Bill's Bowl Blog

Fan breakdown

No formal numbers yet on attendance at today’s bowl game — the first official NCAA bowl here in the nation’s capital — but I saw a respectable crowd on my walk around RFK a few minutes ago. Walk-up ticket sales seemed weak when we checked in earlier downstairs; the fans in the house today traveled from Annapolis or North Carolina to be here. I don’t think Navy is technically supposed to have a home-field advantage, but Bancroft Hall is less than an hour away up in Maryland, whereas Wake Forest fans driving up from North Carolina had a trip of more than four hours. An unofficial survey of sweatshirts and jackets seemed to yield more Navy fans than Wake, although the fans made a lot of noise when they did a call-and-response “Wake!” then “Forest” cheer after Alphonso Smith’s interception — which set an ACC record.