In my last article, one of my honorable mentions for the top games I ever attended was the 2021 Ole Miss vs. Arkansas game in Oxford, a game that I consider one of the highlights of my time in college. It was my first away college football game as an adult that I got to spend with friends. I made this trip with my friend Zach, who also went to the Arkansas vs. Texas A&M game in Arlington with me. 

This was the epitome of a college road trip. Staying on a couch of a random dorm of some guy Zach knew from the internet, using clothes to cover up at night because we didn’t bring blankets, and buying the cheapest student tickets the night before. It is everything we wished we could have done years prior but never had the reason (or ability) to do so.

Road Trip 

The drive from Fayetteville to Oxford is a grueling six hours of absolutely nothing. Think about the worst parts of Arkansas and Mississippi and combine them in one road trip. There was no signal for the majority of it so we were driving blind, relying on my outdated car GPS and other Arkansas cars that were headed in that direction. 

We stayed in one of the dorms on campus. Zach’s friend kindly hosted us in his living room. I took the oddly-stained campus-issued couch and Zach got the air mattress, but jokes on him, I brought my own pillow while he had to use his clothes. Not only were the dorms just okay (free accommodations I can’t complain too much about) but we were absolutely freezing. The thermostat was set to 60 and we could not figure out how to change it until I broke it slightly to get it to 70 the next day. 

The Grove

That morning we got up at the crack of dawn to get to the Grove for some tailgating before we had to go get seats. The night before, we walked through hundreds of tents left in certain spots on our way to dinner so I had an idea of what we were going to see but I was still impressed. The Grove was way more boujee than anything I have experienced as an Arkansas fan, even at alumni events. Carpets, white linen table cloths, chandeliers, and everything you would expect for an inside watch party. There were not a lot of Arkansas fans out in the Grove at 8 a.m., but there were certainly Ole Miss fans who had been there longer than we had been awake. Walking through the maze of tents and trees was an experience I will never forget. 

The Game

I don’t know what I was expecting from the Ole Miss stadium, but it was certainly more than what I got. I had nothing but AT&T Stadium and Razorback Stadium to compare it to, but I was still underwhelmed. The stadium felt like a Texas high school stadium on some pre-workout, with no second level, only bench seating, and a student section in the end zone. The student section was an entirely different experience than the one at Arkansas. We got there extra early with the fraternity pledges, who were saving whole sections, and got good seats. While we waited, we were able to watch warmups (and Josh Teeter on the sidelines) as well as watch the crowd as fans trickled in. With the student section in the true end zone, warmup balls were kicked into the stands. There’s a tradition of throwing the opposing teams’ balls kicked into the student section out of the stadium, which surprised and amused us. At one point we managed to grab a ball to get a picture with before also throwing it out of the stadium.

During the game was a whole different experience. Ole Miss fans up until this point had ignored us, but once the game started, the two random Arkansas fans in the student section were gathering attention. The back and forth of the game itself was a wild ride. Though the back and forth of jeering between Arkansas and Ole Miss fans was incredible to watch. I thought Arkansas fans were feral, but the cursing, throwing, and general anger of the student section toward the away section was like nothing I had seen before. Despite the drunk and angry students being upset with the away section, those same Ole Miss fans were polite to Zach and me, which was the biggest surprise of all. I had totally expected to at least get cursed at for cheering, but other than some annoyed looks, no one said anything to either Zach or me. At the end of the game, in which Arkansas lost by one point, we shook hands with the students around us, which shows that this next generation of fans understand it’s a game. It made our time at Ole Miss way more fun than if they had been mean.

Postgame 

After a very long and hot game, we decided to head back to the dorm for a nap before heading out on the town. This meant having to brave the crowd postgame. This is where we saw what I call unsportsmanlike conduct by Ole Miss fans. There were adults yelling personal insults at families, at Zach and me, and otherwise quiet Arkansas fans. Lots of pushing and shoving that didn’t feel so accidental. Generally a bad atmosphere for the tons of families around us and for us who had just left on a much better note. We also had to avoid broken glass bottles that were almost everywhere outside of the stadium. 

This definitely led us to our personal conclusions about the whole experience. It was a fun one-time deal, but we would probably never be back in a place we affectionately refer to as “Ole Piss.” Once we returned to the dorm, I realized how sunburned I got, that farmer’s tan following me into winter. We showered and got ready, heading out on the town for a while before passing out. The drive back was somehow worse than the trip there, and I could only speculate why.