What Gamecocks’ crowd Saturday says about the small miracle of an SEC gameday

Generosity is a noble thing. It’s something to be admired.

But the generosity in how college football teams list attendance — let’s just use South Carolina football Saturday as an example — can border on a little ridiculous.

USC announced an attendance of 53,420 at a 28-3 win against Akron. That was utterly generous. The stands appeared to be notably less full than that.

Weather didn’t help. The sheer reality of a game that was only scheduled a month ago after a hurricane canceled a September game meant it was hard to get things together.

And in some ways, it speaks to the total effort — from staff, from the school and mostly from the fans — that brings together a gameday in Columbia.

This is not to disparage the efforts of Ray Tanner’s staff, the athletic department and all the other support systems. On Saturday, everything seemed in place on that end. The school sold at least 29,000 tickets by the early part of the week. The school gave away tickets to military folks and local charities.

But hours before kickoff, one could stare out across Gamecock Park and see plenty of open spots.

The circumstances didn’t help: noon game, Mid-American Conference team, a season that by more than a few measures was disappointing to a lot of fans. It also speaks to the planning and effort on the part of those attending.

A gameday weekend is a full weekend. Planning a morning or afternoon, lodging, tailgate menus, all that. It’s money, it’s effort and it’s time.

One might imagine in a state full of Gamecocks fans, rounding up 70,000 or so by hook or by crook could be workable.

But even with a month to prepare, it wasn’t that easy. A lot of folks planned to be done with the season by Dec. 1, and as such they were.

One of the biggest days for the SEC is when next year’s schedule is announced. Fans want to know when they can plan weddings, make arrangements, tell folks in their lives, “That’s a game weekend, sorry.”

Next season, when South Carolina faces Charleston Southern in the home opener, the little corner of Columbia with Williams-Brice Stadium will be a zoo. At game’s end Will Muschamp will thank the fans, as he thanked the small cadre who braved the wet and cold on Saturday.

But the gap between those crowds will be a reminder of the effort and the preparation from fans, something oft not spotlighted, that go into building gameday in Columbia.

This story was originally published December 1, 2018 at 6:42 PM with the headline "What Gamecocks’ crowd Saturday says about the small miracle of an SEC gameday."