Halftime Retention

[ManAboutTown]

Current student here. I think this is true and what manabouttiwm said. We aren't relevant and people aren't that worried about staying throughout the game. I'm a huge fan so I always stay but the stadium wasn't that packed to begin with not to mention a lot of non students left as well. Yet all I hear about is students leaving

Dude, I went and stayed too. Many times, one of only maybe 100 kids in that place. The students aren't the problem. The product on the field has to be good enough to get their attention.

[LifeTimeCajun]

This. I think the right questions are being asked but looked at from the wrong perspective. Look at all the other seats open and not being used. Maggard just got here so I think a "change of culture" takes time

I'm not sure how you change the culture....other than finding a way to be more competitive on the field. This program was the armpit of the conference a few years ago till Hud got here. It was a breath of fresh air for a while then mediocrity, black eyes to the program, and negativity surround it. Only the diehard fans will continue to support. The same ones that showed up when we really stunk. How do you energize the fan base again? The schedule doesn't lend to that this year. And the defense performance last night surely don't either. Heck, last year we fired our defensive coordinator after a similar performance. While I think we can trend upwards this year...it will be a huge task facing who we face. However, you would want to believe we can compete at this point. I think this team is better than it showed last night, but to capture the fan base we needed a much better showing on the field. This is part of the microwave society that we live in...result oriented. And the average fan sees just the results.

[California Cajun]

That's a joke right. UT-the biggest program in college football/the most money/their own network. We are parallel but just haven't been as successful? Gimme a break

Parallel is lackluster team for several years running.

[93'defense]

Are you insinuating that beating SLU 51-48 at home was a great UL coaching effort? Maybe we're a little different in how we look at things. But I don't just walk away going "all is good - we won". I get troubled looking at a schedule that has 11 better teams to be played. Seven on the road. And then tell myself "all is good and going according to plan".

But yes, we did win. An FCS team came into Cajun Field and lost the game in the final seconds. All is good.

[93'defense]

Not my brand of football....give up 59 but score 60....hate it

[Ragin4U]

I saw a few minutes of Texas vs. Maryland on TV from Austin, which I didn't think was very good, and there was a large crowd and student interest. It seemed like a parallel situation to ours except that Texas has a lot of past success. It's like the students are hard-wired to be there whether the team is good or not.

UT also has a 50K enrollment.

[Crowley Cajun]

The bottom line to get butts in the seats is to have a product worth it. We haven't for the last few years. I watched Boisie hand it to us to open the season last year and SE almost beat us. I left at halftime because I was sick of seeing a team that we should have put away before halftime score at will. If not for Calais' 2 TD's on ST and the long run by Ragas (?), we lose.

[Cajunsmike]

No Mike, we have cultivated a community of people that care more about the social experience than watching the game. Lubbock, College Park, Boise, Baylor, etc all had apethrtic fan bases until their teams became successful, played house hold names, and eventually got into better conferences. Western Michigan took 40k fans to their NY6 bowl game against Wisconsin. You think they've been packing the stadium at WMU all these years? Of course not.

It will take multiple years of winning big to cultivate a passionate fan base. Not passionate for tailgating, but genuinely interested in going into the game and watching a football game.

You probably are right in that we have cultivated the social fan. Your second paragraph is very telling. It will take MULTIPLE years of winning big to change things. We are not close to that now. Which is why I still believe (know as much as believe due to having a daughter that just graduated) many students would have left at halftime regardless of how the team was playing. Every freshman class cares less about football and athletics than the one before it at this stage.

[Cajunsmike]

I saw a few minutes of Texas vs. Maryland on TV from Austin, which I didn't think was very good, and there was a large crowd and student interest. It seemed like a parallel situation to ours except that Texas has a lot of past success. It's like the students are hard-wired to be there whether the team is good or not.

I work with some Texas grads. Many of them don't care about football anymore. One of the best mentees I ever had was from there and she went to one game in four years there. The point of 50000 students there is valid. That is why their student draw looks OK.

[ManAboutTown]

I work with some Texas grads. Many of them don't care about football anymore. One of the best mentees I ever had was from there and she went to one game in four years there. The point of 50000 students there is valid. That is why their student draw looks OK.

The students care less because Texas has been irrelevant on the national stage for a decade. Which furthers my point about winning consistently. We were on the right track, but people mistake the building stage for the "we've made it" stage. Those 4 winning years were a good start, but by no means will that level of success build a passionate fan base.

[Cajunsmike]

The students care less because Texas has been irrelevant on the national stage for a decade. Which furthers my point about winning consistently. We were on the right track, but people mistake the building stage for the "we've made it" stage. Those 4 winning years were a good start, but by no means will that level of success build a passionate fan base.

Agree with points made in that post. That ties to the point made by Cajun Express that we are not relevant in college football today. Of course 95 percent of G5 schools are not and 50 percent of P5 schools are not today. That is what abundance of bowl games, TV games, and the college playoff system has resulted in. Of course just because that is the situation does not mean we should not try to improve our situation. Lots of work ahead of us in that regard.

[cajun tom]

Are you insinuating that beating SLU 51-48 at home was a great UL coaching effort? Maybe we're a little different in how we look at things. But I don't just walk away going "all is good - we won". I get troubled looking at a schedule that has 11 better teams to be played. Seven on the road. And then tell myself "all is good and going according to plan".

But yes, we did win. An FCS team came into Cajun Field and lost the game in the final seconds. All is good.

There is no such thing as a ugly win.