The roaring crowds at Vaught Hemingway Stadium in Oxford, Miss. can be heard from miles away during any given football game. The fans and football players come to each game confident and ready for any opponent on the field.
One common factor over these recent years is the lack of knowledge of the cheers and chants performed at each football game. The fans are needed to participate with the band and cheerleaders to excite the football players and cheer them on to victory.
“We have great fans and they can be loud and create a great home field advantage inside Vault Hemingway. However, we haven’t really been on the same page. We all know ‘Hotty Toddy’ of course, but that’s about it,” said Ty New, co-creator of Rebel 101.
This year “Rebel 101” was released before the football season began. This is an instructional video that provides the fans and students with nine different cheers and chants to be performed throughout the football game.
Some of the information given includes: “Lock the Vaught” which has the fans locking arms and rocking side to side along with the football players on the field, the band chant “R-E-B-S Go Rebs Go,” and when the Rebels are on offense “1st Down Ole Miss,” New explained.
“I think it’s hard to start new traditions especially here, but I do believe it will all become second nature and will quickly catch on,” said New. “This starts with the students and trickles down to the rest of the stadium.”
The video included fans of the student body, the Pride of the South band, and the cheerleaders.
One of the people in the video’s student body was Chase Wilson, a junior at the University of Mississippi. Wilson has attended every home game and even traveled to watch the Rebels play at their away games.
“I knew bits and pieces to these cheers and chants prior to this video, but now I am able to participate with the band and cheerleaders during the game,” said Wilson.
The video was not taken very seriously when it was first released, Wilson stated. Many people did not notice the lack of involvement during the games and they have actually begun to participate more.
Wilson explains, “At first, the video got a good laugh, but fans are actually taking it seriously and becoming more involved during the game.”
New closed by saying, “Basically, we just need to be one cohesive and rowdy unit.”
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Sources:
Chase Wilson- cawilso1@olemiss.edu
Ty New- tynew1@gmail.com
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