Some fans went onto field after Gamecocks beat Missouri. Could USC be fined again?
Just as the clocks his zero on South Carolina’s 34-30 win over Missouri — its first victory over the Tigers since 2018 — some fans went rogue.
As players and coaches broke into midfield for customary postgame handshakes, a number of fans — mainly from the south end and east side of Williams-Brice Stadium — began sprinting on the field. A number hopped over the hedges and bolted for the action. Other streamed through a gate on the east side.
In total: It was a few dozen folks — maybe a 100 or so total people who barged onto the field.
It came just two weeks after fans actually rushed the field, with perhaps 30,000 or so jumping on and over the hedges to join the party on the grass of Williams-Brice Stadium. The field storming violated the SEC’s competition area access policy, and South Carolina was forced to pay a $250,000 fine to Texas A&M.
Saturday was nowhere near that scale, but it still was a number of people racing onto the playing surface with security not making much of an effort to stop them.
As it happened, numerous requests from the public address announcer bellowed out to the stadium. USC flashed the SEC field access policy on the video board
“Please stay off the field,” the PA announcer said.
Per an athletics department official, South Carolina wasn’t immediately sure whether Saturday’s events will result in a fine from the SEC.
If it does, it will be costly.
The post-Texas-A&M field storming was South Carolina’s second offense since the SEC revised its competition area policy in 2023. Its next offense, and each offense thereafter, would result in a $500,000 fine that the Gamecocks would have to pay to their opponent.
The SEC announces any fines as soon as Sunday afternoons.
