South Carolina's game against LSU moved to Baton Rouge
LSU won't be traveling to Columbia, South Carolina, after all.
South Carolina announced Wednesday that the two schools would play at Tiger Stadium in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, on Saturday. South Carolina's Williams-Brice Stadium is unable to be used for the game because of flooding in the area.
Kickoff for the game, originally scheduled for noon ET, is at 2:30 p.m. CT. All proceeds from the game, minus expenses for LSU, will go to South Carolina. The game will also have South Carolina's normal ticket prices.
“Yesterday, we made the extremely difficult decision to cancel classes for the week due to the stress 34,000 students would place on the region’s recovering infrastructure, there is no doubt 85,000 fans would exact the same toll,” South Carolina President Harris Pastides said in a statement. “In the spirit of supporting our South Carolina community that is so supportive of Gamecock Nation, we have decided to move the game to Baton Rouge. The stress on law enforcement and first responders is too great. Moreover, we’ve had many in the Carolina family directly impacted by the flooding.”
Tuesday was the first day since September 23 that Columba hadn't gotten any rainfall. The city received 11 inches of rain over the weekend. South Carolina was at Missouri in Week 5. At least 15 people have died in the widespread flooding across the state.
Hundreds of bridges and roads are still closed.
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“On behalf of the South Carolina football team we want to do the right thing and do what is best for all concerned,” South Carolina coach Steve Spurrier said. “It appears the best thing is to travel to LSU. We look forward to the challenge and competing against the Tigers in Baton Rouge on Saturday.”
South Carolina had contacted Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte about possibly playing the game there on Saturday. The Carolina Panthers are on bye. But the deal didn't happen, perhaps because the stadium field had just been reseeded and Charlotte is also hosting the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series on Saturday night.
The last time a game was moved involving an SEC team was in 2005. And yes, LSU was involved.
According to the #SEC, the last time a game was moved involving an SEC team was ... #LSU traveling to Arizona State in 2005.
— Ross Dellenger (@DellengerAdv) October 7, 2015
The game was moved because of Hurricane Katrina.
South Carolina told its ticketholders that ticket information surrounding the cancelled home game would be forthcoming. The bonus home game is a replacement of sorts for Tiger fans. LSU had to cancel the first game of the season against McNeese State (after attempting to play a few plays) because of thunderstorms.
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Nick Bromberg is the assistant editor of Dr. Saturday on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at nickbromberg@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!
