The official attendance was 44,910 at the Illinois’ 9-6 win over Iowa on Saturday. This attendance marked the largest since the Illini hosted 47,144 against the Michigan State Spartans in 2016.
For every single player and coach on the field, Saturday night was the best crowd they have seen at Memorial Stadium.

Sixth-year senior offensive lineman Alex Palczewski said it was the most electric crowd he had seen during his long career at Illinois.

The crowd came as the result of a long effort by athletic director Josh Whitman and his staff to fill up Memorial Stadium following Illinois’ beatdown of Wisconsin at Camp Randall last Saturday. Illinois offered ticket deals, gave away free student tickets and promoted free Illinois football merchandise for attendees.

“I know Josh did a lot of things to try to make this game the best environment that we’ve had since I’ve been here, and I thought that was accomplished,” head coach Bret Bielema said after the game. “It’s kind of a day that hopefully is an indication of what we can do even more.”

Ever since the start of Illinois’ upward trend, both Whitman and Bielema spoke of the importance of fans showing up for their team. Whitman, in particular, has set a desire to create a sense of “FOMO” at games.

“We are very intentional and active in thinking about what (game) day looks like,” Whitman said in late August. “The energy that infuses into our fanbase is going to be a successful football team.”

While Homecoming tends to bring large crowds of Illinois alumni and fans, Memorial Stadium has not sold out for the annual event since 2009.

“The energy was amazing. You can feel it. I think it was a big part of us just keeping those moments alive,” junior linebacker Tarique Barnes said. “This is our home … having our crowd here cheering for us … it gave us a little bit more of a boost than we already had.”

After a taste of what could be the future of Illinois football, Palczewski and the team want more.
“I want a sold-out stadium.”

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