Hoosiers hope to fill Memorial Stadium

When IU traveled to Kinnick Stadium to face Iowa on its homecoming, the Hoosiers were greeted to the jeers of a sellout crowd that exceeded 70,000 rabid fans. \nThe Hoosiers got the same treatment Oct. 13, when they were homecoming villains against Michigan State – only Spartan Stadium had about 75,000 fanatics. \nIU will complete its hat trick of being homecoming antagonists on Oct. 27, when IU does battle with Wisconsin, where a Camp Randall Stadium sellout crowd will have more than 80,000 screaming Badger diehards. \nPlaying in front of a packed house is common for the Hoosiers. But playing in front of sellout crowds in Bloomington is a \nrare occurrence. \n“Other than the Ohio State game, when our fans and their fans were in the game, I’d have to say no,” senior cornerback and team captain Tracy Porter said. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen a sellout.”\nMemorial Stadium, which supports about 50,000 fans, has yet to see a sellout this year. Even after IU (5-2, 2-2) started the year off with three straight wins, when the team trailed early to Illinois, the fans started to exit the stadium. \n“I think its better then last year,” sophomore defensive end Greg Middleton said. “But I still see a lot of empty seats when I look up into the stands.” \nWhile a big crowd in Memorial Stadium has been hard to come by, so has consistent success from the team. IU hasn’t gone to a bowl game since 1993 and has only won four conference road games since 2001. Despite the team’s lack of success, IU coach Bill Lynch said the 2007 team is a thrilling one to watch, and warrants a big \nhome crowd.\n“Our job is we got to go out and play good football and play the kind of football that people want to come out and watch,” Lynch said. “That’s what we’re working hard to do, but I do think it’s a football team that is fun to watch and we’ve got some exciting players. So we hope people keep coming out and keep watching them.”\nIn their three road games so far this season, the Hoosiers have seen the difference fans can make for a home team.\n“It’s a great advantage,” Lynch said. “Shoot, you love playing in front of your home fans. The bigger crowds you have, the more exciting it is, and players feed off that, so I think it’s really important.”\nThe Hoosiers have embraced playing in front of sellout crowds when they’re on the road, bonding together to try and quiet \nthe crowd. \n“You have a lot of adrenaline, because you’re playing in front of 70,000 fans,” Porter said. “The greatest feeling in the world (is) to have a huge crowd like that, then to get them dead silent.” \nIU is used to playing in front of packed stadiums on the road, and the team hopes to see Memorial Stadium full of people clad in cream and crimson at the homecoming game against Penn State, but the team feels that the only way to see it happen is to \nkeep winning.\n“If we get this thing going and rattle off some wins, the fans will take care of themselves,” IU senior defensive tackle Joe Kremer said. “It definitely helps (to) win games. Just like Coach Hep said, if you have fans in the stands, it’s definitely an advantage.”