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CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (WCIA) — History was made on Saturday at Memorial Stadium. The Fighting Illini defeated the Toledo Rockets, and they did so in front of the largest crowd in over a decade.
Nearly 49,000 people were packed into the stadium for the Illini season opener. The last time the stadium saw such attendance was in 2010.
“I can believe it, after last year with their stand-out season,” Ethan Lehman said. “It’s grown up or expanded so much in the past few years I feel. I feel more a part of it and, I don’t know, I focus more on the football now.”
The single-game attendance mark was not the only record broken. An unprecedented amount of new season ticket holders were brought into the fold too — almost 15,000 of them.
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With 8 wins and 5 losses in 2022, the team is looking to improve their record this year alongside their refreshed fanbase.
“It was the fans that brought home this win as well as the team, because there was energy the entire game,” said Lily Ross, a University of Illinois student. “Everyone continued to cheer, even when we were losing. And I think everyone sticking it out for the team made this team stick it out for us.”
With the 1-0 start to the season, the Fighting Illini will travel to Kansas to go head-to-head with the Jayhawks on Friday at 6:30 p.m. They will return to Memorial Stadium to face Penn State on Sept. 16.
