I don't think the ticket sales were all that bad compared to other stadiums, games, but don't have information on attendances. I do know it was over 50k attending that game against Auburn, in 2003. You also can't use the stadium capacity today to give a percentage, because there were seats added over the years.
It's a different time. People are spending more money now. When people are willing to spend $10k for a 5 day package with two kids at Disney, I begin to wonder about how much they'll spend at other events.
If I recall, in that era (around 2003), people were watching their money a lot closer.