Low attendance at Ford Field won’t dampen Illini’s enthusiasm
November 4, 2008
For the second time this season, Illinois will take up residence at an NFL stadium for a neutral-site clash with Western Michigan. Ford Field, home of the Detroit Lions, will have all the usual amenities Saturday: spacious locker rooms, countless luxury suites and plenty of seats.
Just don’t expect an NFL-caliber crowd to fill those seats, even by the Lions’ standards. Only about 20,000 fans are expected to make the trip to Detroit, Mich. – a six-hour drive from Champaign – comprising less than a third of the stadium’s capacity of 65,000.
But the Illini, who likely need to win at least two of their last three games to ensure a bowl berth, can’t afford to worry about the crowds.
“There might not be as many people out there, but coach (Ron) Zook was telling us it doesn’t matter if it’s 100,000 people or one person,” defensive lineman Will Davis said. “If you can’t play with one person, then you don’t respect the game itself.”
It’s a far cry from Illinois’ season opener against Missouri, which was played at a sold out Edward Jones Dome, home of the St. Louis Rams. That game was nationally televised in prime time, while this weekend’s kickoff is scheduled for 11 a.m., only a scattered collection of television affiliates around the Great Lakes region will broadcast the game.
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Zook, who has consistently brought some form of energy to the sideline, wasn’t concerned about the atmosphere either.
“People are trying to bring up that there aren’t going to be many people, it’s not going to be loud, all that stuff,” Zook said. “We’re playing for an awful lot of things. We’re playing for each other, and we’re playing for this University.”
Even if the stands are empty, Davis said the experience of playing in an NFL stadium is still a welcome one, and that playing the game itself is ultimately all that matters.
“You go in there the day before to look at the stadium, and you go, ‘Whoa, this is an NFL stadium.’ … But when you start playing, I’m telling you, it doesn’t matter if it’s the Rose Bowl or Detroit. It’s all a 100-yard field,” Davis said.
