Nostalgia/Wofford vs Citadel

[TheMoody1]

http://www.postandcourier.com/columnist ... dff04.html


Sapakoff: Wofford-Citadel fun shows how FCS tops College Football Playoff system

Citadel football fans arrived at Johnson Hagood Stadium prepared Saturday night, as if they had been fighting for just the right Christmas tree all day. Eager to vent. The collective shriek when Wofford failed on its first third-down conversion attempt – a pass break-up by safety Malik Diggs – must have rattled glass from the Ashley to the Cooper.

The Bulldogs lost the second-round playoff game to Southern Conference rival Wofford, 17-3, because Mike Ayers’ Terriers were typically resourceful. But until the final few minutes it was an old-school slugfest, triple-option cousins locked in an unusually hard-hitting game.

It featured a home team lead and a road team rally. There was an unlikely hero, backup Wofford quarterback Joe Newman, a freshman. There was a controversial play-call: Citadel head coach Brent Thompson went for a field goal (missed) down seven with just over four minutes remaining.

As one of eight FCS playoff games Saturday, Wofford-Citadel made a great argument that a 16-team playoff including on-campus sites might be a better idea than the current four-team FBS College Football Playoff system.

More fun, festive and fair.

Attendance was 10,336 with a strong showing on the Wofford side. Outstanding for a brisk night including holiday shopping options and conference championship games on TV.

“I had one of the officials tell me what a great crowd it was,” Thompson said. “Our fans turned out. Their fans turned out. It was a really nice atmosphere.”

[t4pizza]

Sad that they really consider 10,336 a good crowd in that round of playoffs. I know our playoff crowds were low, but those were typically the first weekend/ Thanksgiving games were students were away. This was a second round match up with a conference foe. Really don't miss playing in front of 10,336 fans.

[WVAPPeer]

yeah but our away crowds at some of these SB sites were lucky to have 10k --- some people just don't care as much about football as we do ---

[t4pizza]

yeah but our away crowds at some of these SB sites were lucky to have 10k --- some people just don't care as much about football as we do ---

What conference away games did we play this yea to 10,000 fans? New Mexico State is the only 1 can think of and that was on Thanksgiving weekend. The others all drew well over that number.

[WVAPPeer]

I don't believe I specified "this year" - the playoffs can't fudge attendance - regular season is different - a lot of empty seats at several away games ---

[t4pizza]

I don't believe I specified "this year" - the playoffs can't fudge attendance - regular season is different - a lot of empty seats at several away games ---

All attendance numbers are fudged, including playoffs, because they go based on tickets sold not butts in seats. I didn't see the game so I have no idea if there was a lot of aluminum showing or not. I remember some of our playoff games, the crowds looks a lot less than what was reported and what was reported was still low for us. Yes, I am sure in our first few yeas of Sun Belt play there have been some games with less than 10000 in attendance, but I can still only think of the New Mexico State game without going back and looking at all the numbers. Georgia State games look empty because they play in a huge stadium but I still think the crowd when we were in town was greater than 10000.

[WVAPPeer]

A quick check shows away attendance last year as ---
GaSt - 10k+
UL-M - 11k+
Idaho - 10k+
USA - 12k+
This year ---
UL-L 16k+
NMS - 4k+
Now you can spin it however you wish but in 6 of our 8 away games the last 2 years the attendance has averaged about 10.5k
- especially with APP's being about double that amount ---

[WVAPPeer]

Also, you could definitely be correct but somewhere I remember someone telling me (maybe Moose) that the attendance at playoff games were not fudged because the NCAA ran them ---

[JTApps1]

Of course two of those are being kicked out of the conference, and none of those team except ULL at 16K (not sure why you included them when talking about 10k at Citadel) was over .500. Still you're comparing regular season games at mostly our worst teams the past 2 years against 2nd round playoffs to decide a national champion. I think that proves the point for the other side of the arguement.

[WVAPPeer]

Of course two of those are being kicked out of the conference, and none of those team except ULL at 16K (not sure why you included them when talking about 10k at Citadel) was over .500. Still you're comparing regular season games at mostly our worst teams the past 2 years against 2nd round playoffs to decide a national champion. I think that proves the point for the other side of the arguement.

It is not an argument...all I said was that the attendance at many of our away SB games was not much more. The fact that we have played 8 away games in the last 2 years and the average attendance for 6 of those was 10.5k. This wasn't meant to slight App or anyone on here...it is just factual. As much as some complain about our home attendance I have not seen any SB games that can match what our fans do. The one disappointment I see with the SB is the attendance at away games. There were several on here who said about the SoCon days that they were tired of playing games at half full high school stadiums...I just find it sad that we are now playing in 1/3rd full college stadiums. THIS IS NOT A COMPLAINT ABOUT APP BEING IN THE SUNBELT NOR THE QUALITY OF FOOTBALL OPPONENTS WE ARE PLAYING...JUST AN OBSERVATION ABOUT AWAY ATTENDANCE...

[bcoach]

A quick check shows away attendance last year as ---
GaSt - 10k+
UL-M - 11k+
Idaho - 10k+
USA - 12k+
This year ---
UL-L 16k+
NMS - 4k+
Now you can spin it however you wish but in 6 of our 8 away games the last 2 years the attendance has averaged about 10.5k
- especially with APP's being about double that amount ---

I was at Ga State last year and that 10k+ number HAD to be tickets sold because the actual was not close to that.

[Saint3333]

Man that dead horse is looking rough.

[WVAPPeer]

Man that dead horse is looking rough.

It's a discussion about attendance. Do you have anything relevant to add?

[Saint3333]

Lots, the SBC average attendance is double the SoCon and the divide is only going to grow without Idaho and NMSU.

Time to move on as a fan base.

[WVAPPeer]

Lots, the SBC average attendance is double the SoCon and the divide is only going to grow without Idaho and NMSU.

Time to move on as a fan base.

Again you let your animosity get the better of you...this is not about the App fan base nor the SoCon!!! It is about attendance at a second round FCS game relative to our away SB games. That's it. Nothing more.

[PBR1893-BEER-HAT-GUY]

Playoffs rule...period! My top playoff games...Richmond at home. Richmond away. Furman at home. Best crowd besides ours...Montana at Montana snow game 4 degrees...louder than a brothel on a Saturday night! Loudest little stadium I've ever been in...fact!

[SpeedkingATL]

Not a fair attendance comparison as App has maybe three times the students as both Citadel and Wofford combined, and 10K looks a lot better in either of these stadiums than in Belt stadiums. I attended many App games during my tenure in the early-mid seventies where 10K was a pretty good crowd.......and we had a great time. Many of you will remember Citdogs were a real thorn in our side in every sport our last couple of years in the SoCon too.

You can bet the NDSU vs SDSU game on ESPN this Saturday will have an electric atmosphere and I certainly plan to turn in. There are exciting games on all levels of football which are important their fans. I love App football and enjoy being in the Belt but hard to compare us to Bama and OSU on game day too. I certainly hope we can fill the stadium in Montgomery on the 17th!

[Saint3333]

Lots, the SBC average attendance is double the SoCon and the divide is only going to grow without Idaho and NMSU.

Time to move on as a fan base.

Again you let your animosity get the better of you...this is not about the App fan base nor the SoCon!!! It is about attendance at a second round FCS game relative to our away SB games. That's it. Nothing more.

It's not about the SoCon when we're discussing two SoCon teams? Apologies, so silly of me to think those that didn't want to move to the FBS continue to compare the SBC to all things FCS/SoCon.

SBC average attendance is far greater than 2nd round playoff games.

Any App fans out there still miss the games with LR?

[JTApps1]

Of course two of those are being kicked out of the conference, and none of those team except ULL at 16K (not sure why you included them when talking about 10k at Citadel) was over .500. Still you're comparing regular season games at mostly our worst teams the past 2 years against 2nd round playoffs to decide a national champion. I think that proves the point for the other side of the arguement.

It is not an argument...all I said was that the attendance at many of our away SB games was not much more. The fact that we have played 8 away games in the last 2 years and the average attendance for 6 of those was 10.5k. This wasn't meant to slight App or anyone on here...it is just factual. As much as some complain about our home attendance I have not seen any SB games that can match what our fans do. The one disappointment I see with the SB is the attendance at away games. There were several on here who said about the SoCon days that they were tired of playing games at half full high school stadiums...I just find it sad that we are now playing in 1/3rd full college stadiums. THIS IS NOT A COMPLAINT ABOUT APP BEING IN THE SUNBELT NOR THE QUALITY OF FOOTBALL OPPONENTS WE ARE PLAYING...JUST AN OBSERVATION ABOUT AWAY ATTENDANCE...

I was just calling it like I see it, and it seemed like an argument comparing FCS to the Sun Belt. I still think attendance of 10K for two In-State conference rivals in the 2nd round of the playoffs having the same attendance as our very worst programs in seasons that they weren't going to go bowling shows how little interest the FCS in general has.

Doesn't matter to me because we have moved beyond that now, but I don't understand why anyone would claim that 10k fans for that game was a good thing? Honestly the only FCS games I have watched since we left were the NDSU-Montana game to start last season, and the NDSU-CSU to start this season. Nothing against any of those programs, but we left that level for a reason. The reason being that there are very few schools similar to us remaining. Now if you enjoy it still then great I hope you enjoy watching the games. For me its about the same as watching the D2 or D3 NC. If I happen to come across a game I'll watch, but otherwise I don't even think about it anymore.

[WVAPPeer]

Saint you are just so filled with animosity that you don't seem to comprehend what is being written - slow down, read what I have said carefully ---