Worth the wait

• By RANDY ROSETTA
• Advocate sportswriter
• Published: Nov 18, 2008 - Page: 1C - UPDATED: 12:05 a.m.

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By the time the homecoming show came to a close Saturday night at Tiger Stadium and the second half inched closer, there was an eerie quietness in the cavernous building that has been called intimidating by most visitors.

As the two teams trickled out of their locker rooms and back into the chilly night, players from both teams took stock of how empty the building had become.

Before kickoff, crowd of 60-65,000 filed in. When the third quarter began, maybe 25,000 were scattered around the massive edifice.

For Troy, the dramatically thinned-out crowd must have seemed like a moral victory. The Trojans led 24-3 at that point and quickly padded the lead with a 79-yard touchdown drive as the crowd remained as listless as LSU had played in the first half.

“We kind of expected it,” LSU tight end Richard Dickson said of the uncharacteristic mass exodus. “Nobody wants to see their favorite team get blown out.”

“It kind of woke us up.”

Added left tackle Ciron Black, “That’s just what happens when you’re getting beat 31-3 and it’s cold. We can’t expect them to stay.”
 
Receiver Demetrius Byrd joked that he noticed empty seats starting to pop up well before halftime as Troy’s offense churned through the LSU defense for two long touchdown drives and a 14-3 lead before the first quarter expired.

“Those seats started getting empty around the end of the first quarter,” Byrd said with a smile. “Somewhere in those first two quarters, I told a couple of my teammates to pinch me. 31-3? Seriously? No way we were losing like that.

“To be honest, if I was in the stands, I probably would have left too. It was cold, the team looked like they were about to get murdered. I probably would have left, too.”

Byrd didn’t, of course, nor did any of his teammates.

Instead, the Tigers came back out and finally came alive — perhaps in part as a response to the smattering of fans who stuck it out.
After dropping behind 31-3, LSU rewarded those fans’ loyalty by erupting for the biggest comeback in the program’s modern era. And with every touchdown that closed the gap, the small throng of half-frozen fans got a little louder and livelier.

By the time Charles Scott crashed into the end zone for a 4-yard touchdown run that put the Tigers in front, it was hard to tell that the stadium was barely a quarter full.

“I thought that stadium was just as lively and fired up as any big game and any large crowd in the back end of that game,” LSU coach Les Miles said. “Those of you who braved the cold and a poor start by the Tigers in the first half, I want to say thanks. I really enjoyed that crowd. That crowd got into it. You heard them. They were part of that night.