Where have all the student fans gone?

Saturday was a perfect fall day, sunny and about 60. Yet about half of the student section at TCF Bank Stadium -- about 10,000 seats in the closed end of the horseshoe -- was empty.

What happened to the U's student fans? That's what University of Minnesota Athletic Director Joel Maturi was asking Saturday when the Gophers played host to Illinois at the new on-campus stadium. When it comes to student attendance, Maturi would like to see a little ski-u-more.

The Illinois game, after all, came the week after a stirring victory over Michigan State and was a contest in which the Gophers could have become bowl eligible.

"It's disappointing," Maturi said. "It's a situation where [a full, loud student section] helped us against Michigan State, and even Wisconsin, though we lost. Or Air Force. Our students were there; they were there and they were energetic and they were loud. I think that creates a good environment."

It's difficult to get a precise read on how full the section is, because many students press toward seats closer to the field, often standing on the risers and on the seats. But a very large percentage of the seats were not used last week for the game that started 11 a.m. It appears so far during this inaugural season at TCF Bank Stadium that student attendance is higher for games that start later.

Maturi and his department already have begun examining how best to ensure those seats are full in future games. And that means that a number of ideas are being considered for next season.

"We have to look at whether we continue to offer 20 percent of the tickets to the student body, which is kind of the agreement," Maturi said. "Whether there are options to provide the students, if they don't want to go to the game, the opportunity to return the tickets so we can sell them to somebody who wants to go at a reduced price, which many of our fans would like to see."

Other ideas? Perhaps selling standing-room-only tickets to folks, then letting them sit in seats in the student section that are open after the first quarter ends. Or, perhaps, overselling the section significantly enough that, even with no-shows, the section would be full. That idea would be subject, of course, to fire codes.

"We've discussed those and other things, and we'll address it for next year," Maturi said.

For now, Maturi is determined to find out why students are not showing up for games they've paid for. Student season tickets were priced at $77, plus $6 handling fee, for seven home games.

"We are going to work with our student leadership, we're going to try to figure that out, why the kids aren't coming," Maturi said. "We'll go to the dorms, to the frats and sororities and try to find out from them what we could do."

Paul Strain is president of the Minnesota Student Association and a member of the Student Stadium Advisory Committee. He is also a season ticket-holder. He said the students definitely pack into the lower bowl and near the front of the second deck, a concentration issue that can't be ignored. Still, he allowed, there are students not using their tickets.

Why?

Strain said he thinks that with this being the inaugural season for the stadium, some students who normally wouldn't have purchased seats bought them just to be a part of that history. He also mentioned the Gophers' record, just 5-5 so far. Strain said he didn't think the early starts were necessarily a factor.

"The [Wisconsin] game was an 11 a.m. start and that was packed," Strain said.

It is possible, though, that students who don't get up in time to get a spot in the lower deck might not go.

But U of M senior Derek Dahl, president of the U's chapter of Sigma Pi fraternity, said early games might be an issue. "Some just have a hard time getting up for 11 o'clock games," Dahl said. "Once the night before wears off, they get up and go late. ... People do that all the time for all the sporting events.

"Whether or not people are happy with how they're playing is one thing," Dahl continued. "But people are still dedicated and they're still going to go to the games. ... The hype [for the stadium] is still there."

For Saturday's final home game against South Dakota State, all Maturi can say is: Don't forget to show up.

Gophers quarterback Adam Weber said when the student section is full, and loud, it definitely makes a difference.

"It helps give us momentum," Weber said. "I don't think it takes much away when they're not there."

Still, Weber -- who said he would go to every game if he weren't a player -- said it can be disheartening to see the student section half-empty.

"I don't understand it," he said. "Maybe it shows that they respond to a winning team. At that point [last week] we were 5-4. But I don't know what else you need. A brand new stadium, outdoors when it's 60 degrees outside? I just know if I was a student I'd be at every single game."

Staff writer Mary Lynn Smith contributed to this report.