Kicking off Homecoming week against Pure Academy
After our previous Ole Miss football coach left us for LSU in the middle of our first ever college playoff run, we have had a whole new level of rivalry with LSU. Our meeting on the field came early in this season- Sept 19- and WE WERE READY. After HG's senior cheer game Friday night, we all headed straight to Oxford. (Cressey stayed with Grandma to then attend Juliette's bday party later in the weekend.) Spiffer and GD and KK came with us. We got up early Saturday and set up our tailgating tent and got a peek at ESPN Game Day in the Grove. The heat was oppressive. SO SO HOT. So we went back to the condo for a few hours and made it back to the Grove, showered and clean, around lunchtime. Our tent was so smooshed between other tents that we had to walk through others' to get to ours, but everyone was kind and gracious. There were all these rumors about needing the National Guard to come to Oxford because of how much chaos and "danger" there would be. We saw very few LSU fans, and the ones we did see came to our tent and were delightful. It was very calm and peaceful.
The stadium was packed an hour before kick off, and the gameday experience team did an amazing job keeping everything hopping and high energy. We played SO WELL the first, second, and fourth quarters. Trinidad and Lacy were on fire, and our defensive line was so strong. And not a single person left the stadium the whole game. We won 32-24 and were so classy that we didn't even storm the field (although we really wanted to!). I will forever remember HG screaming Hotty Toddy at the top of her lungs when we won, red and blue fireworks going off and the Pride of the South playing. And the pics of the receivers and defensive line running past Kiffin as they intercepted LSU's last ditch effort for a touchdown, pointing and waving at him (and refusing a handshake), will live happily in my memories.
We went back to the Grove afterward to enjoy the high and visited with our family and friends for a bit longer. Things were all still peaceful. HG and John wanted to make a victory lap around the square to see all the festivities, and then we ended up making beds for Tom, CB, and Larry since traffic in town was at a standstill. In the wee hours of the morning, we finally settled down enough to fall asleep and dreamed about sweet redemption over Lame Kiffin.
