The Citadel @ Appalachian State
3:30 p.m. Kidd Brewer Stadium (24,050 -- Roanoke, VA)
Weather at kickoff: Sunny, 74
It will be next to impossible for this week's home game against The Citadel to live up to last week's season opener against Montana. An announced crowd of 30,856 (NZ) witnessed the most anticipated regular-season non-conference game in I-AA/FCS history -- A 35-27 victory for the good guys. Still, this is Ring Game No. 1, and with the Bulldogs' win over Georgia Southern last week, it's an opportunity for ASU to gain an early tiebreaker in the Southern Conference championship race. This weekend will also mark the 50th anniversary of the opening of Conrad/Kidd Brewer Stadium, though, in addition to the original name, no part of the original stadium is still around, save a few walls in the old part of Owens Field House.
Last week's attendance number was the third largest crowd in KBS history. It is the second biggest crowd to attend a FCS game, as 42,257 (NZ) saw last week's neutral site Tennessee State/Jackson State game played in Memphis. On campus, however, ASU has set the mark nationally — a mark that is about 500 more than the seated capacity at Harvard, host of this year's Harvard/Yale game.
Things and stuff:
* Appalachian's official seated capacity has once again gone up. An additional 900 seats were added to the 1,500 temporary seats erected behind the North end zone. ASU's new seated capacity of 24,050 is 7,400 more than it was at the start of the 2005 season.
* Appalachian has drawn over seated capacity crowds for 41 consecutive regular-season games, dating back to the first home contest of the 2005 season against Coastal Carolina. At the time, the crowd of 23,267 (NZ) that packed into a much more rustic and cramped Kidd Brewer Stadium, was the second biggest ever to see a game played in Boone — a number that would surely embarrass ASU fans today.
* Appalachian ranks 71st overall in attendance among all Division I teams and, of course, first in FCS. Duke (31,117 - NZ) is 70th. San Diego State (30,799 - NZ) is 72nd. ASU ranks ahead of several notables, including Houston (30,675 - NZ) in 73rd, UAB (28,612 - Connelly Springs, NC) in 74th and Wake Forest (28,589 - Williston, NC) which is 75th, despite hosting the the Chapel Hill campus. Incidentally, Marshall, is 83rd at 25,317 (amazingly, the West Virginia State Capital). Give those wearing empty seat costumes in Huntington some credit — they were playing the Can'tamounts.
But, again, Boone is soooooo hard to get to. F#*@ers.
* ASU's all-time home attendance record of 31,531 (NZ) was set on October 9, 2010 at a homecoming tilt against Elon.
* Two years ago, 29,519 (Centenary, SC) fans saw ASU's home game against The Citadel. That's now the ninth largest crowd in KBS history.
My take: I'll say again, again (this was my first sentence in my take last week)...But, Boone is tough to get to. There are a couple thousand empty seats still available for this weekend's game -- too many to count. We will likely see some silver, but one "section" of grass seating is sold out, and students pack themselves into their seating sections. Those factors, plus the amazing weather forecast, points to a big walk-up crowd. The Citadel's victory over Georgia Southern won't hurt, either. I'm ignoring the available ticket number and will shoot high. It won't quite be a record, but I feel it will be in line with last week's number, albeit a little smaller. 30,513 (Big Creek, GA).
in the mid '70's. 28752 at minimum.GO APPS!!!
