Chapter Text
This didn’t start out serious.
It started, like most bad ideas in the South, with football and unresolved emotional tension.
Specifically:
“What if James Potter was Georgia’s Heisman frontrunner, and Regulus Black was a bitter, sleep-deprived media intern who absolutely did not ask to feel anything?”
It was supposed to be a dumb joke.
A little sideline banter. Some tight pants. Maybe a kiss in a stairwell.
It turned into... this!
A rom-com. A spiral. A roommate sitcom. A slow burn where nothing happens until it hurts.
It’s about football - technically.
But really, it’s about being 23 and lost and too full of feeling. About the horror of caring. Of being seen. Of letting someone stay. It’s about found family, and soft things that look like survival.
About turning what shouldn’t have mattered into something that suddenly means everything.
It’s also, unfortunately, autobiographical.
This is my love letter to Georgia football.
To the 2022 season. To the lights in Sanford. To screaming until your throat gives out.
To Saturdays that feel holy.
The games are accurate (to the best of my totally not suspicious insider knowledge). The players are mostly real because naming 85 linemen is a fool's errand.
There’s some angst. There’s banter. There’s Wolfstar in the background making it everyone’s problem. Theres Rosekiller, being shockingly functional.
There’s love - eventually.
There’s James, trying to stay golden. There’s Regulus, trying not to want anything.
They both fail. Spectacularly.
Buckle up.
This fic is stupid.
And soft.
And a little bit holy.
Thanks for being here. Welcome to the SEC.
Someone asked if they can add this to Goodreads and IDRGAF - so go for it. Just don't be mean in the comments idk LMAOO.
If you’re into the idea of Marauders SEC boys check out “Varsity Blues” by melturheadaches :))) It is Wolfstar & very precious and important to me. Sirius is a damn football star and needs tutoring. Remus needs the cash. And they fall in love. Obviously ;)
Football Basics + A Guide to UGA Traditions
To begin - each team has eleven players on the field at any given time. One team plays offense, meaning they have the ball and attempt to score, while the other plays defense, meaning they do the tackling.
The team playing offense has four attempts to get something called a ‘first down’ of 10 yards. A first down is when a team gains AT LEAST ten yards from their previous line of scrimmage.
The offense gets FOUR TRIES to do this. The first attempt being first down, the second attempt being second down, the third attempt being third down, and on the FOURTH ATTEMPT (4th down) you either go for it again, kick a field goal if you’re close enough, or punt to the other team.
If the offense succeeds in moving 10 yards, it is another ‘first down’, and they get four tries again. Hypothetically, a good team could have the ball as long as it takes them to score, so they get some semblance of field control.
If the offense FAILS to get 10 yards in 4 tries and doesn’t punt or kick - thats a turnover on downs. You can also turn it over by fumbling or throwing an interception (which is when the other team catches your pass instead)
- A punt is when the offense kicks the ball to the other team on 4th down, usually because they’re too far to score. Wherever the ball is caught is where the other team has to start from. While possession is given up, they basically just hope the other team has been pushed back far enough.
Timing and pacing matter a LOT in football. The game has four quarters, each one is 15 minutes. After two quarters, there is a break called halftime where basically the teams go to locker rooms and try to refocus and also get screamed at if they played bad. Halftime locker rooms are scary lmao.
HOW TO SCORE : 3 WAYS!
- A touchdown - Getting the ball into the endzone for 6 points - then, 2 options
- FIELD GOAL - The kicker (in our fic, Podlesny) gets placed 25-60 yards from the goalposts, and essentially just gets to kick the ball through the spokes. If he makes it, thats +1 point, meaning a touchdown and field goal = 7 total points.( Alwo called an ‘extra’ point’ or ‘point after attempt’ - i’ll mainly say extra point.
- TWO POINT CONVERSION - After scoring a touchdown, the offense can opt to run a play from the defense’s THREE YARD LINE to try and earn two additional points. The team earns these points if a runner carries the ball across the goal line, or catches the ball within the endzone, just like scoring a touchdown.
- A FIELD GOAL (but not after a touchdown) - A field goal can be kicked at any point in the game for +3 points, but this generally happens if the offense is in range on fourth down like we talked about earlier.
- A SAFETY - If the offense has a ball and gets tackled in their own endzone, then the DEFENSE gets a ‘safety’ which is 2 points.
POSITIONS - (Only really talking about offense here. Defense in essence is tackle running men, force turnovers, of just wear them out. )
- Quarterback - Leader of the offense and touches the football every single play. Essentially their job is to analyze the defense, find an open receiver, and throw the hell outta that football. Sounds easy but generally the defense collapses on him in like 3 seconds, so it’s a lot of quick thinking.
- Running back - This mf just needs to run. Primary job is to carry the ball in rushing plays. They have to get the ball from the quarterback behind the line if scrimmage, and follow the blocks of the offensive linemen in front of him to get yardage and move the offense forward.
- Wide Receivers - the guys who run deep routes and catch the long passes. Think fast, agile, flashy!
- Tight End - One of the most versatile positions in football. Mix of wide receiver and offensive linemen. They best tight-ends do a little bit of everything.
- Offensive linemen (wont get into specifics bc its not important in this fic) but basically big men who protect the other tiny men who run with ball.
Some ‘big picture’ concepts
- Each play starts with ‘down and distance’ - so if I write “2nd and 6”, that mean’s its SECOND DOWN, and they need to go 6 MORE YARDS to go for a new set of downs and ‘reset’ to first down.
- The line of scrimmage is where the play starts, and its invisible but sacred. Both teams line up on opposite sides of the line of scrimmage. No one can cross it UNTIL THE BALL IS SNAPPED - unless they want a penalty.
- Penalties exist and they suck. Flags get thrown for a shit ton of stuff - from starting too early to ‘holding’ an opponent. Penalties can gain or lose yards, and sometimes even give a free first down. I’m not going to explain all of them because it’s complicated, but your most common ones are - HOLDING, FALSE START, PASS INTERFERENCE, UNNECESSARY ROUGHNESS // do ur own quick reads if u care to know :’) they’re a little stupid and a bit up to ref’s determination because the whole game is tackle and hit.
- Before each play the team huddles up to get the call from the quarterback. Once they line up, the center snaps the ball between his legs to start the play, to the quarterback.
some vocab
- Redzone - inside the opponents 20-yard line where scoring chances are high
- Timeouts - each team gets 3 per half, used to stop the clock or regroup
- Play clock - offense has 40 seconds to snap the ball or they get penalized
UGA TRADITIONS :
- I’m trying to write these well into the story but if you wanted more :)
- The place where it ALL HAPPENS! Sanford Stadium i.e. home <3 // It’s the 10th largest college football stadium in the country, being able to fit 92,746 people. The field is lined in our iconic emerald green hedges. People say the phrase ‘between the hedges’ all the time, and they are essentially just a landmark meant to protect the stadium. I love the hedges. They are very serious to me.
- Dawgwalk - Football players exit the buses from Lumpkin Street and walk into the stadium through Gate 1 amidst a cheering crowd. There is a tunnel formed by the band (called the Redcoats) and they play while all the players come dressed up in suits, etc. They walk through the Tate Student Center parking lot.
- 2014-10-04 UGA Tate Drumline Show No. 11 Dawg Walk Show
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- CALLING THE DAWGS - This happens before every kickoff. Generally a guest or famous alum gets to call it. They stand in the center of the field, the North stands shout ‘GEORGIA’ and the South stands shout ‘BULLDOGS’ and they go back and fourth a few times, then the person on the mic calls “GOOOOOOOOOOOOO” (hold out the o) then ends with ‘DAWGS! SIC EM!” and then we bark. “WOOF WOOF WOOF WOOF WOOF!” (people argue about the amount of woofs. I am a firm believer in 5.) People also just do the ‘call’ part (goooo) like randomly. All over the place. Someone did it to me at an airport because they saw me wearing a Georgia hoodie. #scared.
- REDCOAT BAND CHANT - The Redcoats are the marching band at Georgia, and they ‘march in’ to the stadium following after DawgWalk (then leave) and then march in again before pregame. They have a LOT of chants they do, but the main one that people know is this one. It’s a LINE BY LINE call and response : “HEYYYY WHATS THAT COMING DOWN THE TRACK” / “A HUGE MACHINE THATS RED AND BLACK” / “AINT NOTHIN FINER IN THE LAND” \ “THAN THE GEORGIA REDCOAT MARCHING BAND” \ GO DAWGS (go dawgs) GO DAWGS (go dawgs) GOOOOOOOOO DAWGS.”
- There is an alternate version that is ‘drunk obnoxious georgia fan’ and that is WRONG. That is NOT THE TRADITION.
- Pregame - My favorite thing and I actually cry without fail. I’m just going to attach a video of pregame here - its a lot of fun and the team runs out, captains do handshakes, etc. but the greatest part is the Battle Hymn of the Republic - the whole stadium goes silent while one trumpet player in the upper deck plays, and then they roll a highlight reel narrated by the late Larry Munson (rip) celebrating past and present Georgia football. I literally cry everytime. I CANNOT FIND A GOOD VIDEO that isn’t from 12 years ago so just trust and believe this is fire. Also I’m pretty sure I spotted myself in this video LMAOO. Battle Hymn - UGA - Auburn pregame
- KRYPTON - At the start of fourth quarter, the stadium shuts all the lights, and everyone turns on their flashlights. They hold a phone in one hand, and wave four fingers on the other, and the band plays Krypton! UGA Sanford Stadium Krypton Light Up Red Out vs South Carolina 9-19-2021 - #GeorgiaBulldogs
Anyway. That’s it for now. This will be updated as I feel the need to update it. I love UGA. Excuse that some of these videos are shitty.