Welcome back to another season of indulging me in my quest to go to a game and pregame celebration at all division 1A schools! My apologies for not doing my traditional preseason primer — life has been very busy and I failed in delivering one. That being said, we already kicked off the tailgating season at Jacksonville State this past Saturday for zero week action. Jacksonville State has been a very successful program playing at the division 1AA level for many years. This is their first season jumping up to division 1A, joining the Conference USA. Given that their name is Jacksonville State, I’d always assumed the school was located in Jacksonville, FL. Much to my surprise, when I looked at the school website, I found out it is located in Jacksonville, AL! It’s a good thing my Magellan skills kicked in, and I figured this out in advance of making the trek.
In addition to moving up to the highest level of competition, Jax State is coached by Rich Rodriguez (Rich Rod), former head coach of WVU, Michigan and Arizona. The mascot is Cocky the Gamecock and their slogan is “fear the beak.” I can relate given the shape of my nose. The picturesque campus sits in NE Alabama with a beautiful mountain backdrop. The school has approximately 11,000 future taxpayers enrolled in studies. The football team plays their games in Burgess Snow Field, JSU stadium, which was originally built in 1947 and has seats for 24,000 fans. The stadium is in the midst of a substantial renovation to make it better suited for the big time.
This past weekend, the Gamecocks hosted the Miners from UTEP on what turned out to be the hottest game I’ve ever attended with temps on the field hitting 130 degrees. I accomplished a first by consuming more water than beer on the day as the sweat was pouring off me like Victoria Falls.
Mrs. Tailgate and I were joined by my high school buddies Dr. Alabama Al Rector and Tony Pifer and their wives Tracey and Edna. We set up an excellent tailgate under the trees in the general tailgating lot to get a little extra shade. The menu consisted of pulled pork sandwiches, chicken wings, potato salad, deviled eggs, tomato/mozzarella/basil skewers and many other snacks. We broke out my brand new RYOBI bucket top mister to cool things down, blared tailgate tunes, told embarrassing stories to the wives and even played beer pong on my new portable game stand. The Gamecock player walk from the bus to the stadium went right past our tailgate tent and was led by a section of their famed marching band known as the Southerners. As we were breaking down our tailgate, we were introduced to a Jax State super fan named Murray who was escaping his official duties with his wife’s soiree. He told us many historical facts about the campus and program and even gave us three free tickets to the game.
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| Fear the beak! The Taikgate couple and my cool new toy in action! |
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| clockwise from the left - Cocky, beer pong, our TG Queen of the day and part of our amazing chow. |
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| Ladies & sweaty men |
Once in the stadium, all the fans sat on the south side, while the students and band were located in the east end zone. The north side was under construction with the bleachers already stripped out. Thanks to the extreme temperature and humidity, we continued to down water as fast as we could get it. The Gamecocks drew first blood with a field goal in Q1 and added a touchdown to take a 10-0 lead in the second quarter. The Miners were able to punch one in right before the half to close the gap to three points. In the third quarter, the Gamecocks ran another score in from the seven yard line. The Miners would make it interesting in the fourth quarter by putting another seven on the board with a 32 yard pass play. But the Gamecocks would ultimately hold onto the lead and walk away with a 17-14 win in their inaugural game at the D1A level. More impressive than the game itself was the 500+ member Southerners marching band. They put on a halftime performance that rivaled any SEC or Big Ten marching band.
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| Inside the sweatbox - a stadium being transformed |
Around the globe: Notre Dame would sink the Navy in Dublin, Ireland, 42-3 in the marquee match of the day. Meanwhile, the Trojans dominated the Spartans in a Roman battle in the LA coliseum. San Diego State nudged Ohio University, and Vandy got the best of Hawaii.
Bieber: The winner is the soon to be former PAC 12 for disintegrating before our eyes over the past two months. How could this happen to one of the most storied conferences in collegiate athletics? First, we saw USC and UCLA announce after last season they would bolt for the Big Ten. UW and Oregon followed suit earlier this summer with Colorado, Utah and the two Arizona schools bolting for the Big 12. Stanford and Cal are in discussions with the ACC, which only leaves WSU and Oregon State to fend for themselves. Let’s take into consideration that this move is for all sports, not just football. This makes zero sense for kids in non-revenue sports spending a chunk of their school year traveling coast to coast for events and games watched by a handful of parents and family. The state of college sports is rapidly becoming unrecognizable. And for this, the PAC 12 will at least retain the coveted Bieber hardware.
Ginger: This award goes to our tailgate crew this past Saturday for being brave enough to tailgate and sit through an entire game in outlandish weather conditions.
Next up: My annual Labor Day trifecta with co-pilot
Tubby and several other buddies. Thursday we’ll be in Orlando for the UCF home opener against Kent State. Friday you will find us in Miami for the battle of Miamis. And Saturday for the finale, we will be in Boca Raton for FAU’s opener when they face Monmouth.
Happy Tailgating!
