Sept. 1, 2011
After an offseason filled with chatter of conference realignment and NCAA investigations, the 2011 season is finally here. Fourteen games are scheduled for Thursday, signifying the start of the college football season.
With the beginning of each season comes unbridled optimism among fan bases and the teams themselves.
Enter the Commodores.
After consecutive 2-10 seasons, first-year Vanderbilt Head Coach James Franklin has used his energy and infectious personality to grow the excitement of the program. Now a little more than 48 hours before kickoff, the anticipation for the season is at an all-time high among fans as well as the team.
There is buildup in the days leading up to every game, but it is magnified even greater in the first game each year, especially this season.
“You’ve been working all offseason and you are just ready to go out there and have fun, show what you’ve learned, show how you can do and just play the game you love in front of the fans,” senior wide receiver Udom Umoh said. “You get excited and get the bubbles in your guts because of the atmosphere of being out there on the gridiron.”
It is feelings like that that make gameday feel like no other day of the year for members of the team, and why Coach Franklin refers to gameday as “a holiday” for the team because of how few opportunities there are in football.
“Gameday is a day that you may be excited or nervous but you are never stressed,” Umoh said. “We’ve been working the whole summer so we know what to do and it is just a matter of going out there and competing and doing it full speed.”
For Umoh, the feeling doesn’t hit all at once in the morning and instead gradually builds through the day.
“We eat breakfast, have meetings and the excitement grows with every passing hour,” Umoh said. “A few hours before the game is when I really start getting into game mode.”
For Umoh, game mode includes taking a pregame shower, listening to mellow music such as jazz or country and looking through the playbook before beginning his pregame stretches.
Many newcomers and players looking to see significant playing time for the first time in their careers are still unsure what Saturday will feel like. Count sophomore offensive guard Mylon Brown among those that are a little on edge about what the day will feel like.
“I really don’t know what to expect with it being my first start,” said Brown. “I’m nervous about it. It is different for me this year because I have a more important role. I’m sure the adrenaline will be pumping even faster.”
Brown has run out of the tunnel on gameday before, but he knows Saturday’s run out of the tunnel will be different. Since being named starter early this week, he has turned to fellow teammates such as Kyle Fischer, Wesley Johnson and Logan Stewart for advice and assurance. But even their words haven’t combated the nerves he feels.
“(Lessening my nerves) is something I’m really trying to figure out because it is the first time starting since high school and I’m nervous,” Brown said. “I just want to get past the first play. I just want a running play where I can go at it and open a hole.”
As for what he would like to do if Vanderbilt wins the coin toss, Brown has his mind made up. “I want the ball to get it over with.”
Brown’s nerves are not uncommon for young players. Umoh remembers those times and knows it won’t be long before Brown and other young players feel the way he does now.
“It is an indescribable feeling and your heart is pumping and you feel tingly bubbles all around you because you are so ready to play,” Umoh said. You are just so jacked up.”
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