Never Leave Your Brother Behind

This weekend was one of those hallowed football trips I look forward to every year with my brother, Brian, who was there with me 18 years ago when I started my dft cfb quest. Every season, we connect for a weekend of college football at stadiums we have not previously been to. This year, I purchased tickets for the Thursday night Tulane home game and the Saturday Southern Miss home game. Hotels booked, social plans secured, down time activities planned … it turned out it’s that time of the month for my brother, and he had to pull the ripcord on the trip and call an audible at the last second. More on this later, of course.

Tulane University is a private institution that sits in the middle of the city of New Orleans with a student body of about 14,000. Tulane’s Yulman stadium was built on campus almost a decade ago. Before that, the team played its home games in the miserable Superdome for the previous four decades. Yulman can provide seats for 30,000 fans and is a hidden gem of an autumn cathedral. Prior to their years in the Pooperdump, Tulane played their home games in Tulane Stadium on campus, which was also home of the iconic Sugar Bowl game. A little fun fact about Tulane is that they were an original member of the SEC and played in the conference from 1933-1966. They are currently  part of the American Athletic Conference (AAC) and are in the midst of a very strong season with an 8-2 record. Famous alumni include Matt Forte, Tommy Mason and Shaun King.

Despite my brother ghosting me, I would not be alone as I was able to meet up with our old friend, “Coach” Travis Carter, who I last tailgated with eight years ago at Louisiana Lafayette. Serendipitously, Brian’s absence turned into my gain as Coach Carter invited me to join their party bus full of 35 beer-guzzling Cajuns. $40 for all the beer, fresh sandwiches and transport to and from the stadium. Travis’s nephews Randy and Robbie were in tow as well, and we all shared tales of our favorite venues and tailgates throughout the busgating event. I was also able to reconnect with Ben Chase at the game who we met over Labor Day at the beginning of his record-setting college football journey. Ben set out to see 70 college football games this year. The Tulane game was #50, and he was the recipient of Brian’s vacated ticket. When we met Ben on Labor Day, he was full of energy, vigor and enthusiasm. I teased him in Tulane that he’d aged 20 years and was a walking zombie at this point. He is closing in on this amazing feat and he will get rich off of this. He too was disappointed in my brother Brian.

Bus gating in Nawlins!

The legendary Coach Travis Carter

The Tulane Green Wave are having an amazing season and came into the contest with a record of 8-2 and a shot at the AAC championship game. Their foe would be the silver spoon trust fund babies from SMU who had a record of 6-4. SMU is led by former Oklahoma QB Tanner Mordecai who has been stellar for the team from Dallas. But first, I must give my nod of approval to the stadium concessionaires as there were beer stands every 10 feet with multiple choices of flavors, drafts and cans. Of course, I was told five years ago by an assistant AD at Tulane, “Dan, this is New Orleans. We serve beer in our churches.” So with that wisdom, I should not have been so surprised. I also had the best stadium hot dogs I can recall. We upgraded our seats and moved from the end zone to the 37 yard line, 10 rows up behind the SMU bench.

 

With Ben Chase on his 50th game of the season.

An uncanny resemblance with coach Carter and his nephews

Tulane jumped out to a commanding 21-0 first quarter lead. It was apparent they were way faster than their Mustang opponents. The Green Wave defense was constantly in Mordecai’s grill, forcing him into multiple turnovers. Each team would add a touchdown in the second quarter for a halftime score of 28-7. The second half saw more Green Wave dominance as they would rack up over 300 yards on the ground for the night. Tulane thoroughly dominated the match and won by a final tally of 59-24. Back to the party bus for the ride home. 

After every score, the fans chanted this 100 year old diddy

Had Brian joined me as he promised, we were going to see Arch Manning’s high school playoff game Friday night (the surprise I mentioned in last week’s write-up) then make the trip to Hattiesburg for the Saturday game at Southern Mississippi. I elected to return to my new home on the redneck riviera as I do not particularly enjoy doing my quest solo.

Around the Country - All top five ranked teams were unexpectedly put to the test . Tennessee would see their chances of crashing the dance go down in flames at the hands of the South Carolina Gamecocks in Columbia, SC. The Gamecocks were led by another former Oklahoma QB, the cocky Spencer rattler, who threw for six touchdowns on the night. Michigan and TCU needed last-second, heroic field goals to squeak by with their respective wins over Illinois and Baylor to remain unbeaten. The Ohio State nearly lost in College Park, MD, to the feisty Terps, and Georgia would struggle offensively in Lexington against the Wildcats before securing their win. In the battle of LA, the traitorous Lincoln Riley and USC would best Chip Kelly and UCLA in a high-scoring affair. USC remains in the hunt for a berth in the college football playoff if they beat Notre Dame and win the Pac 12 championship game in two weeks. In South Bend in a blizzard, Notre Dame put up four squared to Boston College’s donut hole in the battle of the Catholics. I did win a bottle of wine on that bet for ND covering the point spread. As for the Bedlam game in Norman, Oklahoma’s offense showed up for exactly one quarter and relied on their defense to hold off their little brother from Stillwater with a final score of 28-13. 

Go Irish!

The Olsons pre-gaming at Bedlam.

The Panos suffering through another Northwestern defeat.

Bieber - The aforementioned Brian Donnelly for not timing his cramps properly and bailing on me last minute. If that wasn’t egregious enough, it was reported that on that very night he was to be at the Tulane game, he was seen stuffing his face at a restaurant in Frederick, MD. To add insult to injury, on Saturday when he should have been at the Southern Miss game with me, he was spotted at a division two game at Shepherd College with his enabler Legarius Buckley. After consulting with the DFT chairwoman of the board (my sister Patsy), it was agreed that an unprecedented DOUBLE BIEBER would be awarded to our brother Brian for his unacceptable treasonous actions. Here is Brian after learning of his new major award:

Double Beebs!

Next Up - Either the SEC championship in Atlanta or the Sun Belt Conference championship which will either be in Troy, Alabama, or Mobile at South Alabama on December 3. Happy Thanksgiving to all!

Happy Tailgating!