Clip From Texas A&M’s ‘Midnight Yell Practice’ Before Appalachian State Game Goes Viral

A pep rally speech from a Texas A&M student has gone viral for all the wrong reasons.

Texas A&M’s “Midnight Yell” practice is a tradition that takes place on the night before each home game in College Station. 

The “Midnight Yell” practice is designed to bring the fans into the stadium the night before the game and get them excited for the upcoming matchup. Fans also practice cheers that will take place on gameday.

The Aggies welcomed Appalachian State into College Station on Saturday afternoon, and subsequently lost to their visiting Group of Five foe 17–14 in one of several stunning Week 2 upsets.

The Mountaineers held the football for over 41 minutes, and dominated the line of scrimmage against the far superior recruits that A&M possessed.

In the aftermath of the embarrassing 17–14 loss, the play on the field is not the only story grabbing headlines on Monday. Instead, it’s a clip from A&M’s Friday night “Midnight Yell” practice, where A&M Midnight Yell “Head Yell Leader” Zach Cross, a class of 2023 student, threw some insensitive barbs at the Appalachian State football team in advance of Saturday’s tilt.

“I’m not gonna lie to y’all, I had to google this team to make sure they were even real,” Cross began.

“I was really confused because Appalachian is definitely not a state. But sure enough, I found them and they are located deep and I mean DEEP in the backwoods, just like you would think any hillbilly college that names themselves ‘the Mountaineers’.

“I just hope that these guys can get here tomorrow alright, because I know for a fact that half of their football team can barely even read the name on their jerseys, let alone, read a map! It’s a shame that the only two brain cells that these guys have left are going to get knocked out by our wrecking crew defense tomorrow,” Cross finished before the Yell Leaders led a cheer.

The fallout of the event is only beginning, and there’s no telling what the consequences for the speech may be. The full audio can be heard here.

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Mike McDaniel
MIKE MCDANIEL

Mike McDaniel is a staff writer on the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated, where he has worked since January 2022. His work has been featured at InsideTheACC.com, SB Nation, FanSided and more. McDaniel hosts the Hokie Hangover Podcast, covering Virginia Tech athletics, as well as Basketball Conference: The ACC Football Podcast. Outside of work, he is a husband and father, and an avid golfer.