LSU football is back. The stands in Death Valley are once again filled to the brim with screaming fans. You can definitely feel the buzz in the air, but something just seems a bit…off.
Upperclassmen were able to experience what many would call the best year ever for university football in 2019. Some cynics may argue that we will never experience a year like that again. I was at the majority of the games that fateful season, and the energy was beyond anything imaginable. The team abounded with superstars, led, of course, by Heisman-winning quarterback and beloved figure-about-campus Joe Burrow. 
Flash forward to the present. Most of those stars have graduated to professional football, and our team performs nowhere near as well as it once did. As a result, things just aren’t the same anymore. The energy levels just can’t match that 2019 season. 
No football fan now can muster the excitement they once felt watching Burrow dive across Death Valley’s turf. I remember waking up on game days so eager to get to the stadium and watch our offense completely annihilate opposing defenses. Now, I wake up praying that we can pull off a win against unranked teams.
I used to have all of the confidence in the world that we would beat teams like Florida, Clemson, Georgia, even Alabama. Now, I fear the embarrassment of watching these ancient rivals blow us out. This uncertainty drains from the energy that revolves around supporting LSU football—I hate seeing the school I support lose to cocky Division I teams.
I’ve seen the mountain top. I’ve experienced the best year imaginable for a college football fan. Now, I must confront the wasteland ahead.
Don’t get me wrong, I still support this team and love watching their games. Things just feel different now, and not in a good way. 
This season alone, we have already experienced a devastating loss to UCLA and decent—but widely expected—victories over McNeese and Central Michigan. Death Valley had great energy as always, but it died out quickly. People left early and were sitting the majority of the time.
I wonder if, like me, they were too stressed over our team’s struggles to be excited. 
In previous years—even before the iconic 2019 season—no one sat down, and the majority of fans stayed for the entire game. On away games, students would wait outside the Baton Rouge airport to catch glimpses of their favorite players. Those were the days, and I hope that one day we can get back to that level of excitement.
I probably won’t be a student here when that happens, but purple and gold will still run through my veins because the chant is “FOREVER LSU”.
Anthony Bui is a 21-year-old English senior from Opelousas.