SEC issues LSU hefty fine after fans storm field to celebrate victory over Alabama
Death Valley got rowdy on Saturday night after LSU defeated Alabama, fans storming the field as Brian Kelly secured his biggest victory since becoming the leader of the Tigers.
However, the fun is going to come at a price — the SEC has levied a hefty fine against the school following the insane scene.
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“The Southeastern Conference announced today that Louisiana State University will be fined for a violation of the league’s access to competition area policy due to fans entering the field following its football game against the University of Alabama on November 5,” announced the SEC. “LSU will incur a fine of $250,000 for its fourth offense under the league’s access to competition area policy. After three violations of the policy, the fine remains at $250,000 for all subsequent violations. LSU was last fined for a violation following its football game against Ole Miss earlier this season.
“Fines levied against schools for violation of the access to competition area policy are deposited into the SEC Post-Graduate Scholarship Fund.”
Moreover, Michael Casagrande of AL.com captured multiple videos of the entire night, including when Evan Van Nostrand — a Purple Heart veteran turned Alabama’s Assistant Director of Player Development — needed an escort to get off the field in Death Valley.
Alas, it can’t be expected for everyone to be polite when you’re celebrating one of the biggest wins of the college football season thus far.
Continuing, Casagrande also shared video of the entire scene to Twitter, showing several members of the Alabama staff directing fans away from entering the field from their sideline. Eventually, LSU event staff came in to secure the sideline, holding a yellow rope in front of the benches to prevent fans from passing through.
Casagrande also later tweeted that “a couple” of LSU fans were arrested during the field storming against Alabama. Additionally, LSU is likely to face a fine from the SEC for the field storming as is the league’s policy.
It’s still unclear why the arrests were made, but fans continued to celebrate into the evening and will continue to do so even next week as Saturday’s wins represents a huge step forward for their conference title hopes.
Moreover, the win was just the second for LSU in the past 12 contests between the two teams, and puts them in first place in the SEC West with a chance to compete for the conference title. The Tigers are also likely to move up in the College Football Playoff rankings, as they seem to stand the best chance of any two-loss team of making it.
As for Alabama, the Crimson Tide now appear a longshot to make either the CFP or SEC championship due to their two losses in league play.
Saturday’s game ended in dramatic fashion, as Alabama kicked the game-tying field goal with 21 seconds left to force overtime. After The Crimson Tide also scored first in the extra period, the Tigers answered with a touchdown of their own on a 25-yard run from Jayden Daniels.
But instead of opting for the tie to force a second overtime, LSU went for the two-point conversion and the win. It paid off, as Daniels found Mason Taylor to seal the victory.
LSU has conference games against Arkansas and Texas A&M left on its schedule, beginning with the Razorbacks at 11 a.m. CT next Saturday in Fayetteville.
On3’s Chandler Vessels contributed to this article.