Tre Lamb walked, then jogged, then walked again Saturday afternoon along Johnson Hagood Stadium’s visiting sideline. Stretching his legs felt good. Likewise for the bouncy feel of the stadium’s playing surface beneath his sneakered feet, even if it was fake grass.
Such subtle sensations are often lost in mundane pregame rituals. But not for Lamb, East Tennessee State’s first-year football coach . Not anymore, at least.
For him and dozens of others, a mild Lowcountry afternoon replaced the suffocating confines of a bus . The openness of the field before his team played The Citadel supplanted the anxiety of watching rising water approach closer and closer. And a slightly cloudy sky topped hours of being shrouded in fear.
“It was probably one of the worst days of my life,” Lamb said, “and honestly scary at times. It was like an apocalypse.” He’s not kidding.
Because here’s ETSU’s (3-2, 1-0 Southern Conference) new reality if it wasn’t already part of its world: Football, despite all of its virtues, means little in the grand scheme of things. Merely being here to play in this lopsided stadium, however, meant everything. And, no, that’s not some motivational spiel about showing up being half the battle or whatever.
Setting foot in Charleston to play the Bulldogs (2-3, 0-1) was a mighty accomplishment on several levels. And pulling off a 34-17 win was as much a testament to the Buccaneers’ mental wherewithal as it was their physical prowess. If nothing els.
