Attendance at Univ. of North Carolina football games "is an issue ... and has been for some time," as the school is in danger of playing "three home games in the same season in front of announced crowds in the 40,000s" for the first time since '06, according to Andrew Carter of the Raleigh NEWS & OBSERVER. Last Saturday's game against Illinois drew an announced crowd of 41,000 at the 63,000-seat Kenan Stadium, though the "actual number of people in the seats was somewhere in the 30,000s." That followed a crowd of 44,000 for the home opener against North Carolina A&T on Sept. 12. This Saturday's game against Delaware, another FCS school, "isn't likely to be a tremendous improvement" from the Illinois game, which was played on a "bright, beautiful day." Several factors have "contributed to UNC's poor attendance," including the fact the opponents "haven't been especially attractive." Also, the season-opening loss to South Carolina "didn't help," and there likely has been a "hangover effect after a 6-7 season last year." Players have noticed the lack of fans in the stands, as QB Marquise Williams noted last Saturday's crowd was "pretty low." UNC WR Bug Howard went to Twitter with a "light-hearted solution to the Tar Heels' crowd woes." On Tuesday he wrote, "Maybe if we did a (men's) basketball pick up game at halftime of our games maybe people will show up?" Carter notes since the '06 season, UNC has had "more crowds (13) in the 30,000 and 40,000s" than it has had in the 60,000s (12) (Raleigh NEWS & OBSERVER, 9/24).
