With the LSU-Alabama game this Saturday, a large number of LSU students and fans are expected to make the 345-mile trek to Tuscaloosa to watch the Tigers take on the Crimson Tide.
While many University students travel across the country to attend away football games, some students, including education junior Meg Brown, feel games in Tuscaloosa are an entirely different experience.
Brown attended the 2017 LSU-Alabama game in Tuscaloosa. She had fun but said some Alabama fans were too intense.
“Some man in Alabama’s stadium asked if me and my friend, who was also from LSU, wanted an M&M,” Brown said. “We politely said no, and he said ‘darn, I was hoping y’all would choke on it.’”
Brown also traveled to the 2018 LSU-Arkansas game in Fayetteville. She said she had a better experience, largely because the Arkansas fans did not have as many comments when they heard she was visiting from LSU.
“They were more relaxed,” Brown said. “Also, the parties were more fun.”
Mass communication sophomore Hallie Roberts traveled to Auburn to see the LSU-Auburn game last season with a few of her friends. She enjoyed experiencing college football in another, slightly less intense, environment.
“I liked it because while it wasn’t as intense as LSU’s environment. It was really cool to see how other schools did their game days,” Roberts said.
Tailgating was not as prevalent in Auburn as it is here in Baton Rouge, she said, she still saw college students and families pregaming near campus. Roberts said she and her friends tailgated with Auburn students before the game.
Roberts also enjoyed the game because she got to experience it with her friends.
“Traveling all the way to Auburn made me and my friends that I traveled with that much closer too,” Roberts said.
Biological sciences senior Christine Beaullieu attended the LSU-University of Texas game in Austin in September and loved it.
“I’m a senior and just went to my first away game,” Beaullieu said. “And yes, Matthew McConaughey was there. That was a plus.”
She said she loved spending time in Austin, especially on Sixth Street, where she stayed with one of her friends’ family.
The large number of LSU fans in attendance made the trip more exciting, according to Beaullieu.
Beaullieu and Roberts both recommended students attend at least one away game while at the University in order to have an unforgettable experience cheering on the Tigers in another stadium.
“More people should go because it’s good to go on adventures,” Beaulllieu said. “You should travel and do as much as you can.”
“More people should go to away games,” Roberts said. “It’s cool to see a different environment and campus and to meet new people.”