I really don’t know what to expect from the crowd at Bronco Stadium tomorrow.
I haven’t seen much Terp red in my travels around Boise the last few days, so it’s hard to imagine a huge contingent materializing for game day. And coach Ralph Friedgen acknowledged he hasn’t seen more than a handful of Terp fans here, and most of those were at the bowling event on Friday.
An official in the Terrapin Ticket Office told me today that the exact number of tickets sold for the game could not be released. This reluctance may be linked to the early report that only 16 tickets had been sold to Terp fans, which was later denied.
It is safe to say the final number is well north of that. Humanitarian Bowl Executive Director Kevin McDonald was optimistic when I talked to him yesterday. He assured me that he believes the Terps will deliver more fans than the last two ACC teams- Georgia Tech and Boston College- despite concerns about the long distance trip with the current economic recession.
In fact, McDonald, who came to Byrd Stadium when Florida State beat the Terps 37-3 on Nov. 22, applauded Terp fans in general, especially those who have taken time out of their holiday breaks to come to the great Northwest.
“It’s a little more difficult when you’re traveling to a place with snow on the ground versus a beach in Miami, but it’s been good,” McDonald said.
Either way, a majority of the fans in the stadium will be locals. McDonald said the local support is usually split between the two teams if Boise State is not involved, although they seemed to rally behind last season’s winner, Fresno State. He also said the economy could bring a slight drop in local fan attendance.
Friedgen said he assumes the locals will root for the Wolfpack in the same way that San Franciscans supported the Pac-10 team, Oregon State, in the Emerald Bowl last season. Naturally, he’s trying to prepare his team to play the same no matter who is in the stands.
Last year’s edition of the Humanitarian Bowl drew 27,062 fans to 32,000-capacity Bronco Stadium. With the recent warmer weather and a decent forecast for tomorrow, I don’t think matching those numbers will be a stretch. As for how much red will be represented in the stadium, that could be a different story.
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