Resilient LSU students wearing gold shirts and waving purple and gold pompoms cheered the Tigers to victory Saturday in Bryant-Denny Stadium – surrounded by more than 80,000 boisterous crimson and white Alabama fans.
The annual Student Government football bus trip took 500 full-time students to Tuscaloosa, Ala., for what some called the most-anticipated regular-season football game of the year.
Students who rode the buses were quick to compare the game-day experience to the 2003 national championship game against Oklahoma.
Carissa Cervantez, music education senior at her first away game, said the Alabama game reminded her of the excitement surrounding the national championship game since it was a much-hyped road game.
 
She also said she was impressed with Alabama’s fan presence at the game.
“I was a little intimidated at first,” Cervantez said. “Once LSU fans were together, it was fine.”
Alyse Bordelon, marketing sophomore, said she felt fortunate to attend the game because she read tickets were being sold for large amounts of money in the Baton Rouge Business Report.
“I read that they had tickets from $200 to $1,000,” Bordelon said.
A few logistical problems arose throughout the trip, but most students still said it was a success.
SG told students to arrive at the Public Safety building at 3:15 a.m. because the buses would leave then, but the buses ended up leaving campus around 4:30 a.m.
SG President Michelle Gieg said the late departure was out of SG’s control.
“When you’re working with outside vendors, they do what they need to do,” Gieg said.
This season’s trip featured a tailgating first. Dreamland BBQ Ribs in Tuscaloosa catered the event, but the food arrived more than an hour late.
It was challenging to work with
a company in an unfamiliar city, Gieg said.
Jamie Bond, political science junior, said she enjoyed the tailgate experience.
“This time, I liked how we got to tailgate and get off the bus [for a little while],” Bond said.
This year’s bus trip raised controversy when some students tried to buy tickets on their own and found SG had all 500 student tickets. Cervantez said students who didn’t get tickets shouldn’t complain.
“I was up at the Union at 8 a.m. to sign up,” Cervantez said. “People should have known beforehand. It was widely advertised.”
Marcus Higgins, biological engineering senior, disagreed. “There probably should be a separate ticket allotment for students who don’t want to ride the bus,” Higgins said.