UConn isn’t known as a football school, and Connecticut, and the Northeast, aren’t known as gridiron hotbeds, either.
But the school distributed 37,594 tickets for its season-opener against Central Connecticut State on Saturday, which marked the fifth-highest total in program history and the most among non-Power-Four schools, according to 247 Sports’ Jackson Moore.
Some in the stadium, including Hartford Courant columnist Dom Amore, reported that the actual number of fans in the seats might have been more like 25,000, according to the eyeball test, but regardless, the official attendance number was the highest at Rentschler Field since 2013.
UConn outdrew all other programs in the ‘Group of Five,’ including, notably, every program in the American Athletic Conference, which it was once a part of.
The Huskies finished ahead of Fresno State (36,801), South Florida (34,707), Southern Miss (33,485), Air Force (30,207) and Navy (30,014), according to 247Sports. UConn also outdrew Oregon State (31,630), one of the two remaining Pac-12 members competing independently this season.
The increase in attendance follows UConn’s 9-4 season and Fenway Bowl win last year, the first bowl win since 2009. The nine victories were the most since 2007.
The top draw in college football’s first week was the matchup between No. 1 Texas and No. 3 Ohio State in Columbus, which drew 107,524 fans. 67,277 watched Florida State upset No. 8 Alabama in Tallahassee, and 67,793 were on hand for No. 10 Miami’s win over No. 6 Notre Dame.
