SU preps for Thursday ESPNU game

 
The Southern football team look to Thursday’s home opener against Mississippi Valley State will result in a Jaguar victory.
Athletic director William Broussard and others, hope the football team’s Southwestern Athletic Conference opener goes off with as few hitches as possible.
The Jaguars (0-1, 0-0) play host to the Delta Devils (0-2, 0-0) in a 6:30 p.m. SWAC contest at A.W. Mumford Stadium. The game will be broadcast live on ESPNU (Cox Cable Channel 243/1243 HD, AT&T U-Verse Channel 605/1605 HD).
The university is considering cancelling classes at noon Thursday, including night games, to help aid attendance. However, attempts to reach Media Relations for confirmation were unsuccessful.
“The parking lots are not going to be ready by Thursdays game. We’re not going to have to make some accommodations for the RVers who are coming in on Thursday,” Broussard said.
The repaving of the F.G. Clark Activity Center parking lot started in early July and has been delayed because of Hurricane Isaac.
“Thursday night games at any other institution in the state are usually the highest attended games, here they tend to be the lowest attended,” Broussard said.
Athletics hopes to remedy this with the ‘Jaguar Jamboree’, where fans will see the freshman class leading the football team onto the field.
Any East Baton Rouge high school student with a valid I.D. will be admitted to the game free with a wristband.
“It’s the first home game of the year, I think a lot people want to see what improvements have been made in critical areas since last year,” Broussard said.
Attendance may also be high due to the fan-day held in August, allowed fans to meet and greet the Southern football players.
“Fan day for 2011 barely had over 200 people, this year we had over 1,500, with about fifty RV’s outside,” Broussard said.
This is head coach Stump Mitchell’s third year and with his freshmen now experienced upperclassman, fans can look forward to a much more experienced Jaguar team.
“We have a 25,000 seat stadium, a great band, and a great day atmosphere, and compared to our peers, we’re one of those top twenty programs in the country in terms of game day experience, this is our opportunity to showcase it,” Broussard said.