Recreation

On an exhaustingly hot and humid Wednesday afternoon, Corey Halls stands in the shade outside of the JSU student commons building, leaning against its brick façade, smoking a Camel Light.

On an otherwise deserted campus during the week before classes start, Halls is like a lone soldier who showed up early for battle. His uniform defines not only his athletic allegiances but also his attitude.

Splashed across a T-shirt that was once red but is now the color of watered down Kool-Aid is one word — "COCKY."

When explaining his choice of on-campus attire, Halls takes a long, contemplative drag and grins through a cloud of exhaled smoke that clings to the warm, stagnant air.

"It gets people's attention," says the 21-year-old. "And I like that."

Halls first bought the shirt a couple of years ago for the simple fact that it made others notice him. But recent earth-shattering developments within the JSU football program have transformed this familiar slogan into a rallying cry.

"This is the year the nation starts to pay attention to JSU," Halls says, adjusting his sunglasses. "I can't wait for football season."

Admittedly, Halls wasn't always so enthusiastic. An Auburn fan mostly because of familial pressure, it's only been in the last two years that he's been paying any attention to the football team.

"It's weird being a JSU fan in a state dominated by Auburn and Alabama," Halls says. "It's like nobody even knows who we are."

Not anymore because now there is at least one player whose name, like the single word stamped across Halls' chest, grabs the attention of not only fans in Alabama but sports radio hosts, ESPN analysts and newspaper columnists from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution to USA Today.

"Everybody knows who Ryan Perrilloux is," Halls says, literally bouncing in his flip-flops. "And now everybody's going to know he plays for JSU."

Once upon a time, Ryan Perrilloux was the National Offensive Player of the Year coming out of East St. John's High School in 2005 and was one of the most heralded prospects to ever come out of Louisiana.

Though he was the back-up for starter Matt Flynn, Perrilloux proved his abilities in 2007 when, starting in place of the injured Flynn, led LSU to a 44-0 rout of Middle Tennessee State University by passing for 298 yards and three touchdowns.

But myriad off-the-field issues landed him in hot water with LSU head coach Les Miles who, after numerous warnings and suspensions, booted the talented but troubled star off the team on May 2.

Soon the rumors, like man-eating sharks after a shipwreck, started circling when word spread that Perrilloux might transfer to JSU.

Both critics and crusaders alike had their answer on May 15 when head coach Jack Crowe released a statement confirming that JSU had landed its most prized transfer in school history.

"Never has Jax State football been talked about in May," says Ed Lett, former JSU All-American quarterback and current color analyst for the Gamecocks. "It's amazing, and the publicity is great for JSU.

"What happens next is up to us."

Immediately Perrilloux, ascended to the position of starting quarterback, which, as fate would have it, had been vacated when JSU quarterback Cedric Johnson was dismissed.

Expectations for JSU's upcoming season rose higher than a Hail Mary pass, as the Gamecocks were chosen preseason favorites to win the Ohio Valley Conference. And already there's been a noticeable change in the atmosphere surrounding the program. Though students will continue to trickle across campus in the days before classes officially start, according to assistant athletic director for sports information, Greg Seitz, JSU has already exceeded last year's season ticket sales by more than 20 percent.

From mediocre the last three seasons to meteoric rise, the Gamecocks are riding high and the fans — both new and old — are packing up the bandwagon for the season opener on Aug. 28 against Georgia Tech.

And Peter Howell will be right there in Atlanta, watching every snap.

A lifelong JSU fan and member of the 1999 graduating class, Howell grew up with the Gamecocks. He remembers riding his skateboard around campus and hanging out in the football locker rooms, helping the trainers. He remembers abandoning kickball games to go and chase down foul balls during baseball games.

Peter Howell proudly bleeds red and white.

"Jacksonville State University is a special place," he says. "It's off the beaten path. And that's what's great about it. For fans, it's like our own little secret."

Having Perrilloux and all the attention and scrutiny that comes with him, will be a long-term blessing for both the school and the football program, Howell says.

"He'll be a catalyst," he says. "It's always nice to see when something good comes to light. That's the way it'll be this year for JSU."

Fans for life

Just because he's a transfer, don't label Perrilloux a mercenary, some talented player who's only on campus long enough to win a few games before leaving for the riches of the NFL.

JSU has a long history of transfers. And many of those graduated only to carry the mantle of Gamecock pride as alumni. Just ask Ray Emanuel, who played safety and wide receiver for JSU in the '60s.

"Fans of JSU are very, very supportive," he says. "There's nothing like a JSU fan. They're a special bunch. Playing for JSU was an honor then and it's an honor now."

But Emanuel wasn't always a Gamecock. He signed to play for Tennessee Tech University right out of high school and started as a freshman.

"And I loved it up there … 'til it got cold," he says.

On Thanksgiving Day, Emanuel was sitting on the sidelines during the last game of the year against Middle Tennessee. Wrapped in blankets and staring down at the frozen ground, shivering, he noticed a pair of shoes pointing in his direction.

They belonged to Emanuel's brother, Anthony, who played at JSU. As the chilly wind cut across the field, the two brothers talked football until Emanuel asked the question that would shape the rest of his life.

"You think Jacksonville's got any scholarships still open?"

The next season Emanuel was a Gamecock and remains one to this day, sitting in the stands for every home game.

For someone who has followed the highs and lows of so many seasons, Emanuel doesn't mind making a little room on the bandwagon he's been steering for 40 years just because a guy named Perrilloux has people excited again.

"I've got no problem with it at all," he says. "There's plenty of room for new fans."

Former player and current alumni member of the JSU Football J Club, Bill Stone, echoes those sentiments, adding that winning, more than any one player, is the best way to ensure that fans remain loyal.

"Winning fixes everything," he says. "I was a fan before they signed Perrilloux and will be one after he's gone, but he'll bring people to the games.

"And if we start winning conference games, the fans will stay."

JSU hasn't seen this much media attention since 2001 when Ashley Martin became the first female to score points in an NCAA football game by kicking three extra points in a 72-10 trouncing of Cumberland. That was right about the time that James Harkins started haunting the sidelines of any and all JSU games.

From volleyball to football, tennis to softball, Harkins worked the sidelines as JSU's unofficial team photographer, posting his pictures free for parents and fans on his Web site — jsufan.com.

"I'm strictly a Gamecock fan," Harkins says.

Harkins was there at Paul Snow Stadium back in August when some 2,000 people showed up for JSU's annual Fan Day celebration. But for all the pictures he took, there was one player Harkins missed.

"I didn't bother shooting Perrilloux," he says almost apologetically. "I couldn't get close enough for all the TV news cameras."

Still, like so many other long-term fans, Harkins doesn't mind the blitz of attention that Perrilloux has brought to Jacksonville.

"It's going to be real good for the school in terms of publicity," he says. "Before, everybody thought we were in Florida. Now, everybody'll know where JSU is."