LSU Game Moved to Baton Rouge Due to Flooding

Due to excessive flooding since last weekend throughout the Palmetto State, especially in and around Columbia, the No. 7 Tigers and Gamecocks will vie instead in Baton Rouge.

The SEC announced Wednesday that South Carolina needed to focus all of their attention on the recovery effort, moving the USC-LSU game to Baton Rouge.

“The stress on law enforcement and first responders is too great”, Pastides wrote.

“This week, our state was hit with unprecedented devastation.In the midst of the flood, we’ve seen what South Carolina is really about and we’ve learned what a true hero looks like”.

Saturday’s game was originally scheduled for an 11 a.m. kickoff on ESPN, but start time and TV information is now to-be-determined.

“Our team, we want to do what’s right and what’s best for all concerned”, South Carolina coach Steve Spurrier said before Wednesday’s announcement. “They have tremendous tradition down there, but hopefully we can go play the game better than we did the last time”.

Tanner said Williams-Brice Stadium field withstood more than a foot of rain from the weekend storms and is in good condition for players to use come Saturday.

The Gamecocks will practice in South Carolina before leaving Friday for the game.

“Our goal is to make South Carolina feel at home”, Alleva said.

An interesting note about this game is that the South Carolina Gamecocks will still be considered the “home team” although they are playing in their opponent’s stadium.

Nunez said the school expects to staff the game with approximately 75 percent of the workers who would be present on a typical Saturday. If that wasn’t enough, Hurricane Rita forced LSU to move its next game against Tennessee back two days to a Monday night. Obviously we have a quality venue that can accommodate the game.

Added Williamson: “We are not anticipating the game being moved”.

An average SEC football game pumps $10 million into the Columbia economy, according to USC sports and entertainment professor Tom Regan.

In addition to losing a competitive advantage, dropping a home game will have significant financial ramifications for South Carolina.

The possibility of LSU hosting the game has also been discussed, but I believe that to be more of an “all options on the table” discussion at the moment, though many regional neutral site options wont work for various reasons. In any case, Spurrier said Elliott and his family were returning home Tuesday.