Get ready for more stadium music in between plays at SEC games this season. Georgia athletic director Greg McGarity says the conference is relaxing on rules related to stadium noise over speakers and it could change the way the game day environment feels, or sounds, on Saturdays this fall in the south.
“If you need to get people revved up for a big third-down play, you can do that,” McGarity said according to Athens Banner-Herald writer Marc Weiszer. “You could always do it with your band, but now you can do it any way you want to. You still have to stop once the quarterback gets over the ball, gets under the center or in the shotgun.”
McGarity notes the rules are different in the ACC, and the SEC is taking a cue from their regional neighbors. Georgia saw first-hand what that advantage can do to a visiting team when Georgia opened the 2013 season at Clemson.
“Those of us who saw what it did at Clemson, it energized their fan base with certain songs,” McGarity said. Georgia lost to Clemson. Clemson fans attempted to set a world record for stadium noise later in the season with a home game against Florida State.
“They were able to do things in the ACC that we were not in the SEC,” McGarity said. “The rules have changed now for 2014 where we’re able to utilize songs and music up until the point when the quarterback gets over the ball. That’s a big change in the in-game atmosphere.”
College football attendance is a concern for everybody, and every school and conference is on the constant search for ways to make the game day experience in the stadium worth the price of admission. Over the years the game day experience at many of the bigger programs has become more similar to the ones seen in the NFL on Sundays.
Call me old-fashioned, but just give me a great marching band and actual crowd noise any game day over loud, stale and overdone clips of Seven Nation Army every time. There is plenty of passion throughout the SEC, and some great marching bands. Why drown that out?
Helmet sticker to Saturday Down South.