Game One of Six
Montana @ Appalachian State
6 p.m. Kidd Brewer Stadium (24,050 -- Roanoke, VA)
Weather at kickoff: 6 p.m. Lower 70s and chance of rain/thunderstorm


It's not hyperbole to say that this Saturday's game between Appalachian State and Montana is one of, if not the most anticipated non-conference game in FCS history. The two programs have been among the elite group of standard bearers of I-AA/FCS football since the 1990s. The schools boast the two largest fan bases in the Football Championship Subdivision, and two of the largest on campus stadiums as well. Both schools regularly rank in the top 80 in average attendance for all Division I schools. Bottom line: This is a big game.

Appalachian again led the FCS nation in average attendance with a mark of 28,031 (Cornelius, NC), which is third on the all-time list for the school. Montana, with an average attendance of 25,662 (NZ), was second. Though ASU's stadium (23,650 (NZ) in 2011) is smaller in seating capacity than that of Montana's (25,217 (NZ)), The hill behind the South end zone has allowed the Mountaineers to outdraw the Grizzlies for five consecutive regular season campaigns. ASU finished second to Montana in 2005 and 2006, prior to the 4,000 seat expansion to the Eastside Grandstand at KBS.

Of note:

* 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 40 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.

* Last year, Appalachian ranked 82nd in average regular-season attendance for all Division I schools. THe mark of 28,031 was just shy of No. 80 Southern Miss (28,400 (NZ)) and No. 81 Temple (28,060 (NZ)). ASU was ahead of No. 83 UTEP (26,498 (NZ)), No. 84 Marshall (25,874 (NZ)) and No. 85 Montana (25662). Duke ranked 86th at 24,393 (NZ)) and Tulsa (22,541 (NZ)). But, Boone is tough to get to.

* ASU's all-time home attendance record of 31,531 (NZ) was set on October 9, 2010 at a homecoming tilt against Elon.

My take: I'll say again...But, Boone is tough to get to. As has been the case for several years, it will be easier to get to Boone than to Huntington, Marshall hosts Western Carolina this weekend. The rain may hamper some of the crowd, but expect attendance to be announced at over 30,000. Seats still remain. There is no way to get a count of student or grass GA seats sold,but about 500 seats mostly in the Montana sections are still for sale through the ASU Ticket Office. This is not a homecoming game, so I would't be surprised to see that mark stand, but the third quarter attendance should be much higher. With all that said, I no longer want Elon to be able to parade that our all-time mark was set against them (like they had anything to do with that), so I'm going 31,532 (Denton, GA).

Maybe this time I'll be right! 30720..... Dalton, GA

28078 Huntersville,NC



hope it's wrong.

31544 JACKSON-ville, GA

I hope it's more than 28752

As much as I hate it... 27,607 (Raleigh, NC)

There are WAY too many "tickets for sale" on this and other boards for those that 'can't make the game now'. How can you not come to this game rain or shine? I'll make sure at least 3 are there.

27,012 (Clemmons, NC)

Damn rain.

Due to the rain ----> 27262 High Point, NC

No rain ------> 32,000

My Atlanta zip is about right if it rains = 30339
If clear weather = New record with 34119 (Naples FL)

bh2oson wrote:28078 Huntersville,NC



hope it's wrong.

HVL! Woot!

30562 - Mountain City, GA.

28806 - Asheville

asutrnr81 wrote:28081 Kannapolis

I'll be disappointed if its 28081, but even more if it's 28025.


To all: Remember that tickets already sold are counted in the attendance numbers. Where it would hurt that number is that everyone that buys an already purchased ticket has no need to buy from the ticket office. However, I say help out your fellow Family member -- buy his tickets.

AppinVA wrote:

asutrnr81 wrote:28081 Kannapolis

I'll be disappointed if its 28081, but even more if it's 28025.

I always pick Kannap! ...and never KonKord! but I hope we get 33,333 in the place and pour it on!

Go APPS!

I think that Beer Hat Guy is out the get the Fire Marshall sloshed on PBR and leave him out in the middle of the woods so that we can have folks hanging from the lights. I am going with my current place of residence. 34221] (Palmetto, Fl). Leaving tomorrow for the game.

29658

My wife got me tickets for the game. She got them Labor Day morning which is my birthday. She could not find 5 seats together so she got three tickets and me and my two twin daughters are going that way. My oldest daughter and my wife are having to stay home.

28613 Conover, NC-2 = 28611 Collettsville

31, 051 Lilly, GA

I thought I had posted in this thread, but it was on the other attendance thread. Anyway, thanks for the write up its always nice to have on home weeks as it gets us ready for Saturday.

This is by all rights our biggest out of conference regular season home game in memory, maybe ever. Two of the top programs in the entire FCS will meet for the first time ever in the regular season. This game should have record crowd written all over it....but, with only a couple of days until the big game there are still tickets available at the box office and more than a few posts on this site trying to sell individual tickets. Add in the fact that bad weather is predicted meaning that the hill will be a soggy mess. This should diminish the walk up crowd. I am hoping to see a new record but feel we will be lucky to break 30000. With that said, I'm throwing caution to the wind and abandoning logic and calling for 32937 and new record.