked more full as a result.
aiwpfan
- Springfield, Il
Remember when there were >TWO< Block-I's? West Balcony and East Main stands.I have a couple of Block I (when it was actually Block I and not a random student section) season tickets (1967, $12; 1969, $14), on which it listed the start time for all games as 1:30. There was no TV so no commercial timeouts, which meant a game time of about three hours.
>>>>>>>>Old school<<<<<<<<<<
Fighter of the Nightman
- Chicago, IL
While it sucks that the Minnesota loss likely zapped some enthusiasm, here is a good illustration of how the growth in our season ticket base and general increase in attendance has given us a significantly higher attendance floor.
In 2022, we drew 56,092 for our November 5th game vs. Michigan State, riding high on our 7-1 record. In front of what was at that time an incredibly large crowd compared to recent attendance, we suffered a devastating defeat. The next week vs. Purdue, with a shot at the Big Ten West title still ours to lose, we drew just 45,574 due to a deflation of fan enthusiasm.
Fast forward to 2024, and we drew 58,088 vs. Minnesota while ranked #24 and still sitting on a very impressive 6-2 record. After a similarly disappointing and momentum-crushing home loss to Minnesota this year, our "come down" attendance for this week is now likely going to push over 50,000. For comparison:
2022: Decrease from MSU attendance to Purdue attendance after loss = 18.8% decline
2024: Decrease from Minnesota attendance to MSU attendance after loss = 14.0% +/-
So even while seeing a somewhat similar decline due to decreased fan enthusiasm, we (A) see more fans sticking it out rather than bailing even after a loss and (B) start with an inherently higher floor for attendance due to more season tickets and more fans making plans to attend a given Illini football game in the fall. It is SO much harder to get good crowds when you are relying on fans deciding mid-week to attend a game because they have been "won over" or whatever.