Memories of first FCS/I-AA game you ever attended [Archive]

schmofstra

January 7th, 2008, 09:48 AM

What are your fond memories of the first Division I-AA game you ever attended?

It could be your first game your parents took you to as a child. Or it could be that first game in September of your freshman year. I'll share both:

The first college football game my dad took me to was Penn at Lehigh. This was around 1979 or 1980 when I was about 11 years old. The game was in Lehigh's old stadium -- that abominable tomb where you basically sat on concrete terraces like some Third World soccer stadium.

I don't even remember who won the game. What I remember most was sitting next to Penn's band. They did a cheer that went like this:

"Give me an E! E!
Give me an X! X!
Give me an L! L!
Give me an A! A!
Give me an X! X!
What's it spell?
EX-LAX!
What does it make you do?
GO! GO! GO!"

Of course, an 11-year-old kid loves stuff like that, and I must have repeated it 100 times to my friends, for years.

My first game as a college freshman was a true Morehead classic -- a 19-10 upset at our out-of-conference archrival Marshall in 1986. It was a spectacular night game in Huntington, W.V., and Morehead had not beaten Marshall in like 15 years or something. The win propelled Morehead to its best start ever, and they won the first six games of the year and rose to the No. 2 national ranking, just behind Nevada-Reno. Unfortunately, Morehead then lost four straight games and their season was ruined -- until the season's final game, when they won at conference archrival Eastern Kentucky. Alas, now we're nonscholarship and we'll never see victories of this status again.

It's worth noting that four years later, I was invited to a I-AA playoff game at Marshall. North Texas won 7-0 in the freezing cold. Another classic!

It makes me smile to think about games like these, from my youthful days. No wonder I'm hooked to Our Subdivision!

andy7171

January 7th, 2008, 09:53 AM

I was being recruited by Richmond and went to the Richmond-JMU game in 1988. Beautiful campus. Stadium completely across town. The Spiders got completely owned by Willie Lanier Jr. in the game. Don't really remember much other than that and the hot POA that gave me the tour of campus.

813Jag

January 7th, 2008, 10:01 AM

My parents took me to Southern games ever since the age of 1, but the first actually memories I had was from 1981 against Bethune Cookman. I don't remember much of the game. All I remember is that Bethune Cookman had a one-legged player, and as a 4 year old that scared the life out of me. I remember seeing him in warm ups and I was scared to look at him. When we played them the next season, I was so intrigued that I made sure to watch him every play.
My first game in college was a 20-0 victory by Southern over Northwestern St. I remember going to my first pep rally and taking that road trip totally hungover. xlolx

65 Pard

January 7th, 2008, 10:19 AM

Cheers I had not heard before

"Repel them, Repel them, Make them relinquish the ball"

"Elevator, Elevator, We got the shaft"....after a penalty

andy7171

January 7th, 2008, 10:24 AM

"We don't drink!"
"We don't smoke!"
"Norfolk! Norfolk! Norfolk!"

citdog

January 7th, 2008, 10:26 AM

My Father, The Citadel '62, took me to Johnson Hagood Stadium when he was still carrying me around in his testicle satchel. I've been a BULLDOG EVER Since!xnodx xrulesx xlolx

asu7

January 7th, 2008, 10:33 AM

APP vs. Liberty 2001 ... I do believe this was the last night game during the REGULAR season at THE ROCK ...

APPS killed em dead :)

This was also my first collegiate football game and it was great ... I was hooked!

Gotta say though ... KBS was a lot different back then lol

biggie

January 7th, 2008, 11:31 AM

Freshman year ('96), can't remember who we played and couldn't stand up during the game... hangover.

OhioHen

January 7th, 2008, 12:02 PM

September 19, 1981
Hens 13 Temple 7

Underage (17) Freshman doesn't remember game details!

TheValleyRaider

January 7th, 2008, 12:13 PM

Colgate at Dartmouth, 2003

Raiders pulled apart the Big Green with a methodical 31-9 victory in Hanover. Game's best play was for Dartmouth, however. A 51 yard FG right before the half put them on the board, with some room to spare on the kick.

Big Al

January 7th, 2008, 12:27 PM

My Father, The Citadel '62, took me to Johnson Hagood Stadium when he was still carrying me around in his testicle satchel. I've been a BULLDOG EVER Since!xnodx xrulesx xlolx

Either you don't understand biology very well or you were conceived during the football season and your dad is a season-ticket holder.

Which is it?

:)

citdog

January 7th, 2008, 12:38 PM

Either you don't understand biology very well or you were conceived during the football season and your dad is a season-ticket holder.

Which is it?

:)

kingdom, phylum, class, family, order, genus, species is all i remember!xnodx

i was indeed conceived during the football season! all the male members of my family screw better when The Citadel wins!xrulesx xnodx xlolx

bandl

January 7th, 2008, 12:40 PM

I think my first ever I-AA was @ UVA. And UVA still sucks. xnodx

Cobblestone

January 7th, 2008, 12:47 PM

kingdom, phylum, class, family, order, genus, species is all i remember!xnodx

i was indeed conceived during the football season! all the male members of my family screw better when The Citadel wins!xrulesx xnodx xlolx

That explains why you come from a small family. xlolx

C'mon Dog, don't leave yourself so open.

Cobblestone

January 7th, 2008, 12:48 PM

My memory...

Going to Meade Stadium to see URI when my high school team had a bye week. Decided I wanted to go there and play there. Been a Rhody Ram since.

yorkcountyUNHfan

January 7th, 2008, 01:10 PM

Traveled with the Portsmouth (NH) Highschool Band to a UNH game in the mid 60's....can't say a thing about, don't remember. I was VERY young. I just remember being there.

When I was in the PHS Band we did half time at a BU game at Nickerson field. That would have been in the mid 70's. BU had a great wide out then, I think Brooks was his name. I think he went on to play in the NFL....the colts perhaps?

APPride

January 7th, 2008, 01:12 PM

1st 1-aa game I ever saw was also 1st App game I ever attended. 1983, only year Mack Brown coached ASU. 50+ yard field goal to win 27-25 in a very back and forth game at Wake Forest. I miss playing at our other home away from home...xnodx

LBPop

January 7th, 2008, 01:13 PM

Coming from a large state school, my first experience came early in the recruiting process for LKid. We were invited to see Monmouth play at Georgetown and I came away with three distinct impressions:

The "stadium" was barely as good as his high school stadium.
He immediately began to fall in love with the school and its surrounding area.
The senior Georgetown WR, Luke McArdle, was an amazing talent.Now almost five years later, I can safely say the following:

The stadium remains just slightly better than his high school stadium
LBKid is totally in love with Georgetown and will miss it terribly.
Luke McArdle is still probably catching passes somewhere with the same grace and awareness.

nwFL Griz

January 7th, 2008, 01:32 PM

11-07-1987 Montana 63 Idaho St 0 (Missoula, MT)

My dad was friends with the bass drum player in the marching band and he let me bang the drum in the second half after the Griz scored a couple touchdowns. Great fun!

Appaholic

January 7th, 2008, 01:48 PM

Parent's weekend my brother's freshman year...1983....Mack Brown was coach, Randy Joyce was QB and they had this unknown freshman TB,Jon Settle,who my brother had played ball against in HS and a skinny LB my brother played against in HS, Dino Hackett....think we lost to VMI, but cannot really remember.......maybe 4k people at game.....my how times have changed......

citdog

January 7th, 2008, 01:55 PM

That explains why you come from a small family. xlolx

is that why?xlolx xlolx

citdog

January 7th, 2008, 01:56 PM

Meade Stadium

xmadx xmadx xmadx xmadx

damn yankee sob!xrulesx

HiHiYikas

January 7th, 2008, 02:01 PM

My dad used to get us tickets from Coaches Brown and Woods. This was back when every Saturday was Black Saturday. Once, we stopped in Lenoir on the way up the mountain to buy black sweatshirts. I may have gone to a game as early as 1983, when I was five and my little brother wasn't born yet. I can't remember for sure.

I remember the mascots more than anything. So I remember the old Yosef, a guy in a pirate costume (ETSU), and a guy in a bulldog costume (The Citadel).

The earliest game I can put a date on is ASU 51, ETSU 2 on October 22, 1988. I was 9 years old. I remember feeling bad for the cheerleaders doing all those pushups in a 51-point game. I remember thinking that ASU must be the best team ever (or ETSU was just really really bad). I remember being a little squeamish about the firing of the gun. I remember collecting stadium cups. I remember looking forward to running around on the turf after the game.

My first game as a student was EKU, 1997 - I was a sideline reporter for the Appalachian.

Believe it or not, my first ASU road game (not counting national Championships) was at Elon last year. I really put that off a long time.

bulldog10jw

January 7th, 2008, 02:13 PM

Yale 17 Brown 0 - Yale Bowl 1959

I was 7 years old. The final score is all I really remember.

Appinator

January 7th, 2008, 02:23 PM

My first game at the rock was awesome. I was a sophomore in high school and my family and I had just moved to NC from TX. When I was looking at colleges and while my parents and I were skiing, we took a tour of Appalachian and decided to stay and watch a football game. We had no idea what we were in for, but one of the ambassadors who took us around filled us in on Apps win over Wake the previous year and how we came a few seconds away from beating Auburn that year. She told us about how Georgia Southern was ranked #1 in the nation in I-AA and that this was Apps big game of the year.

October 15, 1999: It was a game that was a big contrast to what we would see today if the Eagles and 'Neers took the field, as both flaunted mostly I-formation option play and stone cold defense. ASU score all of its points on defense by the way of turnovers, and had a last second int to seal the win 17-16. My college football experience before hand was going to a few Tennessee games, but being at KBS where the students were just as rowdy and dedicated was great. My whole family was kind of amazed at the quality of the game and loved how the students stormed the field and tore down the goal post for the season's biggest win. ASU should have cashed my tuition check right then.

Not to be let down, I got to see the "Miracle on the Mountain" and two NC while a student there.

Shellin

January 7th, 2008, 03:31 PM

My parents got me a season ticket with them to Montana games when I was 6 years old back in 1994 and I didn't miss a home game from then until I took off for college last year. I don't remember who the opponent was for that first game, but I am pretty sure the Griz won. My favorite part about the football game at that time was when the crowd did the wave although I really liked watching the Don Read offense since it was quick paced and Dave Dickenson had come to school to speak with my class.

WrenFGun

January 7th, 2008, 03:48 PM

My first UNH game was against Dartmouth in 2003. Connor McCormick missed a GW FG with little time left and UNH lost. (I believe it was Dartmouth, at least).

The first amazing game I attended was in 2004, in Orono, when UNH beat Maine to clinch their first playoff berth in quite awhile!

yorkcountyUNHfan

January 7th, 2008, 04:13 PM

WrenFGun

January 7th, 2008, 04:35 PM

Could likely be true. I was a freshman then, after all. I don't remember much of that.

JMUFortier

January 7th, 2008, 06:10 PM

Maine at Delaware 1989...Maine was #4 in the country at the time and my dad (Maine '69) drove me all the way up from Virginia just to see the game. Great game all touchdowns but Delaware won 35-28.

yorkcountyUNHfan

January 7th, 2008, 06:28 PM

Maine at Delaware 1989...Maine was #4 in the country at the time and my dad (Maine '69) drove me all the way up from Virginia just to see the game. Great game all touchdowns but Delaware won 35-28.

Not to nit pick but "all the way up" would imply the game was in Maine.
You should have said "half the way up".xsmiley_wix

I made that Maine to Va drive twice this year.xpeacex

SunCoastBlueHen

January 7th, 2008, 06:40 PM

My dad started taking me to Delaware games when I was about three or so and from there I don't think I missed more than a handful of home games going all the way up through college. Many, many good memories that all kind of blend together. I couldn't recall the first one.

RadMann

January 7th, 2008, 06:41 PM

My early years of going to UD games occurred when UD was in division II. I don't actually know which game would have been the first I attended when they switched to I-AA. Memory isn't that good.....

proasu89

January 7th, 2008, 08:06 PM

First game for me was in 85 against Western Kentucky. Had a little too much Wild Turkey and was sitting on the pool table in the lobby of Coltrane dorm waiting on the elevator. Next thing I know it's Sunday morning and I'm still on the table. Made quite the impression on the freshmen coeds in Coltrane.:o

Ivytalk

January 7th, 2008, 09:00 PM

My first game was Penn-Dartmouth in '68 at Franklin Field with my Boy Scout troop. Penn won, 26-21. Its QB was Bernie Zbrzeznj (pronounced "Zuh-brez-nee"). Ah, the memories!:D

JALMOND

January 7th, 2008, 09:22 PM

So many youngsters here. My first season, 1976, after the family moved back to Montana from South Dakota. My father got season tickets to the Bobcats (where he attended back in the early '60s) and I would make the trip with him and some other Bobcat boosters from Great Falls. Yes, one time I was a Cat fan. xeekx :D

First game I went to---Texas A&I @ Montana State that year
Other games that year...

MSU vs Boise State---Broncos miss a last second FG, securing a win for the Cats (and I was in the end zone watching the kick fall short).

MSU vs Weber State---Learned a new cheer from Dad and others (Weber offense, ooh aah. Weber defense, ooh aah)

MSU @ Montana--at the old Dornblaser Field. Learned another cheer from Dad (Pooooooooorrrrrrrrrr Grizzlies!!!)

Special year as the Cats won the national championship that year. I've been hooked on the Big Sky and I-AA/FCS ever since.

When I moved to Portland, I thought I would have to become a Pac-10 fan. xnonono2x xbawlingx Then Portland State joined the Big Sky that same year (1996) and my alligience to the conference continued, only now I had a team I could truly call my own (friends and family at both UM and MSU but I never attended either one). xnodx :) :D

Gil Dobie

January 7th, 2008, 09:22 PM

I think it was 1979, NDSU beat Weber St at home, or 1980 Bison victory over Northern Arizona. NDSU was still DII, but played Weber St, N Arizona, Montana St of I-AA in those years. Lot's of drinking back then, so it's kind of a blur. xoopsx

JMUFortier

January 7th, 2008, 10:21 PM

Not to nit pick but "all the way up" would imply the game was in Maine.
You should have said "half the way up".xsmiley_wix

I made that Maine to Va drive twice this year.xpeacex

My mistake...that is a drive and I have taken it many times...to Fort Kent (22 hours as I recall) Halfway is somewhere between New York and Boston. More like 1/3 of the way.xrotatehx

AZGrizFan

January 7th, 2008, 11:13 PM

Griz game at old Dornblazer stadium, during the Larry Donovan days.....blech. 3 yards and a cloud of dust...I think we got beat by about 30. I was about 8 or 9, two guys got in a fight in the row right behind me and my dad and my two brothers....they spilled beer all over us...thought my dad was going to kill one of them....

ahhhh, good times..... xnodx xnodx xnodx xnodx xnodx

yorkcountyUNHfan

January 8th, 2008, 07:32 AM

My mistake...that is a drive and I have taken it many times...to Fort Kent (22 hours as I recall) Halfway is somewhere between New York and Boston. More like 1/3 of the way.xrotatehx

All the way to Fort Kent!!!

You've got me beat.xbowx xbowx xbowx xbowx xbowx

RaiderInTheZone

January 8th, 2008, 09:23 AM

September 5, 1998--Freshman year of college at MTSU when MTSU was still playing teams that actually mattered to people who came to know and love MTSU. It was MTSU's final year of 1-AA. The opponent was arch-rival Tennessee State. The 27,568 in attendance still stands to this day as the largest single game attendance to witness a Blue Raider home game in Floyd Stadium.

Interestingly enough, the second largest attendance at an MTSU home game to this day was against another former OVC foe--Southeast Missouri. That one was in '02.

Anyways, in that game against Tennessee State, the Tigers failed to make a game winning fieldgoal in the final seconds as time expired. If my memory serves me right, the ball went wide left. MTSU won 28-27.

Back then, I cared about MTSU. Now, I have not attended an MTSU athletic event since the team failed to beat 1-8 Louisiana-Lafayette on Homecoming and followed that performance up with a nice nationally-televised 45-7 blowout loss to Troy State on ESPN2. Earlier in the season, MTSU devirginized another 1-AA school with a loss to Western Kentucky. The '07 season was the final straw. I wasted nearly 10 years following a school who is so damned pathetic that they actually think that they will go somewhere in their move to 1-A. They still can't beat 1-AA teams. They still get blown out by BCS teams. They can't beat anyone in a BCS league except for Vanderbilt. They still can't win the Suck Belt title outright. I decided it was time to break ties with MTSU. That school is going nowhere. Furthermore, academically it is a complete embarrassment. Employers are not impressed with degrees from a 4-letter anacronym state university in Tennessee.

Okay, now I had a point for going on this tangent. I never finished at MTSU, so I still don't have my bachlor's. I'm going back to school in the Fall of '08. I filled out my application just recently. Because my major is Exercise Science with a concentration on Physical Therapy, I thought it would do me a better service to try to go somewhere that has ties with a medical school. That's why I applied to Tennessee State. And if my career takes me somewhere making a six-figure income, I'm going to want TSU to know how much I appreciate their school and just as importantly how much I value physical fitness in recreation and athletics. So I do plan to give back.

I wonder if you can get a scholarship at 28 years of age?

trouthunter

January 8th, 2008, 11:44 AM

It must have been Cat-Griz in 2000 in Missoula. After two years of watching Carroll play at Helena Middle School (prior to Van Deist), I finally made it down to Missoula for a live cat-griz game.

As a student from a small NAIA school, I was amazed at the electric atmosphere, the tailgating, and the spectacle that is Montana Football.

mcveyrl

January 8th, 2008, 11:57 AM

First was probably Marshall at ETSU - Nov. 9,1996 - Randy Moss burnt the Bucs for 6 receptions, 155 yds. and a TD in a 34-10 Marshall win.

Football in the mini-dome...there's nothing like it...'cause it sucks.

Actually, at the time I thought it was pretty cool...

GannonFan

January 8th, 2008, 11:59 AM

I was in the womb for the 1972 season and then I was just a babe of 9 months or so for my first game out of the womb. Going into my 37th season (counting in utero) of watching the Hens next year, I really can't remember my first game. xlolx

UNH_Alum_In_CT

January 8th, 2008, 03:12 PM

Being an old phart, I pre-date I-AA so my first UNH game was back in the Small College Days. I couldn't tell you what game was the first I saw during the first season of I-AA for UNH.

Looking at the football results as a result of this thread, I've realized that the first UNH game that I saw was a victory over the Storrs Sled Dogs. So, I looked at UNH Hoop results and the first or second game that I saw was also a victory over the same Sled Dogs. No wonder I became a Wildcat Nation Member for life so quickly and easily my freshman year!!! xnodx xnodx

First football game that I attended was at West Point in the late 50's which unfortunately I don't recall at all. What can I say, I was a Cub Scout on a Boy Scout trip! xrolleyesx

ERASU2113

January 8th, 2008, 08:46 PM

In the fall of 2004, it was my first semester at ASU.

I worked for the radio station, so the first game I actually got to go to was the ASU/Furman game in Oct. of 2004.

Richie Williams completed 40/45 passes and scored the winning touchdown with 35 seconds to go. Was a QB battle Willams v. Florida transfer Ingle Martin.

Offensive outoput I believe over 1,000 yards were gained.

The 40 for 45 set NCAA records for completion percentage and consectutive completions.

Was the first time I got to take part in the chants...A-S-U and so on. First time I really fell in love with Appalachian football.

Also can't forget running onto the field to celebrate an amazing game, over one of our biggest rivals.

Go...gate

January 8th, 2008, 09:02 PM

There was no I-AA when I attended my first game between two I-AA schools. My father carried me in on his shoulders to see the Princeton-Harvard game at old Palmer Stadium many, many years ago. It remains one of my first and fondest memories. Saw a lot games at Princeton, Colgate and Rutgers (not to mention Pennsylvania, Lafayette, Lehigh, Columbia, Navy and Army) after that. I've been a college football junkie ever since.

furpal87

January 9th, 2008, 12:11 AM

Boy, that's a tough one to remember. My dad started scouting with the Browns when I was a 13-yr old 8th grader. Living in NJ, we made many trips to Ivy and Yankee schools, and a lot of current Patriot schools. I don't remember who was 1-AA at that point or if I was even aware of the difference. The first year I remember watching Brown-Yale in Providence, and UMass-URI in Kingston. Both were memorable. The Brown fan who sarcastically told my Dad, "They must not think a lot of you if they sent you here," made my day. Homeocoming at URI was just beautiful and URI was down 19-3 with two minutes left, recovered a fumble, scored made the two, recovered an onside kick, scored and missed the two to lose 19-17, but it was as loud a place as I had been in yet. First Furman experience was with my best friend from HS going to see us upset USC 28-23 in Williams Bryce (he went to USC,and has been waiting 25 years for a rematch). I had just decided on Furman that week, so it was real sweet.:D

By the way, back to the first post. Marshall beat N. Texas St 7-0, I remember we had to go up to Marshall the next week on the way to the National Championship.