Why are so many people selling their tickets to the Auburn game?
This past weekend here on Mississippi State's campus threw every bulldog fan for a loop. It started off with an electric night with a stellar Bulldog Bash lineup. So many students and members of the local community came together to enjoy the musical talents of Ric Wilson, The Mowgli's, and everyone's favorite 00's band, The All American Rejects. On the following Saturday morning, we were all graced with Tim Tebow's presence as students got out to The Junction early for SEC Nation. The energy resonating from the area was everything that a pre-football game atmosphere should be! It was the definition of hype.
The sight from the student section of Davis Wade was gorgeous: a sea of white T-shirts, canceling out the minuscule crowd of Florida fans, surrounded the field. Cowbells were in full swing (or ring I should say) and no one was shy to get on their feet. Everyone was laughing with the students who had painted their chests to say, "new coach who dis?" There seemed to be an impressive resilience from the Kentucky loss. It felt like it was going to be impossible to lose.
The team was supposed to go after some gator meat with a vengeance, but to everyone's dismay, that's not what happened.
The first half was not bad, but fans were definitely put on their toes. Two field goals kept us hopeful, but Fitzgerald getting sacked caused some to cringe. The student section was buzzing in anticipation for what would happen in the second half. Our defense held its own against Florida, but everyone's favorite stereotypical quarterback was slowly losing his control over the game. We gave up a touchdown and another field goal in the second half, but our offense couldn't compensate for it. The white T-shirts started to trickle out of the stadium and students started sitting down. Fitzgerald can't take all of the heat because there were definitely some buttery fingers on the offensive side, but an entire stadium of fans had basically given up on any chance of winning.
Multiple incomplete passes, four sacks, and zero touchdowns.
One of the most important games was just surrendered sloppily. The Kentucky game rolled off us like water off a duck's back, but the loss to Florida extinguished the confidence we had in our team. It went from "Dan who?" to "Fitz who?"(Credit: Instagram @Abigail.c.stewart). Fitzgerald pointing fingers at everyone but himself doesn't give anybody a warm fuzzy either.
So, are we surprised that people are selling their Auburn tickets? Based on what we've seen, we can only anticipate being disappointed again. People would rather study or go home than callus their hands ringing their cowbell and lose their voices cheering in vain for a win that may not happen. If you're going to the game this weekend, you might be hearing crickets instead of cowbells. Maybe this unintentional boycott will inspire our team to wrangle it back in and have a better season going forward. Some Auburn fans still predict that we will win and if we can pull it off, maybe that'll boost bulldog fans' confidence in the team again.
