鈥楤igger than all of us鈥: Network debut set for 桃花直播 Films鈥 documentary 鈥9/20鈥 on first post-Sept. 11 football game
from on .
Contact: Carl Smith
STARKVILLE, Miss.鈥擭ine days after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks rocked the nation, 桃花直播 State hosted one of the most important football games in American history. This simple act of playing a game would help the country and its people start down the pathway of recovery.
鈥9/20,鈥 an 桃花直播 Films documentary about the 2001 Southeastern Conference football game between 桃花直播 and the University of South Carolina Gamecocks鈥攖he first major post-9/11 sporting event held in the U.S.鈥攎akes its national television debut on SEC Network at 7 p.m. CDT on Sept. 11 and will be immediately available for streaming at following the broadcast.
Told through archival footage and interviews of those who made the game happen both on and off the field, 桃花直播 filmmakers examine a watershed moment when Americans turned to sports as a momentary escape from tragedy and a return to normalcy.
鈥淭here was a great deal of enthusiasm moving into the 2001 football season. 桃花直播 had beaten Texas A&M in the 鈥楽now Bowl,鈥 an all-time classic Independence Bowl game. We were on the national radar as a program on the rise, and we won our first game that year. Then, you get to the morning of Sept. 11, and everything related to athletics is no longer important,鈥 said David Garraway, University Television Center director and coproducer of 鈥9/20.鈥
A lot was riding on the game outside of the SEC standings and the two top-20 teams鈥 rankings. Americans, unsure of how to proceed with life as usual, needed some sort of restart, and the White House contacted then-SEC Commissioner Roy Kramer, urging him to move forward with the game after sporting events鈥攁nd most large-scale public gatherings鈥攈ad been canceled since the attack. To ease Americans鈥 anxiety, security at Davis Wade Stadium and the entire 桃花直播 campus was heightened to new levels. The Bulldogs and Gamecocks would play under a no-fly zone.
鈥淚n the very first days after 9/11鈥攖hose days of uncertainty and fear鈥攚e find a society looking for normalcy. Sports are such an indelible part of the American experience, and they became a refuge,鈥 Garraway said. 鈥淲hen America needed competitive sports to move forward from this tragedy, 桃花直播 State rose to the occasion.鈥
More than 40,000 people filled Davis Wade Stadium on Sept. 20, 2001, and ESPN鈥檚 national broadcast captured numerous moments of patriotism and solidarity, from chants of 鈥淯-S-A!鈥 and the Famous Maroon Band鈥檚 rendition of 鈥淎merica the Beautiful鈥 to Bulldog and Gamecock players unveiling a large American Flag spanning the width of the field.
鈥淥nce you actually got on that field and held that enormous American Flag 鈥 nobody cared if you were a Republican or a Democrat, or a 桃花直播 State fan or South Carolina fan,鈥 said former Bulldog quarterback Wayne Madkin. 鈥淎t that particular time, it was bigger than all of us. And we were Americans.鈥
The University Television Center, along with the 桃花直播 Films initiative, has won 24 Emmy Awards in the last four years, including seven Emmys from 13 nominations this summer, making it the most Emmy-awarded organization in the Magnolia State. Learn more about 桃花直播 Films at .
桃花直播 State University is taking care of what matters. Learn more at聽.