A well-known Under Armour advertisement proclaims, "Protect this house." During Saturday night's game against Eastern Michigan, the Virginia football team did just that, defeating the Eagles 48-21 en route to its first FBS victory in more than a year. Unfortunately for the Cavaliers, their house was nearly empty.
Saturday's attendance of 37,836 people marked the lowest number of fans on hand to watch the Cavaliers at home since Virginia's 13-10 victory against Duke in 1997. That was three years prior to the expansion of Scott Stadium in 2000, which increased the facility's maximum capacity from 40,000 to 61,500.
Saturday was no anomaly, however, as attendance at Scott Stadium has declined steadily since the 2004 season. During that year, home games drew an average of 61,494 fans. By the 2009 season, during which the Cavaliers posted a dreadful 3-9 record, attendance whittled down to 47,986 people - a decrease of nearly 22 percent.
Midway through the 2010 season, attendance numbers are still falling, despite the well-documented outreach of new coach Mike London and his efforts to reenergize a dwindling fan base. The crowd that saw the Cavaliers dismantle Richmond 34-13 during the season-opener only consisted of 54,146 individuals, and since then, fewer members of the Virginia faithful have journeyed out to cheer on the Orange and Blue.
Even conference matchups are not drawing in the big crowds they once did. Attendance barely eclipsed the 50,000 mark for Virginia's 115th matchup against North Carolina - the smallest number of people on hand to watch the South's Oldest Rivalry since the 2000 expansion. The Tar Heels ultimately routed the Cavaliers by a score of 44-10.
Following that loss, London called the players to midfield and encouraged his troops to acknowledge the aftermath of a demoralizing defeat - a stadium devoid of Virginia fans and full of rowdy Tar Heel supporters.
"When things happen in your backyard or in your home, and you feel like you didn't give enough fight or you didn't do all you could to change the situation, then you got to do more. You've got to ask more of yourself," London said. "So at that time, it was just an opportunity as their fans were chanting and yelling, our fans were filing out, that I asked the guys not to run to the locker room. Stay right there, listen, take it in and remember that feeling."
Two weeks earlier when Florida State rolled into town, the Virginia athletic department distributed free white T-shirts in an attempt to unify the crowd and draw more people to the stadium. The sparse crowd of 47,096 - an increase of only 3,504 people from the previous game against Virginia Military Institute - seemed to undermine the effort. Many Virginia fans quickly exited Scott Stadium after the Cavalier defensive unit surrendered 27 unanswered points to the Seminoles during the first half.
Overall, the Cavaliers have lost eight of their last 12 games in Charlottesville.
"Obviously I'd love to have 60,000, 65,000, with the fire marshal closing the gates," London said. "But, again, it's what we do on the field. I understand the frustration people have sometimes. Obviously, the more success you have, the more opportunities people have to come and see what you've got going on. And that's my job."
A decline in season ticket sales offers further evidence of the Virginia faithful's frustration with the team's performance. In 2005, the athletic department sold 39,811 season tickets. This season, that number dropped to 27,616 - a decrease of 30.6 percent. The low-quality opponents Virginia has welcomed to Scott Stadium may in part explain the precipitous decline in both attendance and season ticket sales. Richmond and VMI are both FCS schools, and Eastern Michigan has won only one game during the past two seasons.
Senior defensive tackle John-Kevin Dolce said many players do not pay much attention to the size of the crowd but that they do take notice of the amount of noise coming from the stands.
"At this level, there's always going to be a big crowd," Dolce said. "I love the noise, whether I'm home or at an away game. I love it."
Just as London wanted his team to remember the crushing blow of defeat against North Carolina, he hopes fans will remember the losing days. That will make the joy of a win even sweeter.
"We're trying to build this thing and eliciting the support of the people that are out there - the community, students and everyone - [so] that they understand this is a work in progress and they're part of it, so that when this thing does get turned around, they'll remember," London said. "We're building something that our people in the community around here can be proud of"
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