September 6, 2021

By Mason Arneson

Photo by Aleigha Hornaday

I’ve heard numerous titles for God in my lifetime. Two of my favorite monikers are “The Master Planner” and “The Comedian.”

On Saturday afternoon, Missouri football and its fans experienced a bit of both.

Since the Tigers’ last home game in front of a full crowd 652 days ago, COVID-19 flipped the sports world on its head with stay-at-home orders, social distancing and mask mandates. Athletic cathedrals were dormant during some of last season’s most influential games. 

Before Missouri could take the field, God “The Comedian” made his presence known.

After nearly two weeks of sunny, humid weather pushed the heat index toward the century mark, rain soaked campus from Friday night until early Saturday afternoon. 

But the rain didn’t stop anyone. Telling a college football fan that it’s going to rain is equivalent to telling a giraffe that the stock market just crashed: It doesn’t make a bit of a difference in how they live their lives. After an utter lack of a game day experience, nothing could stop students, alumni and general fans from partying as if it was 2019.

Brian Nobis is one of those lifetime Missouri football fans who has tailgated outside of Faurot Field with his family for over 20 years. Nobis and his family arrive in the parking lot adjacent to Mizzou Arena at 5 a.m. for every home game. They need the room for their five-figure trailer setup that includes a bathroom, four tents, a built-in grill and a life-size tiger plastered on the exterior. 

For the Nobis family and so many students and alumni, football is about more than the action on the field; it’s about the pageantry and community the sport provides. 

“It was great to have football last year, but it was a real letdown not being able to tailgate,” said Nobis. “We really, really missed it.”

“It’s a great way that people connect and build community with one another,” said Angelle Hall, who oversees the tailgating lot at the St. Thomas More Newman Center. “There are always so many great opportunities to build relationships at tailgates.”

I remember my first game as an MU student last year, the season opener against No. 2-ranked Alabama. The walk down Fifth Street before turning onto Providence Road felt like a walk through a ghost town. One person shouted “Tigers by 90” at my friends and I out of a moving car, but that’s all we had for a “pre-game feel.”

Last year, with about 45 minutes before kickoff, I could count the amount of cars in the lot outside Faurot Field. Walking into the stadium gave off that quiet, eerie feeling of a doctor’s office or an ACT exam, not the atmosphere of a massive party.

That atmosphere returned with tents and tailgates snaking from Conley Avenue, all the way through Greektown and right up to the doorstep of Faurot Field. 

After a year of football games with about as much atmosphere as the planet Mercury, the small things of college game days cannot be taken for granted anymore. 

Everything from the crisp charcoal smell wafting through the streets of Greektown, to the speaker-shattering bass on the fraternity house speakers that blasted Kanye West and Jay-Z was sorely lacking. The meticulously assembled buffet setups of communal burgers and brats in the alumni tailgate lot made Saturday feel like an actual game day experience.

The student section and Tiger’s Lair are two important organizations that help build the foundation for a lively Missouri game day. Last year, instead of approximately 7,000 students jamming into three sections on the visitor’s sideline, 500 students dispersed among pods of four or six seats. For Ashwin Garlapaty, spirit director of Tiger’s Lair since 2020, not having packed stands was a “gut punch” for those most passionate about Missouri football.

“Normally, the student section is the spark that starts the hype and loudness of the stadium,” Garlapaty said. “We usually start the ‘M-I-Z’ chant, but honestly speaking, I don’t think we did the chant more than five times last year. Even when we did the chant, it just sounded like a whisper and you couldn’t hear it.”

This Saturday, students showed up in earnest despite a non-conference opponent and the Labor Day weekend. The Tiger’s Lair expanded from a meager six front-row members to its full 60, and the section appeared full from top to bottom at its peak. Even with a mostly soundproof press box, the crowd could still be heard through the closed windows.

“Mizzou football is my most favorite thing here at school,” Garlapaty said. “I think it’s similar for a lot of people and it had been two years since I’ve felt that stadium shake. I feel like it was ready to blow up this year.” 

If there was a roof over Faurot Field, it would have blown off within the first minute of Saturday’s contest. On the first play of the Tigers’ 34-24 win against Central Michigan, redshirt sophomore quarterback Connor Bazelak dialed up a 63-yard completion to senior wide receiver Boo Smith. On the second, senior running back Tyler Badie punched it into the end zone from 12 yards out.

Pandemonium ensued.

“I just felt so much love with so many people behind me,” junior safety Martez Manuel said. “I feel like I was untouchable out there.” 

There were several other small moments that brought the full splendor of college football to life Saturday afternoon: The return of on-field Marching Mizzou performances. The resurrection of a live helmet cart race. Even the lines at the concession stand were missed to some extent.

“I’d rather stand in line and wait for a beer with a full stadium, than be able to get one right away with an empty stadium,” Nobis said.

It’s hard not to be romantic when talking about the cultural importance of SEC football and the traditions that surround it. But when the crowd swells from under 10,000 to 46,327, there’s  cause for celebration.

By the end of Saturday afternoon, the sun finally shined on Faurot Field. It’s almost as if God “The Master Planner” had one extra surprise up his sleeve to say, “thank you for your patience, and welcome back.”

Edited by Kyle Pinnell | kpinnell@themaneater.com