After visiting more than half of the SEC's stadiums as an away fan, I honestly think South Carolina is the second-most hostile environment I've been in.
Can you guess who's first?
While some would consider that a compliment, please don't. It's not meant to be one.
Despite meeting and talking to numerous nice, typically older, Gamecock fans, the difference between them and the attitude most young fans had toward me was like the difference between garnet and orange.
In attempt to get the full experience of Columbia, three friends and I went downtown Friday night. Considering we had never been to the capital of South Carolina, we didn't have much of a choice other than to ask locals questions about places to go and things to do.
Other than one or two individuals who thought it would be funny to give us wrong directions, there weren't any problems. That changed when we got to Five Points though.
At Five Points, the premier bar scene, a random guy tried to fight one of my friends, who was simply trying to make sure he was OK.
I must say, though, Five Points lived up to what we were told. It's a district-like portion of town that is lined with bar after bar. However, there are that many bars because there are that many people. All we found were lines.
On gameday, it appeared Gamecocks fans could not have been more polite. In fact, a home fan next to our tailgate gave us a plate of extra food they had.
Then, on the walk to the stadium, it didn't take more than five minutes before I was taunted for the first time.
"You don't have Scam Newton this year," a Gamecock fan yelled. Little did he know Auburn didn't need the former quarterback.
Four rows from the top of the stadium, the trash talk never stopped. There were four mid-20-year-old Auburn fans two rows in front of me, and South Carolina teenagers in front of and behind them.
Throughout all of the bickering, there was one line that had those in black silent.
"I'm still mad y'all played Oklahoma in '04 instead of us. Oh, wait, that was the real USC."
As far as Williams-Brice Stadium goes, it appeared South Carolina hadn't updated it's scoreboard since the last time it won the conference. That would be in 1969 ...and in the ACC.
I will, however, say I loved the chair-back bleachers in the upper deck. That was a nice surprise. One I would have appreciated more is if the seating numbers were a foot apart from one another.
The game itself was incredible. Obviously, anytime Auburn wins it's a good game ... except against Florida Atlantic, right?
Has everyone jumped off of the "Fire Ted Roof" bandwagon now?
That'd be appropriate. Marcus Lattimore was held to 66 yards. He's been averaging 152.75 per game this year. Not to mention, according to Gamecocks faithful, Lattimore is this year's Heisman winner. By the way, as a team South Carolina only had 289 yards of offense.
I'm also working on a Facebook group for Steven Clark to win the Ray Guy Award. On seven punts, he put five inside the 20-yard line. South Carolina did not have any punt return yards.
Instead of giving the punter his due, it appears the new thing is "bench Barrett Trotter." That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard. Even Gene Chizik has said Keihl Frazier is not prepared to run the offense.
What's new though? Turning on players and coaches is apparently the theme of this season.
But Auburn continues to prove itself when fans seem to show less confidence. So, what happens when the No. 15 team in the country heads to No. 10 Arkansas this weekend?
Do you like this story? The Plainsman doesn't accept money from tuition or student fees, and we don't charge a subscription fee. But you can donate to support The Plainsman.
