Tonight 15,144 were listed in the house. For the season that places Ohio at an average of 19,052 or 114,309 in total up about 6% from 2009 and an all time record in total attendance for the program. Last year's numbers were helped by having a record setting crowd against UConn, Miami homecoming, and Temple with the MAC East championship on the line in Peden Stadium. There wasn't really a big game all season in Peden for 2010. One thing the crowd showed tonight was our fans usually get up more for in-state teams. When Ohio played Akron in 2006 the crowd was more robust for a weeknight than playing Buffalo this year granted the weather really wasn't great at kickoff. 

As an alumni I was forced to watch the game on the U but I was still able to notice what I would say our biggest attendance problem is. The number of fans in the stands drops at least 80% over the course of the game with at least a 50% drop right at halftime. Altho this is most prominent on the student side it certainly exists on the box side as well.

On the kickoff after buffalos TD in the 4th the visible side had the 110 and maybe 100 other people tops. The espn cams at the end of the game resorted to showing the same group of 5 students over and over because no one else is there.

As I sat alone in my apartment in NE Ohio I was thinking how much I would love to be at the game on a night like that and that students were crazy for not going. But then I realized that if I were still living in Athens I can assure u I would have been getting dressed and pregaming to go party all night instead of going to the game. So the real reason I wanted to go to the game was just because I didn't have anything better to do, which I think is how most of our current student body feels too.

I watched the game on TV. The 15K reported attendance looked somewhat accurate. The MAC, Sun Belt, and Conference USA get a lot of these midweek ESPN games this time of year, and I thought last night's crowd (at the beginning of the game) looked solid, comparatively. Imagine what the crowd will look like for the Miami-BG that will get a national telecast.

Since the 2004 season, when I started paying attention to OU football, I can remember only three home games where there was not a mass exodus at halftime: Pitt and Toledo in 2005 and CMU in 2008. Even the super-important Akron game in 2006 saw a lot of people leave before the 4th quarter. Until we can win consistently, meaning MAC championships, bowl games, and at least threatening a big dog on the road, we can expect the trend to continue.

Crowd was smaller than what I would like.  The one thing that I have noticed is our crowd is starting to be a little more vocal, more people are standing up too!  We have a long way to go but we are moving into the direction of rowdy crowd. (I know some on here are already rowdy, but I want to see Peden rocking one day, like PITT game in 2005).  Our players deserve this.  Prices are still a steal, place is agreat venue for a game.

LOL the way the athletic dept has been killed for money spent there is no way your first suggestion is happening unless a sponsor is picking up that tab.

On the whole, the Athletic Department doesn't do a bad job of pricing, game give aways, split the pot ect. I'm not sure how they can do any better in that regard. One thing to note, while the school averaged 19,000 on the season I'd estimate twice as many individual people walked in through that stadium during the course of the season, they just aren't able to do it every game. Ohio had 23,000 for the first game, parents weekend brought in another 4,000 that didn't attend the first week, homecoming another 4,000 and over the balance of the season another 4,000 students sat in Peden that didn't that first night. There are a lot of casual fans that for whatever reason can only make it to the stadium once a year. Three promoted days really work well for Ohio; Band Day, Homecoming, and Parents Weekend. On top of these days the athletic department has tried to market town days (Nelsonville, Marietta) without much success. What the university should do is put together an effort to reach out to corporations across the state and have an OHIO day where companies distribute free tickets to their employees to the game. I would go all through the state looking for companies with 100+ employees that are interested in group tickets for the last Saturday of the season. This year that would have been the ULL game. The November weeknight game or day after Thanksgiving would be Hocking Valley Night. Same concept as OHIO day only this time invite corporate partners from within 45 mile radius due to a non-weekend time. Every season then you would have Band Day/Night, Discount Night (Toledo game this year), Homecoming, Parents Weekend, OHIO day, and Hocking Valley Night.  The OHIO day is a way to promote the program as a statewide one and get new faces into Peden Stadium. There are people on bobcatattack that drive long distances every Saturday so I see no reason to limit community outreach to southeast ohio. People receiving free tickets from other parts of the state would at least consider making a trip. Let the companies set up tents for OHIO day in the lot by Walter Hall. It would add to the game day spirit and encourage more students to come out for the games. I'm watching Virginia Tech last night and asking myself why so many students there are willing to make time out of their schedules for football and its because they know its going to be a big event. They know the big Peden Stadium days are parents weekend and homecoming so why turn out in force for a light midweek game unless the team is a top 25 contender.