Clanga, clanga.

When I close my eyes, it’s all I can hear.

Saturday I made my first trip to Starkville to watch my Bulldogs, the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs.

I’m not sure if there’s a rule against calling teams by anything other than just their mascot, but the announcers’ versions of the Bulldogs vs. Bulldogs matchup got a little confusing at times.

After starting out 14-0, my ‘dogs faced a terrible demise, and my ringing eardrums were proof of the Mississippi State Bulldogs’ success.

Seeing my alma mater play wasn’t the only piece of home I found in Starkville this weekend, either.

A Ruston, La., staple, The Dawg House Sports Grill was like a second home to me during my college days, and I had always heard of the second location in Starkville that I had hoped to visit.

The Dawg House Sports Grill II was like the original but much nicer and newer. The food on the menu was the same but with different Mississippi State-inspired names.

It was weird to be somewhere so different that felt so much like home. A good number of other Louisiana Tech alumni had the same idea, and it seemed to be the reunion spot for everyone who made the trip from Ruston.

Saturday night The Dawg House Sports Grill II was hosting a Michael Jackson tribute band, but I had other plans.

It seems my team and my restaurant weren’t the only things that met me in Starkville, but Louisiana-based Benjy Davis, formerly of The Benjy Davis Project, also made the trip to Starkville to play a Saturday show.

I was surprised by how many people I ran into in Starkville hadn’t heard of Benjy Davis, but I suppose growing up in Louisiana made his bit of fame seem more magnified than it was.

I won’t lie; I went to Starkville expecting not to like it. As a graduate student at Ole Miss, they sort of teach us that at orientation.

Despite the clanga, clanga I could still hear ringing in my ears, I found myself singing along with the band and good friends to Benjy Davis’ “Louisiana Saturday Night,” and I realized Starkville felt more like home than I had ever thought it would.

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Austin Vining is a reporter for The Vicksburg Post. Email him at austin.vining@vicksburgpost.com.