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Having this game at 2:30 was the death knell in filling the stadium or at least trying to. Thousands of alumni in Dallas\Fr. Worth and places of equal distance could've made a 6 or 7pm game on a Saturday, but a 2:30pm game? Not so much. Why would anyone be stupid enough to schedule their biggest home game at 2:30? If TV was the driving factor, priorities need to be reevaluated.
Are the benefits of appearing on TV quantifiable or is it just the idea that appearing on tv is automatically better than anything else?Originally Posted by StrongBad
Doesn’t the afternoon start mean Dallas folks can drive home the same day? I feel like that would be a benefit for me.
Really? This is crazy-talk.
After being out-attended and out-cheered by USM fans at home in 2015, I don’t have high expectations on attendance especially if there’s even a remote chance of rain.
The minimum round trip to/from DFW is 500 miles with some approaching 575 miles. Makes for a loooong day, but can be done especially if you are young.
You are correct. I don't know what StrongBad is thinking.
I know many USM fans that are driving over that morning and back that night, so the 2:30 kick off worked well for our fans.
Same thing for fans in south Louisiana.
This isn't Homecoming, but Tech has regularly played mid-October afternoon Homecoming games since at least the 70s. So it's not out of the ordinary for us to play in the afternoon at this time of year.
Playing at 2:30 on Saturday afternoon --and this particular opponent-- should offer us one of our best home crowds. No excuses, except for the hunters, of course. Driving home from the game last week I saw 3 separate herds of Deer standing near the highway between Ruston & Homer, and I saw 2 more deer standing in my fathers driveway when we got to his house. The next day at breakfast, I teased some old hunting buddies of mine about shooting fish in a barrel. Truth is, it really doesn't take much of a hunter to kill deer with odds like that.
IMO, the time of the game is simply another excuse. We have driven to Miss State for afternoon kickoffs and driven home the same day. Have driven to Houston and back, USM and back, Baton Rouge and back. Just have to be willing to plan accordingly.
The probability of getting more people in the stadium is higher when its a night game. You didn't have to drive through a metroplex with nearly 8 million people before you got to the easy driving. I have friends that go to games at Tech and Grambling, but not if it's an afternoon game because there's no time to rest before the game. Everyone that attends the games isn't in the 20\30 something.
You are right. My dad usually drives a group of us. Youngest is usually 32-33. And my dad is 63. Drove to Dallas and back home for the Army game. I am not knocking anyone who isn’t coming to games from out of town because I would be tempted to do anything else on the weekend with our current on field and game day product. All I’m saying is that the 3-5 hour drive shouldn’t be the excuse. If we were putting up points like 2012 or causing turnovers like 2014, would people be more inclined to wake up at 6 and drive in for lunch and a 2:30 kickoff? I would argue probably so.
I am a Baton Rouge fan. I went this weekend but that is rare and I have a hard 830pm stop on 6pm games. I am in my mid 40's and I brought four of my six kids with me. My youngest is 6 and it was her first game. She loved it.
I got home at nearly 1am with my kids and it wrecked Sunday.
FWIW, a 2:30pm game is MUCH better for me. I simply cannot handle my sleep schedule being overworked like I could when I was 20.
I’ll go a step further and say it is the biggest home game of the Holtz era. A Tech win results in a newly inspired fanbase and belief that Tech can win its first CUSA conference championship. With a loss, fan apathy reaches a new unsustainable level when fans believe the ceiling under Holtz has been reach and it does not include wins over USM or winning conference championships.
The 2012 Utah State game with Orange Bowl representatives was the last home game with greater significance.
Fair or not, this game will be a turning point for the program. I view it in the same light as the 2014 game at ULL – I hope the results are the same.
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