The Southeastern Conference, the league that draws the ire of college football for supposed favoritism it receives from media and pollsters alike, is a community at heart.
From the outside looking in, fans of “the best conference in the nation” may seem overbearing. The SEC’s reputation is based partly on championships but also loyal followers that plan their weekends in the fall around their favorite team.
The love for LSU may be overboard, but never wavers. Sometimes, like Saturday in Baton Rouge, that love extends to its conference counterparts when football becomes secondary — rivalries are mostly thrown out the window.
When Tiger Stadium became the relocation for the LSU versus University of South Carolina contest, football proved only a part of life, but a part strong enough to bring more than school pride.
“They sounded just like 100,000 to me,” said LSU coach Les Miles when asked about Saturday’s crowd. “There was a very loyal contingent that was in that stadium. They made a lot of noise. It was very much like Tiger Stadium.”
Saturday’s noticeably smaller following for the purple and gold, who made it to campus despite a non-scheduled “home” game, watched their “away” Tigers defeat the pesky Gamecocks, 45-24.
But what the LSU community, who couldn’t be more familiar with weather-related tragedies, did for South Carolina flood victims was far more important.
South Carolina radiologic science junior Stormy Webber and her boyfriend Stephen Boneparte — Columbia, South Carolina, natives — said they traveled roughly 13 hours to Baton Rouge to support their Gamecocks.
The pair originally had tickets to the game at Williams-Brice Stadium, but the “beautiful nature disaster,” as Webber sarcastically joked, threw a wrench in that plan. Neither had visited Baton Rouge, but Webber heads to her parents hometown of Monroe, Louisiana, every Christmas. Boneparte waited a few years to see LSU sophomore running back Leonard Fournette in action, so a trip to the deep South was worth it.
They took in the sights on Friday and visited Mike the Tiger. Wearing garnet and black as they walked around Saturday, they were treated to shots at The Chimes Restaurant and Taproom and people went out of their way to welcome them at gas stations.
In an “eye-opening” week, during which Boneparte lost a friend when her car crashed into a pit and was flooded to the point where she couldn’t get out, Baton Rouge residents’ generosity for the people of Columbia and South Carolina were on full display.
“Y’all have done more for us than Clemson [University] has, and it’s in the same state,” Boneparte said.
The sentiment was the same from three other South Carolina fans, who all now live outside the state. Terry Craft, a 65-year-old employee relations manager for BASF in Geismar, Louisiana, was joined by Orlando residents Richard Morris, a 61-year-old doctor, and Butch Hinson, a 64-year-old customer support manager for an electronics company.
When Morris and Hinson saw the garnet and black at Craft’s tent, they parked their vehicle and became acquainted quickly.
“When you meet a fellow Gamecock, you are automatic friends,” Morris said.
Although none of the trio were directly affected by the flood, they knew LSU fans would treat fellow Palmetto state residents and fans differently than they would for a normal SEC matchup.
“We’re used to running the gauntlet, if you know what I mean,” Morris said. “Younger fans will get in your face and tell [you] you’re, ‘Gator bait,’ and all that. I don’t expect much of that because they’re sensitive to our situation back home.”
Four South Carolina freshmen, who are originally from Greenville, South Carolina, and evacuated before the flooding worsened, arrived in Baton Rouge by way of New Orleans and purchased $5 student tickets.
As they walked around Mike the Tiger’s cage, an LSU fan approached them.
“We’ve been praying for you guys, praying for your home state” the LSU fan said. “We’ve been there. I lived in a camper for two and half years after [Hurricanes] Rita and Katrina.”
When the fan approached, the four were only there for a couple of hours, but it wasn’t the first time someone in purple and gold went out of their way to show kindness. It was their first SEC road trip, too.
“Every tailgate we’ve walked past, people asked us if we want anything,” said Mitchell Touchton, an international business major from South Carolina. “Like something to drink, something to eat. It’s been pretty cool.”
Inside the stadium, the LSU Tiger Band did its best rendition of the South Carolina band, the Mighty Sound of the Southeast, performing the Gamecocks’ alma mater and fight song before kickoff.
The stadium even showed South Carolina’s hype video and blared Darude’s “Sandstorm,” as South Carolina fans shook white towels.
Glimmering in the corner of the student section, the Painted Posse emblazoned the words “SEC United” across their torsos.
A community united, it was.