Gamecock Football- A Southerner's Perspective

The following is from Austin Faulkner, a current Southerner and huge Jacksonville State fan. Austin may start regularly contributing to the Blog- we hope he does!

Football from Behind the End Zone

Many of you who read this post will have seen at least one JSU football game from the stands. You may have even sat beside those spirited enough to paint themselves from forehead to waist to show their support for the Gamecocks. But, only a select few each year get the opportunity to know what it is like to see the game as a Marching Southerner. I am lucky enough to be one of those few and will try to explain what it is to see the game from the viewpoint of a Southerner.

Now before I start, I must warn you, I am not your average sports fan. Being in Southerners has only magnified the passion I have for this school and its athletics program. I also have the privilege of hosting the RedZone, WLJS’s college sports radio show. I am passionate, borderline obsessive when it comes to sports and my passion (along with everyone else’s) just about overflowed at the best college football game I have ever witnessed, the 2010 JSU-Ole Miss game.

The week leading up to the game I had at least one copy of every day’s newspaper in my hands at all times. Ole Miss’s quarterback situation was questionable at best with Oregon transfer Isaiah Masoli waiting to be cleared to play by the NCAA. I skimmed my preseason SEC magazine that whole week to go over any potential weaknesses the Rebels might have. Everyone thought I was crazy, even conspiracy theorists, but I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that it was possible that we could beat an SEC team.

Saturday morning came and I was up at 2 a.m. to get to the buses to save my sections’ seats not that I needed an excuse, I couldn’t sleep anyway. When the buses arrived and were loaded, we began the long-anticipated drive to Oxford.

Upon arrival (six hours later), we set out to find the lunch tent. After a satisfying lunch in the shade of one of the tremendous trees that are all over campus, we set out for the stadium. We got to our seats and anxiously awaited kickoff.

Being emotionally attached to a sporting event of any kind is not the healthiest choice you can make, especially when your team goes into halftime down twenty-one points. I still had hope, but the grim reality was that it simply did not look good. Regardless, I cheered the loudest when our boys took the field for the second half.

When the Gamecocks started what eventually became dubbed “the Mississippi Miracle,” I frankly couldn’t believe what I was seeing. JSU went on to score 21 unanswered points and hold the Rebels’ offense to go into overtime.

By this time I, along with the rest of the Southerners, have lost what little sanity we had. We are making more noise than the Ole Miss faithful, who seemed to be in a slight state of shock. As the Gamecocks went on to take it to a second OT, the Rebel nation seemed to realize that they might actually lose this game and began, more out of desperation than enjoyment, to make some noise. That didn’t keep the Gamecocks from the end zone as you well know.

That had to be the fastest and most enjoyable fight song I have ever played. The stadium was empty except for us. We soaked every moment of it in, got pictures of the scoreboard, pictures of us with the scoreboard and pictures of pictures with the scoreboard.

Those are the games that motivate us to do what we do. We may not work the same way the football team does, but we put as much time and effort into it as they do. In the fall, nothing else matters for a Southerner. We get to school a month early to practice 12 hours a day and when school starts we practice 2 hours every day after classes. I’m not saying we endure the same amount of abuse that the players do, but we take our share. In fact, that is one of the biggest things we have in common, both the football players and the band members work, sweat and bleed until the end of the season.

Our goal is to be the best we can be and to help, in any way we can, our team achieve that. We make the most noise at football games, we heckle when we wait for our pregame show to start, and we taunt opposing fans while blowing the other teams’ band out of the stadium. No one comes to a JSU game more excited and ready to cheer than the Southerners.

Life as a Southerner can be hectic. When we’re not at games, we’re marching exhibitions, and while we’re there, every Southerner without a smart phone (me) is scrambling to find the score of the JSU game. I can’t wait to look at the online stats to see who the leading rusher was and who had the biggest impact on defense, wishing I could have been there to witness the game, win or lose.

Through my eyes, spending a Saturday watching Gamecock football is like nothing else. I’ve only been on campus for two years, but it’s my home away from home. I love the atmosphere, the campus, the people and of course the athletics. I look forward to next season and cannot wait to see if the ever elusive national championship becomes a reality or stays just beyond reach. Gamecock football is not just hobby, it’s a lifestyle.

-Faulkner