Troy Aikman has watched UCLA football go through plenty of rough patches. This season, though, the Bruins have finally given their fans something worth celebrating. Eight games, eight wins, and a new coach making an immediate impression. There is just one rather embarrassing detail. Hardly anybody seems interested in watching it happen. That has left the former Bruins QB scratching his head.

Speaking on his weekly appearance with The Musers on Dallas radio station The Ticket on Thursday, Troy Aikman was asked about his alma mater. The conversation quickly turned to the uncomfortable sight of thousands of empty seats during a season that should have Bruins fans buzzing.

“Little embarrassing that we were 7-0 going into last week’s game and they shoot it pretty low (on TV), so you can’t really tell when you’re watching the game. I’m told there was about 20-25,000 people at the game,” he said. “So when you have a stadium at the Rose Bowl that holds over 100,000, 25,000, it may as well be empty as opposed to some other stadiums that maybe hold 40,000.”

UCLA entered its matchup with Nevada riding an unbeaten run and sitting among the country’s top-ranked teams. They left with another victory, shutting out the Wolf Pack 27-0 to improve to 8-0. But the announced attendance was just 24,611. That’s a difficult picture to sell. 

The Rose Bowl has an official capacity of 89,702, meaning barely more than a quarter of its available seats were occupied. Even accounting for the sections UCLA typically opens, the turnout was underwhelming. And this wasn’t unexpected.

UCLA had already struggled to attract fans earlier in the season. Its September home opener against San Diego State drew an announced 31,976. The Michigan State game on October 24 brought in 33,757, despite the Bruins entering at 6-0 and sitting among the nation’s top teams.

UCLA has previously averaged more than 70,000 fans during stronger stretches in the mid-2000s and 2010s. Last season, it averaged roughly 37,000 spectators per home game, when it finished 3-9. That was already a record low. Now, despite the remarkable turnaround, its average attendance remains below that mark, hovering just above 33,000. 

AD Tim Harris even resorted to buying tickets and giving them away earlier in the season to encourage more fans to show up. Troy Aikman knows the program can do better. 

“We’ve got to get people going to games; we’ve got to get them excited about it,” he said. “And then you say, ‘Well, how do you get them excited? If 7-0 doesn’t get them excited, what will?’ I don’t know the answer to that.”

There is another reason the attendance issue bothers Troy Aikman. He worries UCLA could eventually pay a much higher price if the situation doesn’t improve. Bob Chesney has given the Bruins a serious lift in his first season. An 8-0 start has completely changed the conversation around the program, and coaches who deliver that kind of turnaround rarely stay unnoticed for long.

Bob Chesney won’t be short of options if he keeps winning. Bigger programs with deeper pockets could come knocking, and UCLA might find itself fighting to keep the man who turned things around. Troy Aikman knows that.

“I’m hopeful he stays,” he said. “Hopeful that UCLA takes care of him.”

The worry isn’t coming out of nowhere, either. Brandon Koretz believes the empty Rose Bowl could eventually give Bob Chesney another reason to leave when a major program comes calling. It’s hard to ignore that possibility. A coach builds an 8-0 team, yet the stands barely notice.

That’s the part Troy Aikman wants UCLA to fix. Winning is one thing, but making a coach believe he’s building something worth staying for is another.