Typically, when a team is ranked higher than their opponent they are more likely to be picked to win in college football. That wasn’t the case Saturday, October 11th in College Station when the third ranked Rebels took on the number 11 Aggies, where the Rebels were still considered “underdogs.” The Aggies were favored to win by two points. 

I was lucky enough enough to attend the game in College Station and couldn’t have been more excited to watch the Rebels play in Kyle Field. Newly renovated and expanded, this was the first SEC game on the new field. Discussing the game with multiple A&M fans, I came to the conclusion that the reason the Rebels weren’t favored was because of the “Kyle Field effect,” as many fans referred to it. I’ve never been to a game in College Station before, so I was interested to see what they were talking about.  

I sat in the Texas A&M student section for the game and my ears were ringing from the loudness within the stadium. Kyle Field holds 109,000 fans, and it was evident. The student section stretches across the whole west side of the stadium and it was packed. As the students whooped and did their “gig ’em” cheers I could not believe how deafening the noise was. Almost as loud as a concert venue. It all came together; this is why the Rebels weren’t favored to win.  

As the game went on, Ole Miss did not seem to be phased by this “Kyle Field effect.” They scored three quick touchdowns in the first half making it 21-0. Ole Miss defense played extremely well, forcing three turnovers against the most “efficient” offense in college football. 

Clearly this says a lot about the Ole Miss football team. They went into a stadium that holds almost twice as many people as Vaught-Hemingway and beat the Aggies by 15 points. The final score was 35-20. What does this say about the upcoming game vs. LSU in Death Valley? 

Death Valley in Baton Rouge has repeatedly been referred to as one of the hardest places to play in college football, followed closely by Kyle Field. Tiger Stadium holds around 102,000 people. LSU has suffered some tough losses this season to Mississippi State and Auburn, two teams ranked in the top ten. LSU won it’s first SEC game of the season against Florida in a game winning field goal making them 1-2 in the SEC. This is the first time in a while that LSU has gotten off to a slow start, losing its first few conference games.  

Winning in Death Valley won’t be easy, but after the road win against Texas A&M, the Rebels should feel confident going into Tiger Stadium.