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Post by AztecWilliam on Aug 17, 2024 18:02:14 GMT -8
Will SDSU ever leave this conference for a better home? That's a question that has been asked time and time again, going back about 50 years. I have been thinking of creating a thread telling the story of Aztec football's rise beginning in 1961.
For now, I will focus on 1977. That year the Aztecs finished 10-1, ending up ranked 16th nationally. It was the second straight year that the team went 10-1. Also, the eighth straight season the team qualified for a bowl but got no invitation. Highlights were beating two power conference schools, including a beat down of Florida State. Please notice the average attendance that year!
Here is the schedule:
Aztec football 1977
September 10 Cal State Fullerton W 34–17 41,066 home
September 17 Arizona W 21–14 42,135
October 1 Utah State W 19–0 43,161 home
October 8 Fresno State L 14–34 14,114
October 15 UTEP W 49–7 34,760 home
October 22 UNLV W 31–7 39,109 home
October 29 TULSA W 41–7 28,306 home
November 5 Pacific W 29–7 9,857
November 12 Long Beach State W 33–22 37,213 home
November 19 No. 13 Florida St. W 41–16 50,453 home
December 3 San Jose State W 37–34 10,000
Record 10-1 (Second 10-1 season in a row.)
Ranked from #16 in AP Poll for 1977.
Ave. attendance = 39152
AzWm
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Post by zurac315 on Aug 17, 2024 20:28:12 GMT -8
It was seasons like this that caused me to feel that Fresno was and continues to be our #1 rival. And from recent history it is evident that they still often do well against us. And I consider our attendance during recent years to be a disgrace and really don't understand why support has fallen and fallen further over the years even when the team has been successful. Something is wrong but I don't really know what it is.
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Post by aardvark on Aug 17, 2024 21:01:06 GMT -8
Will SDSU ever leave this conference for a better home? That's a question that has been asked time and time again, going back about 50 years. I have been thinking of creating a thread telling the story of Aztec football's rise beginning in 1961.
For now, I will focus on 1977. That year the Aztecs finished 10-1, ending up ranked 16th nationally. It was the second straight year that the team went 10-1. Also, the eighth straight season the team qualified for a bowl but got no invitation. Highlights were beating two power conference schools, including a beat down of Florida State. Please notice the average attendance that year!
Here is the schedule:
Aztec football 1977
September 10 Cal State Fullerton W 34–17 41,066 home
September 17 Arizona W 21–14 42,135
October 1 Utah State W 19–0 43,161 home
October 8 Fresno State L 14–34 14,114
October 15 UTEP W 49–7 34,760 home
October 22 UNLV W 31–7 39,109 home
October 29 TULSA W 41–7 28,306 home
November 5 Pacific W 29–7 9,857
November 12 Long Beach State W 33–22 37,213 home
November 19 No. 13 Florida St. W 41–16 50,453 home
December 3 San Jose State W 37–34 10,000
Record 10-1 (Second 10-1 season in a row.)
Ranked from #16 in AP Poll for 1977.
Ave. attendance = 39152
AzWm
It would seem this was around the time that the Holiday Bowl was conceived--giving the chance to SDSU to go to a bowl game, similar to the Fiesta Bowl and ASU. Ironically, SDSU only went to the game once, losing to Iowa. |
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Post by AzTex on Aug 17, 2024 21:15:43 GMT -8
It was seasons like this that caused me to feel that Fresno was and continues to be our #1 rival. And from recent history it is evident that they still often do well against us. And I consider our attendance during recent years to be a disgrace and really don't understand why support has fallen and fallen further over the years even when the team has been successful. Something is wrong but I don't really know what it is. The home scoring margin may tell part of the story. Roughly 35-11 average per game. Helped, of course, by repeated yearly success. |
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Post by jp92grad on Aug 17, 2024 23:43:05 GMT -8
I think a lot of the apathy of today is the fact that mid to late 80's all the way up about mid 2000's to the 2005 time SDSU was just a commuter college with little to offer students and the casual sports fan. (The post Faulk years up until the on-campus arena and Coach Fisher arrival)
This 10-20 year block of time produced very little in the way of fans and booster support from Alumni. This was then followed again by boring football (from 2005-current day) along with a lack-luster Marketing and Promotion Department from the University that really does lack any kind of motivation and involvement of the students is why they are in this position of true alumni/fan support year after year.
Find out WHY the student are not showing up to games and make some changes, today student fans become tomorrows Alumni/supporters/boosters.
Not everyone of them is going to have over 27,000 posts on AztecMesa but we could use a few more Stan's (please don't flame me) and/or attend over 700 football games (Mr Ables you are still a Stud!)
Let's Go Aztec!
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Post by Den60 on Aug 18, 2024 8:09:05 GMT -8
I was there for the Florida St. game. That was a great atmosphere! We need to recreate that. One thing that was really fun was that the band split up and played from different sections.
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Post by myownwords on Aug 18, 2024 11:28:10 GMT -8
I think a lot of the apathy of today is the fact that mid to late 80's all the way up about mid 2000's to the 2005 time SDSU was just a commuter college with little to offer students and the casual sports fan. (The post Faulk years up until the on-campus arena and Coach Fisher arrival) This 10-20 year block of time produced very little in the way of fans and booster support from Alumni. This was then followed again by boring football (from 2005-current day) along with a lack-luster Marketing and Promotion Department from the University that really does lack any kind of motivation and involvement of the students is why they are in this position of true alumni/fan support year after year. Find out WHY the student are not showing up to games and make some changes, today student fans become tomorrows Alumni/supporters/boosters. Not everyone of them is going to have over 27,000 posts on AztecMesa but we could use a few more Stan's (please don't flame me) and/or attend over 700 football games (Mr Ables you are still a Stud!) Let's Go Aztec! I was going to post something similar, but you distilled the issue better than my planned message. The ennui that has snared the alumni has proven very difficult to dispatch. |
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Post by zurac315 on Aug 18, 2024 15:09:14 GMT -8
I think a lot of the apathy of today is the fact that mid to late 80's all the way up about mid 2000's to the 2005 time SDSU was just a commuter college with little to offer students and the casual sports fan. (The post Faulk years up until the on-campus arena and Coach Fisher arrival) This 10-20 year block of time produced very little in the way of fans and booster support from Alumni. This was then followed again by boring football (from 2005-current day) along with a lack-luster Marketing and Promotion Department from the University that really does lack any kind of motivation and involvement of the students is why they are in this position of true alumni/fan support year after year. Find out WHY the student are not showing up to games and make some changes, today student fans become tomorrows Alumni/supporters/boosters. Not everyone of them is going to have over 27,000 posts on AztecMesa but we could use a few more Stan's (please don't flame me) and/or attend over 700 football games (Mr Ables you are still a Stud!) Let's Go Aztec! Nice psot. You make some good points. |
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Post by RiffelBooks on Aug 18, 2024 15:48:56 GMT -8
A few things happened after the 1977 season:
1. We had only one more season that the fan base was used to having, in 1979 -- and we know how that ended up. It took seven more seasons to be really good again and go to a bowl game, and five more years to get to the excitement of the Marshall Faulk-era.
2. Several chances to improve the national stature of the football program passed us by, starting with the BYU disaster. Getting the snot beat out of us at home by Miami, being left out of the BCS forerunner, blowing the finale at UNLV that left us out of a bowl game, and most recently, the Pac-12 dissolution. That left San Diego football fans thinking we were minor league.
3. This coincided with the rise of the Super Chargers under St. Don. They were decidedly not minor league, being on the cusp of the Super Bowl three times. Football fans found Air Coryell a lot more exciting than whatever SDSU was doing. The growth of the NFL over the years and increasingly cosmopolitan nature of the city turned San Diego into a pro football town.
As all this was happening, we lost a generation or two of students who didn't bother going to games, other than to tailgate outside. If you didn't go to games as a student, you're not going as an alumnus. I do think that the student attendance situation has improved in recent years, and that will eventually translate into better attendance at football games, especially if Coach Lewis can reinvigorate the program.
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Post by jp92grad on Aug 18, 2024 16:02:17 GMT -8
A few things happened after the 1977 season: 1. We had only one more season that the fan base was used to having, in 1979 -- and we know how that ended up. It took seven more seasons to be really good again and go to a bowl game, and five more years to get to the excitement of the Marshall Faulk-era. 2. Several chances to improve the national stature of the football program passed us by, starting with the BYU disaster. Getting the snot beat out of us at home by Miami, being left out of the BCS forerunner, blowing the finale at UNLV that left us out of a bowl game, and most recently, the Pac-12 dissolution. That left San Diego football fans thinking we were minor league. 3. This coincided with the rise of the Super Chargers under St. Don. They were decidedly not minor league, being on the cusp of the Super Bowl three times. Football fans found Air Coryell a lot more exciting than whatever SDSU was doing. The growth of the NFL over the years and increasingly cosmopolitan nature of the city turned San Diego into a pro football town. As all this was happening, we lost a generation or two of students who didn't bother going to games, other than to tailgate outside. If you didn't go to games as a student, you're not going as an alumnus. I do think that the student attendance situation has improved in recent years, and that will eventually translate into better attendance at football games, especially if Coach Lewis can reinvigorate the program. Just look at what "The Show" did for and with the basketball program! |
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Post by RiffelBooks on Aug 18, 2024 16:38:03 GMT -8
I think The Show and basketball is what fueled the renewed interest in football among students, such as it is.
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Post by jp92grad on Aug 18, 2024 17:39:29 GMT -8
I think The Show and basketball is what fueled the renewed interest in football among students, such as it is. That maybe so but what has the Football/Snapdragon people done to add-onto or increase the involvement and to improve upon the football experience for the students. They still are showing little to no involvement or interest in the gameday experience and or the game itself. This is shown by the student section looking half full-2/3rds full by the end of the first Qtr. then empty by the start or half way into the 3rd and completely empty by the start of the 4th. ---Not looking to argue the point here, just stating 20-30 years of facts and yet it happens year after year with little to no changes. |
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Post by uncledougy on Aug 18, 2024 23:03:13 GMT -8
Dang Fresno!!! Man, they really grind my gears…
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Post by zurac315 on Aug 19, 2024 13:10:58 GMT -8
Dang Fresno!!! Man, they really grind my gears… Don't they? I go back to the early '60s when they were pounding us like abalone. Every loss to them feels wrenching. I always thought that with the size and resources of San Diego that we would eventually leave them in the dust. Never happened much to my sorrow. Fresno and MCRD! Wow!  |
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