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Did anyone watch the Rambling Wreck actually “wreck” Florida State this past Saturday?

Did anybody know that Florida State – with all its portal transfers from other big time college football programs – went into that game vs. Georgia Tech as the 10.5 point favorite to win?

Well, you can throw all that out the window as the Seminoles – the unbeaten defending champions of the Atlantic Coast Conference and ranked #10 in the 2024 pre-season poll – now have a tremendous hill to climb if they want another shot at a league title and a spot in the 12-team national play-offs.

But, then again, stranger things have happened over the years where teams bounced back after an early-season setback.

Still, I love the fact that the ‘Noles are off to an 0-1 start, especially after all the college football “experts” predicted another banner season for FSU. After Saturday’s embarrassing loss, Florida State is the sole occupant of 17^th place (dead last) in the league’s standings.

The look in the eyes of the FSU players and fans after Saturday’s game kind’a reminded me of a classic scene in the 1983 movie “Trading Places.” After losing millions of dollars on Wall Street (gambling on the price of frozen concentrated orange juice), the late Don Ameche (playing the role of Mortimer Duke) begged Wall Street officials for what amounted to as another chance…a mulligan, so to speak.

“We founded this Exchange, it belongs to us. Get those brokers back in here; turn those machines back on, turn those machines back on,” was Ameche’s line after he and his brother Randolph (portrayed by the now late Ralph Clanton) lost 394 million dollars in the blink of an eye.

Despite all their accolades (and star transfers) heading into the start of the 2024 football season, Florida State appeared as the betting favorite to repeat last year’s success. Unfortunately, they can’t get Georgia Tech “back on the field” and they can’t get the scoreboard to “turn back on.”

While on the subject of football, as we embark on a brand new season, let’s take a look at some of the more unique mascots of college teams.

I’ll start this off by saying that a few years ago when our local college (Chowan) was in the process of changing its mascot from the Braves, there was an opportunity for the students, staff, and fans to suggest a new mascot. There were a few to suggest the “Flying Squirrels” (in tribute to Squirrel Park, which is in the center of the circle drive on the original campus). I thought that would have made Chowan much more unique and gain some national attention. However, university officials didn’t see it that way and chose the Hawks as Chowan’s new mascot.

Here are some that I find interesting:

The original costume for the University of Akron mascot debuted in 1954 and included a paper mâché kangaroo head and a zip-up brown furry uniform. But Akron became known as the Zips…not the Kangaroos.

Unique creatures also found their way into North Carolina as school mascots. Buies Creek is the home of Campbell University, where the Fighting Camels compete athletically. You don’t find too many camels in the Tar Heel State.

Athletic teams at the University of Evansville were initially known as the Pioneers. That changed somewhere in the 1920s after Pioneers defeated the University of Louisville in a basketball game. Afterwards, the Louisville coach reportedly said to his Evansville counterpart, “You didn’t have four aces up your sleeve, you had five.” Since that time, Evansville’s teams have been known as the Purple Aces.

Sticking with the color theme, Presbyterian College, located in South Carolina, is known as the Blue Hose. It seems that name, according to the college’s website, originated in the early 20th century when Presbyterian’s athletic director changed the school’s uniform color to blue, and players wore blue jerseys and blue stockings (aka hosiery).

What began as a way to once mock Purdue University for their students coming middle-class backgrounds, newspaper writers covering more affluent universities in the upper Midwest labeled Purdue’s athletes “coal heavers” and “boilermakers.” In turn, Purdue’s engineering and agriculture history is captured by the university’s official mascot, the Boilermaker Special. It’s a replica 19^th century steam locomotive that could easily squash the mascots of most other schools.

The Atlantic Coast Conference is the home of Virginia Agricultural and Mechanical College and Polytechnic Institute….better known as Virginia Tech. But what’s a Hokie? Somewhere along the line, Virginia Tech’s athletic teams were nicknamed the Gobblers. Eventually that became a HokieBird, and low and behold we now know their mascot as the Hokies. If this all sounds confusing to you, then you’re in the same club that I am.

At the NCAA Division II level, Arkansas Tech started playing football in 1911 and was first called the Aggies until a game on Nov. 17, 1920, according to the school’s official history. After a 13-0 win over what is now Henderson State University, the Wonder Boys quickly gained popularity at Arkansas Tech and star quarterback John Tucker came to be known as “The Original Wonder Boy.” Tucker went to work at Tech in a variety of roles, including coach, teacher, athletic director, chemistry teacher and director of student affairs, between 1925 and 1972.

The men’s athletic teams at Centenary College in Louisiana (now a Division III school) became known as the “Gentlemen” in a most unusual way. First established in the fall of 1921 by then-Centenary President George Sexton, it seems the football team had been in a fist fight during the previous game and Sexton sat the team down before the next game and told the players, “…from now on, you will all act like gentlemen.” The name stuck and when the college began fielding women’s teams in the 1960s, they naturally became known as the “Ladies.”

I’ll leave you this week with the mascot origin of my beloved NC State Wolfpack. The story goes that we were once nicknamed the Farmers and the Aggies – based on the school’s agricultural roots. In 1921, someone wrote to a newspaper, saying our fans at a football game were “as unruly as a pack of wolves.” The name stuck and the rest is history.

Cal Bryant is the Editor of Roanoke-Chowan Publications. Contact him at cal.bryant@r-cnews.com or 252-332-7207.