Fans "would have never imagined" Tiger Stadium experience like Saturday

Jay Ducote typically would have arrived to campus before 8 a.m. — even for a night game — to begin roasting an alligator, a pig or some other appropriately themed feast.

Late Saturday morning, he received a final-hours invitation to an LSU season opener he didn't expect to attend and, at one point, worried might never happen.

The scene awaiting the local celebrity chef, radio host and media personality was unlike any he'd ever seen around Tiger Stadium the day of a football game.

"I arrived to campus a little after 1 p.m. expecting horrific traffic," said Ducote, who received his bachelor's and master's from the university in 2004 and 2007, respectively. "The cars were plentiful, but not gridlocked, and the grass fields at the Old Front 9 were a barren wasteland of tailgate spots.

"A few purple and gold clad fans gathered by their truck tailgates and SUV hatchbacks, but mostly fans just briskly walked toward Tiger Stadium, some adorning face coverings, to see the Tigers play... It was vastly different."

By the time Ducote reached campus, the reigning national champions had walked down Victory Hill past a few dozen of cheering fans spread carefully across a stretch usually overflowing with thousands.

Tiger Stadium alone becomes the fifth largest city in Louisiana on most game days with its proud capacity of 102,321.

Just as many fans without tickets often flock to campus just to tailgate with friends and celebrate the team and the culture in a sea of purple and gold and steam of Southern humidity and Louisiana cooking.

Ducote, whose degrees are in economics and politic science, often jokes he majored in tailgating.

But LSU limited attendance to the 2:30 p.m. contest against Mississippi State to 25% that number, as part of its precautions this fall to help limit the potential spread of COVID-19.

And fans are not allowed to tailgate this season and were advised not to come to campus without a ticket.

"This is usually nothing but tents," Sonya Pulliam said, motioning to a shaded area near the Carl Maddox Fieldhouse, maybe a five-minute walk from the stadium.

Sonya and husband David were the only people in the quiet parking lot, only half full of vehicles.

Their son has camped out overnight in past years to secure an area for the rest of the family to begin joining at 6 a.m.

Sonya leaned against the side of their truck, while David sat on a folding chair in its bed, as the Baton Rouge natives and Tiger Athletic Fund members waited for a security guard to return and confirm whether they would be allowed to place the chairs on the ground.

"One year ago, we couldn't talk like this, at this volume, because this was packed," David said. "This is usually packed right here. Even when the Tigers in April have their scrimmages, it's a lot more alive than this. A lot more."

LSU announced an attendance of 21,124 on Saturday.

The Tigers' 2019 spring game was estimated to have hosted about 21,000 fans — one of the smallest attendances in the SEC for such an event that year.

Without tailgating, campus was more subdued Saturday than a normal class day.

The extra perimeter of fences and checkpoints surrounding Tiger Stadium created an area that looked more like a scene from a disaster movie than an SEC football game.

"Just an eerie feeling knowing that it's game day and you don't see tailgaters and traffic and even walking traffic," said Houma native Corey Blanchard. "It's never been like this. I would never have imagined it being like this today."

Many fans felt similarly about the outcome.

On the afternoon LSU raised its 2019 national championship flag into north end zone, the passing of the torch to an almost entirely new lineup fell flat.

The Tigers struggled to move the ball on offense early or to stop the Bulldogs from doing so much at all.

Mississippi State won, 44-34, to claim just its second victory in Baton Rouge in nearly 29 years.

And for the first time in four such instances, LSU lost its season opener following a national championship.

"When we started to roll, like when we had that big interception and turned around and scored a touchdown, that 25,000 got loud," said former defensive tackle Marlon Favorite, who co-hosts LSU's official pre-game radio show. "So, I think down the line, say for instance the Alabama game, we make a big play, that 25,000 is gonna sound off. You know sound travels.

"But because we played flat, the crowd was flat. And you could tell the difference."

Even at moments of peak energy, Favorite noticed oddities such as linebacker Jabril Cox returning an interception to an end zone full of awaiting cardboard cutouts in place of live fans.

"I just saw a lot of dogs," he laughed. "I saw the back angle, and you could see him point at the screen. But it was a lot of cardboard there. It kind of sucks for him, because your first experience in Tiger Stadium, a play like that and the place would usually erupt."

Ed Orgeron's voice was audible at times from unusually high seats in a stadium among the largest in the world — and, for opponents, often considered among the most hostile.

But the coach and his players praised the fans who were able to attend for trying to live up to that standard.

"The (pregame) Tiger Walk, I thought we saw a couple of fans," Orgeron said. "I thought there was some energy on the field. The fans got loud at the end in the fourth quarter when we had a chance to win the game. I thought it was good. I thought the fans did about as good a job as they could."

Blanchard, the Pulliams and many of the fans in attendance wouldn't have missed it for any number of reasons.

"You win a national championship, and you can't wait for the season to crank up," said David Pulliam, who hasn't missed a home game in 46 years. "And for the last five months you don't even really know if you're gonna have a season up until last weekend — anything could've happened. I'm just glad we're gonna be able to play some.

"I don't know if we're gonna make it through the year. But we're just happy we're going to get to see a football game."

Even under such unusual circumstances, the start of a delayed and adjusted season brought some senses of normalcy after having been jeopardized entirely by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Saturday notably marked the much-anticipated first career start for quarterback Myles Brennan and a slew of other Tigers.

The game was also the first in the life of the Pulliam's 16-month-old grand-daughter and first in the college career of Blanchard's son, Christian.

"Uncertain until we got here," said Blanchard, who has attended occasional LSU games for at least 10 years. "My son's a freshman trumpet in the Golden Band (from Tigerland). So this is the best day ever."

Only half the band was allowed to perform and was restricted to the stands as opposed to providing its normal on-field shows during pre-game and halftime.

"He wasn't part of the purple band, which is the band performing today," Corey Blanchard said. "But he got asked to substitute for someone that had to stay out for COVID. So we're excited to hear, excited that it's the first game he gets to play and we get to see him. So we can't wait.

"I am excited for him, but I'm still in anticipation of the normal year coming for him next year."

Senior safety JaCoby Stevens hopes for further steps back toward the more traditional atmosphere even sooner.

But, all things considered, he's happy to be back on a football field and hopes he and his teammates can grow from Saturday's experience and provide larger crowds all the more reason to cheer in the coming months.

"You can see that 25% is not as full capacity as LSU would normally be," Stevens said. "But the people that did come were loud and into the game, and I really appreciate them being the greatest fans in college football. They didn't live down to any (lower) expectations. It's not normal, and I'm hoping that this gets better and we can allow more fans into the stadium."