The young men gather in the west corner of the south end zone, take a knee and say a quick prayer before going to battle on the football field.
Stephen Guidry, a junior wide receiver from New Roads, Louisiana, described what their prayer is like.
“A lot of players have been doing it,” Guidry said. “You go to the end zone and get you a quick prayer. You thank God for why we are here, for this blessed game, because of every game is a big game.”
It was a good game for Guidry, as he caught 130 yards on three catches, including a touchdown catch and the fourth-longest reception in Mississippi State University football history. However it was not without a heavy heart.
“All I can say is, God. I did it for my uncle, he passed away yesterday, so I had a reason,” Guidry said. “The whole time (I thought about him), I was very close, he was like a father to me. (I’ve known him) my whole life.”
This close connection motivated him to play well, and he showed that on his 84-yard reception as he ran only to be caught at the 2-yard line because he ran out of gas.
Guidry described how he found out about his uncle’s passing, as his family decided to not tell him directly in fear it would distract him from the game. In fact, head coach Joe Moorhead told Guidry and gave him the choice to go home, but Guidry decided to stay.
“My sister did not even call me because she knew it would hurt me,” Guidry said. “She thought I was going to go back home, so she told coach Moorhead. He sat me down and talked to me, and he gave me the option, ‘Do you want to go home to your family?’ I was like, ‘No.'”
For Guidry, it was not the first game he had played after the sudden loss of a family member, and he got a little emotional toward the end of his interview just thinking about how much that loss hurt.
“In high school, my grandfather, he died and I had a game the next day,” Guidry said. “I had a wonderful game, I balled out. From this standpoint, I know I miss him, it is a tough loss.”
Guidry was a major part of MSU’s victory, as he was one of the players Nick Fitzgerald found success with. Osirus Mitchell, a sophomore from Sarasota, Florida, also had a very good game, as he had a touchdown catch and 96-yards receiving on six catches. Mitchell felt the team was different in how they played, and that led to their success through the air.
“Honestly, we just clicked offensively,” Mitchell said. “We knew it was there. We had been doing it in practice, but we just had to translate it into the games. We were trying to improve on our identity as a team. We wanted to make plays and run into the end zone.”
The victory means a lot to the offense’s season. But for Guidry, it will always mean more than just the game, as he had a career high in receiving yards on the night he played for his late uncle Marlon Jones.