SMU football is in an exciting state. However, it is an odd layout at the games, as the SMU fan section is not as packed as one would think it should be. There is a huge culture for basketball, but now more than ever it’s important to get out and support our Mustangs!
If you are hesitant to attend a game because you think it will be boring or you don’t fully understand the way the game works, fear not! From the mouth of my dad, an avid football watcher and one time player, here is a little guide to the game and why it’s important to get on over to Gerald J. Ford Stadium.
What is Football?
“Football is when two teams engage in battle to take over land that belongs to them, Your job is to invade the end zone. It’s about kicking the other team’s asses. Their goal is to invade the other guy’s space.
“There is no such thing as a boring football game, you could watch 8th grade, high school, college, professional, old timers. You’ll always see something goofy, you’ll always hear a commentator say ‘that’s the greatest thing I’ve ever seen in the history of football.’ It’s not, but it was for that week.”
If I Don’t Know What’s Going On, How Can I Act Like I Do?
“If you’re in college, and you don’t know about football, you need to immediately identify a group of four people in your area that are at the game without dates, because that is normally the group of four guys that are there specifically to watch the game, and not for a social event. Watch them, cheer when they cheer, yell obscenities when they yell obscenities, you’ll start to understand the game through their eyes.”
*My mom chimes in*
“All you need to know are the basics. Is your team dancing in the end zone? If they are, you are probably winning the game.”
So What are the Basics?
“The field is 120 yards long, 100 yards of playing space, ten yards for each end zone. In the end zone are the goal posts. The teams play offensively and defensively at different times, but the goal is to score higher than the other team. There are all types of scoring, there is a safety- which is worth two points. A safety is when the defense tackles whatever offensive player is holding the football in the end zone of the offensive team. Then there is a field goal, a field goal is worth three points and a field goal is when an offense kicks the football through the goal post of the opposing team from the field of play. Then there is a touchdown which is worth six points, and you get a touchdown when the offensive player possesses the football and carries it to the end zone of the defense. And then there is also the extra point, the extra point worth one point is like a field goal, worth one point and done after the touchdown.
“There are penalties, and series of downs that allow the game to be played, but you can learn this simply by being there. Mom learned football by osmosis. Meaning that she would come out and me and Billich and Schmidt and Ross would sit around and cheer, and when we would cheer we would tell her why. I never felt like I was teaching her the game, but she took it in.”
Is Football an Important Part of the College Experience?
“Absolutely. When you’re in college, football Saturday is a big social event that everyone should be apart of. Its an experience unlike any you’ve ever had. A college game atmosphere is completely different from an NFL football experience. When you’re a student, it’s a social gathering with your friends, and you meet their friends. The whole student body comes together as one to blow off steam and to have one thing to root for at the same time. Then later on in life, you continue to follow your college team, and you’ll have such a passion for it and you will for the rest of your life, no matter where you end up. You’ll always find a way to follow what your team is doing. Its not a social event anymore but it is an emotional attachment.”
“Even if someone doesn’t like football should they go to the game.
“Its a massive social event, it’s about hanging out with your friends, meeting their friends, and meeting new friends, kicking back with your school mates and uniting on something that isn’t serious. You meet so many great people.”
*Mom pokes her head in*
“All I know is in college it was purely social for me, I didn’t know what was going on but if my side cheered, I cheered too.”