FCS Kickoff Classic felt eerie, significant
It felt almost … eerie.
There were no people on the field during the national anthem, save for a few reporters and photographers. The rendition played was a recording, as neither school’s marching band made the trip. The stands felt empty, too — only 2,000 fans were allowed inside the 25,000-seat Cramton Bowl, and they were reminded often to put their masks on and physically distance from those around them.
It was a strange feeling, to watch a college football game with a smaller crowd than most high schools fielded the night before, without the sound of the band or the image of a mascot stalking the sidelines. The pageantry synonymous with the sport had been stripped away.
But then the whistle blew. And on the very first play of Saturday’s FCS Kickoff Classic — the first college football game of the 2020 season — freshman Austin Peay running back CJ Evans Jr. took an option pitch from quarterback Jeremiah Oatsvall, split a pair of Central Arkansas defenders and sprinted 75 yards to the end zone for a touchdown.
The red-and-black-clad fans erupted. Twitter timelines flooded. The excitement in the announcer’s voices could be heard all the way from the ESPN Studio in Bristol, Connecticut.
“It felt good. It felt natural,” Austin Peay coach Marquase Lovings said. “I have a mask on and I’ll go get temp checked and we got to socially distance when we get back and get COVID tested next week. But other than that, it felt like a normal game.”
Central Arkansas went on to win 24-17 after the two teams traded touchdowns during a frantic final two minutes, with Breylin Smith’s 10-yard pass to Lajuan Winningham with 34 seconds remaining being the gamewinner.
But what mattered more than the result was the fact that the game happened at all. The COVID-19 pandemic has had seismic effects across the sport, including the Bears and Governors — both are planning to play only nonconference games this fall after their FCS conferences postponed league play until the spring.
Saturday’s game showed what kind of impact the virus could have on college football teams this season. Austin Peay’s 70-man travel roster did not include top wide receiver DeAngelo Wilson or any of its three long snappers. It’s not clear whether that was because they had tested positive for or had high-risk exposure to COVID-19 — athletic director Gerald Harrison was “unable to comment on any individual student-athlete’s health or well-being” — but the possibility can’t be ruled out.
The latter absence loomed particularly large. Linebacker Cameron Miller, the emergency snapper, bounced one snap back to punter Cole Deeds and sent two more sailing over his head before the Governors adjusted and had Oatsvall start quick-kicking. The third miscue led to a loss of 27 yards on fourth down early in the second quarter, which set the Bears up in the red zone. Austin Peay led 10-3 at the time, but Central Arkansas made a field goal to get within four, then scored a goahead touchdown early in the third quarter.
Now imagine if a team ever has to travel without a starting quarterback or key defender. It’s a possibility every coach in the country is preparing for — Power 5 programs are no more immune to COVID-19 than FCS ones.
That’s reason enough for some to question whether a college football season is feasible this fall. The Big Ten and Pac-12 have already postponed fall sports, as has much of the FCS.
But what happens between the lines is not the only reason the games are so important to the teams who play them. The NBA, MLB, NHL and SEC athletes decided not play games or hold practices this week as a way to bring more awareness to social injustice in America in the wake of the police shooting of Jacob Blake in Kenosha, Wisconsin. Austin Peay and Central Arkansas attempted to do the same by playing.
On Friday, the Governors made a stop in Selma on their way from Clarksville, Tennessee, to Montgomery so they could walk across the Edmund Pettus Bridge just as civil rights icon John Lewis did on March 7, 1965.
“We put things in perspective for them,” Lovings said. “You learn so many things K through 12 in the textbook, but how many times do you actually get to go where a historical site was founded at, right? For our kids, they got outside the textbook, they got outside the classroom — which we started class last week — and actually got to see a piece of history for themselves.
“It was a really powerful thing. It was something that our kids learned from. And right now, with our world and how it is right now with equality and the issues we have at the forefront of America, there could have been nothing better for us to do.”
On Saturday, the Bears came out of the locker room locked arm-in-arm and chanted “No justice, no peace,” and “Our Lives Matter, Black Lives” on their way across the field. During the opening kickoff, players on the sideline raised their fists into the air.
“We came together last night and just said, ‘Hey, we’re in Montgomery, Alabama. This is where history is made,’ ” coach Nathan Brown said. “You talk about MLK, you talk about Rosa Parks, all the things that come with Montgomery, Alabama, why were we meant to be in this game? Well, now is an opportunity to shed light on the social injustices with a football team that is all races and backgrounds. We’re coming together as one for a common goal. That was what that was about. Our players — that meant probably more to our players than any win will mean this year.”