Although Friday Night Lights took some liberties with the facts, it doesn't detract from the impact of the film. Following are some notable differences bewteen the movie and the reality of the 1988 Permian Football Season:
Carter and Odessa Permian play for the state championship in the movie. It was actually a state semifinal game.
The Carter-Permian game is played before a crowd of 55,000 in the Houston Atrodome in the movie. In reality, it was played before 10,00 people in a driving rainstorm at Memorial Stadium in Austin, Texas., home field of the Texas Longhorns.
The Carter-Permian game is a high scoring affair in the movie. It was actually a 14-9 Carter victory.
Permian's first-round playoff opponent in the movie is Jesuit. It was actually Amarillo Tascosa. Jesuit did not compete in football in the UIL until the 2004 season.
The movie indicates that Carter is the State's top-ranked team. Carter was actually never ranked higher than No. 3 in the Associated Press poll.
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