Auburn football is a tradition that dates back to 1892. It is a piece of the heart and soul of many in the Auburn community, and each new season brings a broad mixture of emotions for faculty, staff and students.
Everyone is beginning to make plans for the big day, whether that includes watching the game in person or on the big screen surrounded by loved ones and game day foods like chicken salad, potlucks, barbeque and all the variations of dips.
Auburn’s campus is starting to emerge with ongoing game day traditions of massive white tailgating tents, drinking Toomer's lemonade, buying toilet paper with the hope of a possible win and running to the Plains, buying game day essentials and starting the bracket for the beginning of many corn hole tournaments.
Local Auburn stores and companies bring out every burnt orange and navy blue item from game day buttons to multi-colored overalls to show school pride.
“I’m excited for this season to start, but I don’t want it to ever end since this is my senior year," said Kate Merritt, senior in political science.
This season, Auburn University has made several changes to the stadium in hopes of improving every student and fan’s experience.
Auburn professor David Hill said after attending games since the 1958 season, much had changed.
The stadium itself has increased its capacity to 88,043 to help lower the stress of students and fans scouring the stadium for seats to watch one of their favorite pastimes that Auburn has to offer.
With the freshman class being the biggest yet while also setting a new record for pre-season tickets sold, Auburn worked quickly to prepare Jordan-Hare to accommodate more people than ever.
Many students struggled with finding seats and having to leave for games hours before kickoff. Still, the intention behind extra seats is to hopefully allow more people in the game and provide more room for everyone to see and enjoy the game in person.
Jordan-Hare also now has many new “grab-n-go” concessions to help make the lines faster and get fans back to the game as soon as possible.
Many students and families commonly have to wait or struggle with deciding what to eat, but with this new development, fans can quickly grab any food they desire by going through a walk-through concession line or can take a few minutes in one of the express markets by browsing the different options Jordan-Hare has to offer.
“All the merchandising around the stadium is all a relatively new phenomenon well after my graduation in 1970, and the corporate feel of much of the tailgating is a far cry from the simple days when people actually 'tailgated' from the trunk of their car near the stadium or at picnic tables scattered around the stadium and campus,” Hill said.
Many past alumni have acknowledged the changes they have seen and realized there are many pros and cons related to the football game depending on your personal preference of how to celebrate this American tradition.
With all of these updates, many current students are looking forward to the updates in the student section specifically.
“I’m excited to see all the updates in Jordan-Hare, especially the DJ in the student section,” Merritt said.
Jordan-Hare Stadium comes to life when students and fans are all gathered around the field to watch the many games.
For more information about this football season visit https://auburntigers.com/sports/football.
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