It’s always a big deal when LSU takes on Alabama—and this weekend’s face-off is no exception. Bama Hate Week is well underway, and game hype leveled up all the more with last weekend’s announcement that ESPN’s College GameDay will air from Baton Rouge. This high-stakes event feels even more dire this year, since the loser’s chances of making the new 12-team College Football Playoff will diminish.
All signs point to a momentous turnout under the oaks, with mild fall weather and a tailgate scene steeped in creativity. (Baby elephant, anyone?) If the Tigers lose, it’ll hurt, especially following Oct. 26’s gut-punch loss to Texas A&M. And if they win, the roar may register on the Richter scale.
A possible victory invites a question that’s been getting a lot of attention lately: Will Tiger fans once again rush the field?
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It would be the second field rush this season, and LSU’s third since new rules were passed by the Southeastern Conference. Such an event would result in a $500,000 fine to LSU, paid directly to the University of Alabama.
Field rush fines are tougher now after the SEC updated its “access to competition area” policies in May 2023, nearly doubling penalties with each infraction to dissuade hordes of rabid fans from potentially causing injury. The SEC has had policies related to field rushing since 2004, but it wasn’t until 2015 that financial penalties were enacted.
LSU head coach Brian Kelly shared his own thoughts about field rushing in the weekly press conference after this season’s dramatic overtime win over Ole Miss, when gleeful fans poured onto the field. Kelly’s reaction came as a surprise to the Tiger Nation.
“It’s not something you enjoy, let’s put it that way,” he told reporters. “You love the fact you won the game, and you love the fact people are celebrating an incredible victory. But the implications of what has to happen next is they’re rushing you off the field and it, quite frankly, is unsettling.”
If students leap over barricades after a victory this week, LSU would have to pay a cool half-million to the University of Alabama, double its $250,000 fine for the Ole Miss infraction. Future violations would also incur the maximum fine of $500,000, according to the new conference rules.
It wouldn’t be the first LSU season that field rushing happened twice in one year—and potentially against the same two teams. In 2022, fans rushed the field when the Tigers toppled a No. 7-ranked Ole Miss and then again when they took down the Crimson Tide in a thrilling nail-biter. Some teams might consider semi-regular field rushing overkill. In fact, at a press conference following the 2022 Ole Miss defeat, Kelly said, “I was really surprised. I didn’t expect it.”
Representatives from LSU Athletics had no comment about the issue of field rushing this week, except to point 225 to remarks Kelly made in last week’s SEC Football Coaches Teleconference when asked if fines were a deterrent.
“My focus is on preparing our football team for positive outcomes, and what happens after the game is really out of my purview,” he said. “Certainly, I want safety. We want to make sure that our players and the fans after the game are in an environment where nobody is injured.”
As the issue has gotten more attention lately, some observers have pointed out that field rushing is something that used to be preserved for championships or upsets. Others have said it’s rarely seen at schools like Alabama and Georgia, where wins have become the norm.
On the flip side, Bama has been racking up dough this season. Vanderbilt University was fined $100,000 after feral fans ripped down a goalpost and threw it into the Cumberland River following its 5-point win over the Tide, the team’s first defeat of a No. 1-ranked competitor. The University of Tennessee also got hit with a $100,000 fine last month after its own upset of the Crimson Tide.
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An unpredictable, history-making season has seen other schools get in on the chaos, too—the University of South Carolina was fined $250,000 for rushing the field following last weekend’s defeat of Texas A&M. And the University of Arkansas was fined $250,000 after its takedown of Tennessee marked its first home win over a top-five team since 1999.
For LSU, the last two field rushes have taken place after down-to-the-wire victories that played out in dramatic fashion.
It seems the only excuse Tiger Nation—and college football faithful alike—need to storm the gridiron is an emotional victory.