Before Saturday’s Concordia – Georgia Military football game, Hornets head coach Don Lee said he hadn’t heard from me in a while — and he was right — and then joked that was probably because his team hadn’t had any bus fires lately.

The coach knows that I attend all of the Hornets’ home games — even though that’s only three games — so I knew he was joking.

But his message still got through to me.

I looked at the stands right before the game kicked off and was stunned to see that only a handful of Concordia fans — 50, if I’m being generous — were at a game where the college was offering free admission.

Looking at the other side of the field, I saw the Georgia Military College faithful jammed into the smaller, visitors bleachers. The Bulldogs fans definitely equaled and almost certainly surpassed Hornets’ fans at Saturday’s game.

Considering Georgia Military fans had to drive five hours to see the game and Hornets students had to drive an average of five minutes, I was surprised at the attendance of both sides.

Following a bus fire earlier this year that left its football program searching for equipment, the Hornets received help from programs and organizations from all over the country just to get back onto the football field.

The bus fire was months ago, but Concordia still needs support.

Some will say that Concordia should play more games at home so that fans can follow the program easier. I’m sure the Hornets would play more games at home if they could depend on their student body to show up to games so the program could earn a profit — especially when admission is free.

Those lacking school spirit will add that based on past results Concordia isn’t likely to win a lot this season, so why show up?

One thing I’ve learned from going to the Concordia games I’ve been to this season is that the Hornets never quit. Head coach Don Lee may not have his team winning a lot of games right now, but the passion and desire he and his staff show every game from the opening snap to the last second gives me a lot of confidence in where the Concordia program is going.

Is it too much to ask for more students to show up to support a Hornets team that plays hard every week? I don’t think so.