OFFICIAL: SMU-HCU SCORE & ATTENDANCE PREDICTIONS

[Dukie]

Disappointing crowd for our home opener and 1st game as an ACC member but I understand this is a mis-match blowout game in the heat

Wow I have the reverse view. This is a great crowd for Labor Day weekend against the most ΓÇ£mehΓÇ¥ opponent in forever. (Even SFA or SHSU bring *some* people.)

[Charleston Pony]

Disappointing crowd for our home opener and 1st game as an ACC member but I understand this is a mis-match blowout game in the heat

Wow I have the reverse view. This is a great crowd for Labor Day weekend against the most ΓÇ£mehΓÇ¥ opponent in forever. (Even SFA or SHSU bring *some* people.)

That's because we have such low expectations attendance wise. Home opener should draw well no matter who the opponent but that's what makes us SMU

[Dukie]

Disappointing crowd for our home opener and 1st game as an ACC member but I understand this is a mis-match blowout game in the heat

Wow I have the reverse view. This is a great crowd for Labor Day weekend against the most ΓÇ£mehΓÇ¥ opponent in forever. (Even SFA or SHSU bring *some* people.)

That's because we have such low expectations attendance wise. Home opener should draw well no matter who the opponent but that's what makes us SMU

Just totally disagree. In prior years this opponent would have resulted in12,000 in Ford. It was far, far better. Your BPS is showing.

[Charleston Pony]

Announced crowd was 27k but some of those may have stayed out on The Blvd? By the time I tuned in it was 20-0 and the east stands and end zones were pretty sparse. Lashlee seemed pleased that more students had showed up early to cheer the team's arrival on the field and commented that "if I was a student I would want to hang out on The Blvd longer". That's encouraging and hopefully Ford will be sold out or at least very close to it for the next 3 home games against P4 opponents that should be among the most appealing home games we will have this year.

[Treadway21]

1st game mistakes get corrected (or at least there is improvement) and this game should be a physical mismatch (more so than the Nevada game).

I'm assuming attendance will be about 22k and Ponies win 37-10 as the offense continues to struggle in the red zone allowing Rogers to kick 3 FGs and get closer to becoming SMU's career leader in both FGs and PATs made. Looks like he also has a shot at becoming SMU's leading career scorer before this season ends.

You predicted 22k and a 27 point win yet were disappointed with the crowd?

Great turnout by the students.

[max the wonder dog]

Am I right to assume the 27,000 reflects a big bump in season tickets as well as increased student interest?

[ALEX LIFESON]

[quote="ALEX LIFESON"]Ponies 59 Pups 6

Final score 59-7

[dalpony]

Good job

[Webmaster]

Am I right to assume the 27,000 reflects a big bump in season tickets as well as increased student interest?

I would say so. The crowd was in place uncharacteristically early. At kick, the bottom bowl was basically full.

Looking at my pics, I'd guesstimate the students entirely filled 3+ sections of the lower bowl not including the band. So that's got to be a 2X or more increase, right?

Speaking of the Mustang Band, they looked and sounded GREAT -- I counted 102 in the band, including a 20-person drum line. So, I believe that's a substantial increase. We may not look like a big state school by any means, but the band looked good. Playing the theme from Dallas was brilliant.

The larger spirit squad likewise also looked great! They had enough to put a group in each of the 4 corners entertaining fans.

As a self-diagnosed audio snob, I've suffered through garbage PA since the DP. Not so anymore. Ford was not only rocking', it also SOUNDED good.

You can get through the line and checkout with a cold beer or water in hand in less than 2 minutes. This is not hyperbole.

In general, I'm going to have to give whoever worked on gameday somewhere between an A and an A+ on the improvements. Hopefully we'll run out of fireworks every game!

[Charleston Pony]

Speaking of the Mustang Band, they looked and sounded GREAT -- I counted 102 in the band, including a 20-person drum line. So, I believe that's a substantial increase. We may not look like a big state school by any means, but the band looked good. Playing the theme from Dallas was brilliant.

Back in the early 70's the Mustang Band was billed as "96 Guys & A Doll" (the "Doll" was Delia Kincaid who twirled the baton solo out in front of the band. Good to hear their numbers are back to what I was accustomed to "back in the day"

[SMUer]

It seemed like they played a really music clip every down. Everything except the infield mics sounded good from the North corner. The sound from the drum line sounded muted like they didn't check the distance from the drums beforehand. The high excited tones of the hype-persons wasn't picked up well.