Carolina 34 NC State 0

My first Gamecock football game was absolutely amazing. I'm used to going to watch Rutgers, UConn, Syracuse, a plethora of D-IAA schools, etc. etc. Sure it was exciting when Rutgers was in the AP top 25 two years ago and they played UConn at home in New Jersey; sure it was exciting when UConn went on a miracle run into the AP top 25 last year and played Rutgers at home along with a couple other games I witnessed; but this is a pale contrast to what happens at Williams-Brice Stadium every home game, no matter if the 'Cocks are winning (5-1 start to the season last year) or losing (their epic 0-5 second half). It was an experience to say the least. I've never lost my voice at an athletic event, and trust me I cheer my teams on, whether it be the Boston Red Sox fighting for the wild card years back, the New England Patriots 16-0 game against the Giants, the countless UConn/Rutgers games, the numerous UConn Basketball season (that is one thing us yankees in Connecticut can brag about, seeing as I believe we take this a lot more serious than the sub-par performances of the SC basketball team), or even the Hartford Whalers/Wolfpack ice hockey teams. But this was different; it was not about the amount of screaming or the length of screaming, it was the intensity that was found in the cheers. I've never been apart of a student section that has so much heart and determination, even when playing a terrible school out of the ACC (Almost Counts as a Conference). Even though we root for a team that, at best, is going to end up as a 8-4 team with a mediocre bowl game (and I say that with optimism for the future), we still root for multiple things such as tradition, pride, and pure drunken love for our school. We tailgate the hardest, we cheer the loudest, and we kick ass even in defeat, and trust me, from an objective standpoint, we are in a state of defeat a heck o'va lot.