When the sun sets and the lights come on at Jordan-Hare Stadium, things of the unexpected have become expected. There's something magical, almost an auspicious moment when the turf's lit up, the fans at their most hype and the Tigers on the field battling in an atmosphere that must resemble a Greek coliseum centuries ago. So many opposing teams that were more talented came in and wilted under pressure.
It's a shame we won't see that for Auburn's biggest non-conference home game since 2003.
After all the talk last season about going into Penn State for the annual white-out game in a national primetime slot, the hope was that Auburn and its cathedral would get its chance to showcase its intimidation factor at its finest. Sure, an afternoon game is fine (and much better than the 11 a.m. spot Alabama and Texas got for its showdown), but if it were a late kickoff with fans having the ability to gear up all day, holy moly, it would be the epitome of insanity.
There's something unique about this matchup against the Nittany Lions, only because of what has happened over the offseason. With the first two games almost serving as warm-up matchups, the looming cloud of the boosters still looking for a way to rid Bryan Harsin of his duties and a Big Ten opponent visiting Auburn for the first time ever (Maryland and Nebraska were in other conferences when they came to the Plains), the tension that's built over the last several months is ready to be released when the Tigers take the field against James Franklin's team.
It should be a night game, damn it. That is when Jordan-Hare turns from a college football stadium into a full-ring circus where nothing is off the table. With the lights on, the upper deck seems to go on forever, reaching upwards high into the sky. The crowd's din snowballs into a decibel level that can have your head ringing for days. And, let's be clear about this, the sight of those navy tops and white bottoms look amazing when on the bright stage.
Maybe it is because the first game I attended at Jordan-Hare was a night game. It's possible that it created an everlasting memory so ingrained in my brain that the afternoon kickoffs don't just measure up. Or maybe it is because of all those times that the Tigers pulled off the unthinkable after the sun had disappeared that makes those late nights in the stadium so desired.
It seems my thoughts are the same as those that will be trying to make life hell for those players from State College. Everyone wanted Jordan-Hare at its best, and that comes when the lights go to pitch dark, the video board pumping in the noise, and 87k-plus on their feet, ready to will the Tigers to domination.
Yet we have the 2:30 SEC on CBS slot, and, with that, we will hear that familiar theme music that has become an anthem for those across the Southeast. Brad and Gary will be on the call, the latter much to the chagrin of almost everyone, and Harsin will lead his second Auburn team onto the field for a game that could go a long way toward determining his job security.
College football is college football; therefore, it will be full of the same pageantry and traditions that accompany every game. As we learned in 2020, a packed stadium at any time is better than one 25-percent full on a perfect day. It's a colossal matchup between two historic programs, with the Tigers looking for payback after a devastating close loss last year in Happy Valley.
It will still be everything we love about the game. But, oh man, if it were a night game and all of these factors were thrown into a boiling pot of Auburn hype, expectations and apprehension, Jordan-Hare would be the place every sports fan would want to be on the third Saturday of September.
