The University at Buffalo was practically begging people to show up.
The football team was in its third year of Division 1-A football with just two wins to its credit. The Bulls lost all 11 of their games in 1999 and beat both Bowling Green and Kent State the next season by a score of 20-17, needing overtime for the latter.
Their season opener in 2001 would be a visit from Rutgers, led by a new coach named Greg Schiano, fresh off a successful stint as defensive coordinator for the Miami Hurricanes.
Buffalo had a new coach too, Jim Hofher, and plenty of enticements to attract fans for the game: the unveiling of the team's new mascot, Victoria S. Bull, a halftime show headlined by a performance of "YMCA" by the Village People, slides and bouncy houses for children and a fireworks show after the game.
After Rutgers won, 31-15, Schiano began to cross the field for his first postgame handshake as a head coach when the lights in the stadium went out, trapping everyone in the darkness.
"Boy, was that foreshadowing, right? We had a few years in the dark there," said Schiano, referring to the Scarlet Knights' struggles the next few seasons.
At least for them, the lights eventually turned on.
It's still dark in Buffalo.
The Bulls have since reached the 10-win plateau. It's just taken them six seasons.
The transition to Division 1-A has not been a smooth one, the highlight coming in the teams' three-win campaign in 2001. Since that game against Rutgers, the fortunes of the two teams have gone in opposite directions. Schiano, who lost to Buffalo the next season, leads a top-20 team considered a contender for a BCS game.
Hofher is out the door and Turner Gill, the former Nebraska quarterback (1981-83) is in his second year as coach. Now, Gill has the task of bringing a winning attitude to a program that hasn't won much of anything in decades.
Gill, who has seen firsthand what it takes to be the very best, knows the team needs so much more to avoid being the very worst -- it starts with strong performances against teams the caliber of the Scarlet Knights.
"It just helps us get exposure," he said. "We need exposure to be successful and, eventually, we have to win football games so that people know that things are happening in a positive way as far as wins and losses at the University at Buffalo."
More than 27,000 students attend the school, part of the New York state university system, in a town with 292,648 people -- a relatively high concentration that would imply a close-knit relationship between the town and its team. Think again.
The football program takes a backseat to the NFL's Buffalo Bills and the NHL's Buffalo Sabres on the sports front. The city has a high concentration of art houses and theaters, and its bustling main street boasts the birthplace of chicken wings.
The most notable alumnus of the football program is Gerry Philbin, who went on to play nine seasons with the Jets (1964-72). He was a star defensive lineman for the Super Bowl III champions. Only six Buffalo players have been drafted, and just two in the past 40 years.
Not that Buffalo has a lot of premium talent to see if the attendance figures are any indication. Last year, 29,795 people showed up watch the Bulls' season opener at home against Temple, a 9-3 victory that gave them a record above .500 for the first time since joining Division 1-A. Any chance for optimism was quickly shot down when the team lost its next three games on the road.
When they returned to Buffalo for their fifth game of the year against Ball State, only 14,885 fans showed up. Then 13,699 fans came for Miami (OH), 11,764 for Kent State and 11,941 for Central Michigan.
Alex Rubin, a writer for the school's student newspaper, reflected the students' one true desire.
"All we need to see is some kind of hope," he said.
Students want a reason to be optimistic, a reason to believe they'll be in a competition other than trying to escape ESPN's Bottom 10 rankings.
"There's definitely an attitude around campus that everyone wants to see us do well," starting quarterback and Randolph native Drew Willy said. "They know our program has struggled so far but there's no reason we can't turn that around. We're looking to get towards schools like Rutgers and make some advances."
Schiano, when discussing his own team's recent achievements, likes to cite the cyclical nature of success. Better coaching leads to more wins, which leads to better recruits, which leads to even better coaching with better weapons to work with.
If the coaching is there already, as some assume, it's time for the team's record to reflect that. And it would start with an upset win over Rutgers, a 32-point favorite.
"Wins like that help validate your standing when you get into a recruit's home," Gill said. "You have the legitimacy when you walk into a home on the East Coast that, hey, this is for real what Coach Gill is talking to you about -- that you have a great opportunity to get exposure, maybe go to bowl games and all those things."