Dom Amore: Jim Mora sees UConn fans swelling in ranks in Rentschler Field, and wants Huskies to hold on to them.

[huskymedic]

Assisted access <<

-> “Our student section, first and foremost, was amazing and we keep encouraging them,” Mora said, looking back on the atmosphere for the UConn football season opener. “We felt that. Then to look in the stands and see they were fairly full, and I hear there were a lot of people out on the concourse, so if we ever saw everyone in the seats at once it probably would have looked even better. But that energy level helps us. Unfortunately we didn’t capitalize with a win, but we’re a much better football team than we were a year ago. I hope people recognize that. But the bottom line is we have to go out and play good football so people want to come back.” <-

-> “We’ve got to depend on each other,” Mora said. “The fans and the players, we’ve got to depend on each other and I felt like that happened. Where we let them down, on defense, we’ve got to back up our offense. Our offense goes down and scores (on the first possession), we’ve got to get a stop. We had some momentum, had our fans going, and nothing is worse than the quarterback (NC State’s Brennan ) scrambling for a first down. That’s deflating. If we can capture that momentum on the first drive and then made a stop, got a sack, man, the place would have just, whoosh,. Crazy.” <-

 

[huskymedic]

Mike Anthony version:




Back Door Pass

-> “I'm not really paying a lot of attention to this, but between series, between quarters, just the energy — it felt a little bit like a basketball game. The music. The contests on the field. I think that kept everybody engaged. That was our marketing department and promotions doing a really good job. It seems like everybody did their job. And my feeling was, damn, I let them down a little bit because we didn't get a win.” <-

-> “It's like a lot of fan bases,” Mora said. “If you make it worth their while to invest their time and money, they're going to show up and be passionate about it. I appreciate that. I appreciate everyone that's in that stadium. I feel like we owe them. It's kind of like everywhere. If you win, they'll show up. Maybe not everywhere. There are some places where they just show up. But I like our fans. [Wife] Kathy and I love living here. We've tried to just dive in and embrace everything about this state, and it's fun.” <-

 

[jdb50]

Mid second quarter went to hit the head. Have not seen so many fans above the student section in years. There were lines 12 deep at the concession stands, a large number of fans walking around and the concourse watchers were packed in. We had way over 30,000 there. Have been to many 23,000 announced games and that was not last Thursday night.

 

[giddyup]

Mid second quarter went to hit the head. Have not seen so many fans above the student section in years. There were lines 12 deep at the concession stands, a large number of fans walking around and the concourse watchers were packed in. We had way over 30,000 there. Have been to many 23,000 announced games and that was not last Thursday night.

Reminded me of the old crowds. Not quite as chock full but pretty darn good. Im guessing 32-34,000. There were a fair number open in the second deck especially in the corners. The student section was amazing and they hung in there pretty late.

 

[CTFAN4LIFE]

Mid second quarter went to hit the head. Have not seen so many fans above the student section in years. There were lines 12 deep at the concession stands, a large number of fans walking around and the concourse watchers were packed in. We had way over 30,000 there. Have been to many 23,000 announced games and that was not last Thursday night.

Exactly - from the 200 level, I looked down and it seemed like maybe 4,000 people were standing below the overhangs and in the scoreboard end zone plaza. I've always wished said fans would take their seats to improve the aesthetics of attendance.

 

[TMB4405]

Exactly - from the 200 level, I looked down and it seemed like maybe 4,000 people were standing below the overhangs and in the scoreboard end zone plaza. I've always wished said fans would take their seats to improve the aesthetics of attendance.

While I agree the concourses attract fans I think we overestimate the numbers who watch from there. My unproven theory and calculation is as follows. There is probably 500 linear yards surrounding the concourse. Even at three deep and assuming each person. Plus space between is 1 yard it would be 1500 people. Most people do not stand 3 deep. That said the space under the scoreboard was very crowded Thursday.

 

[Patman]

I know football coaches get busy but if Mora were to swing by a dorm to shake hands on a thursday night in the early evening might not be the worst idea. Might smell desperate but a wild-card stunt like that every once in awhile helps.

 

[CTFAN4LIFE]

While I agree the concourses attract fans I think we overestimate the numbers who watch from there. My unproven theory and calculation is as follows. There is probably 500 linear yards surrounding the concourse. Even at three deep and assuming each person. Plus space between is 1 yard it would be 1500 people. Most people do not stand 3 deep. That said the space under the scoreboard was very crowded Thursday.

I hear what you are saying/calculating but for this game (unlike any other game - I have been to every game since the Rent opened and I always look for the amount of standees) the amount of people standing behind the student sections was like no other I've ever seen; 10-15 people deep for pretty much all of the 6 sections).

 

[Gburyhusky]

Kind of baffling that in 2023 our advanced technologies would be incapable of accurately counting the number of people at the stadium.

 

[Chin Diesel]

Kind of baffling that in 2023 our advanced technologies would be incapable of accurately counting the number of people at the stadium.

Crowd estimating is a feature not a bug.

Also, I am close to certain they have to report actual gate attendance to some state agencies.

 

[CL82]

Kind of baffling that in 2023 our advanced technologies would be incapable of accurately counting the number of people at the stadium.

Crowd estimations are like Schrodinger's cat. You've got a certain amount of distributed tickets but you don't know whether or not people will be in their seats at the moment you look until you actually look. Until that point we can assume that every distributed ticket equals an attendee, and not, at the same time.

 

[Hamms30]

Do they not announce the number off all those ticket scanners at the gates?

 

[Palatine]

None of this matters if the team fails to do its part on the field. Give the fans hope with a few wins and the attendance will increase. It is really that simple.

 

[CL82]

None of this matters if the team fails to do its part on the field. Give the fans hope with a few wins and the attendance will increase. It is really that simple.

Two dollar beers up to five minutes before kickoff wouldn't hurt either.

 

[Hoophound]

Two dollar beers up to five minutes before kickoff wouldn't hurt either.

The simplest and most obvious solutions are the best ones.