Florida will enter Tiger Stadium on Saturday to face a determined team — and a sea of gold.The gold game’s exact date of inception is unknown, but its history is a colorful one. The tradition will continue Saturday as Tiger fans fill the stadium dressed in gold, said University spokesman Herb Vincent.The tradition of the gold game began five to six years ago, Vincent said.The sight of a sea of Tiger fans dressed in unicolor is impressive to those present, as well as to those watching on TV, said Michael Bonnette, sports information director.”Every time we’ve done something like this, we’ve had a great deal of success,” Bonnette said. “It’s just an opportunity [for all] to all unite, wear one color.”The tradition of Tiger fans dressing in unicolor began in 1996 at a “white game” against Vanderbilt, Vincent said. The LSU football team wanted to wear white uniforms because it’s “a more striking color than purple.” Southeastern Conference rules at the time dictated the visiting team establishes the colors — as the home team, LSU was required to ask Vanderbilt for permission to wear white, Vincent said. Vanderbilt refused the request. In response, LSU “whited out” the stadium, requesting all fans wear white.Hillary Shields, history freshman, said she plans to wear gold to the game Saturday to keep with tradition.”[I’m wearing gold] partially because if I didn’t wear gold, I would end up wearing the wrong color,” Shields said. “That, and it’s part of the tradition. It’s part of the college experience … If you’re going to participate in game day, you might as well go along.”The Athletic Department’s marketing department determines the date of the gold game, Vincent said. The department tries to keep the prominence of the game as well as the potential weather in mind when choosing.The Athletic Department realizes more people have yellow T-shirts than yellow jackets, Vincent said.  But Bonnette said he still expects to see some purple-clad fans in the stadium.Morgan Rainey, English junior, said she did not wear gold for the gold game against Mississippi State last season.”I didn’t last year, and I stuck out like a sore thumb,” Rainey said.Rainey said she plans to wear gold Saturday.The Athletic Department also requested Tiger fans all wear gold for the season opener against Washington, Bonnette said.
“We wanted to show how many fans made the trip,” he said. —-Contact Lindsey Meaux at [email protected]