Barry Odom was surrounded by over 100,000 empty seats as he stood on the 15-yard line of Tiger Stadium. Powder blue sky stretched out before him, and the Louisiana sun shone on his black collar shirt. Kickoff was nearly two hours away.
For a brief moment, Death Valley was calm.
Odom stared across the field. The first-year head coach seemed to be pondering the upcoming game, soaking in one of college football’s most historic venues.
Five and a half hours and 42 points later, a battle-worn Odom took the podium to talk to the media.
“I feel like I got my tail kicked tonight, and we did as a program,” he said.