Former referee Matt Austin tells Alyssa Lang the loudest stadium he's experienced
Former SEC official Matt Austin joined Alyssa Lang as she hosted The Paul Finebaum Show on Monday and South Carolina football got plenty of love as one of the topics that came up for the long-time official was, “What’s the loudest stadium he’s ever officiated?”
Austin, who now works for ESPN and SEC Network as an Officiating Analyst for college football after spending 15 years as a referee in the league, first shouted out LSU for its excellent atmosphere and then gave Gamecock Central readers the answer they would hope for.
“I tell people the truth, and they get really surprised, and it’s South Carolina,” Austin said.
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Austin recalled working the 2014 opener at Williams-Brice Stadium, a game that many South Carolina fans have hoped to forget, but that also served as the first-ever game on the then-new SEC Network.
“It was so loud, I couldn’t hear myself talk at the coin toss,” he said.
Monday’s Paul Finebaum show was a special one for other reasons than the Williams-Brice Stadium love, though.
Lang, a University of South Carolina J-School graduate and former Gamecock Central intern, became the first woman to guest host the long-time show on SEC Network after previously guest hosting the radio version.
“I appreciate you giving Williams-Brice Stadium a shoutout. I tell people that all the time, too,” she added. “If you have not gone to a night game at South Carolina, you’re missing out.”
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Lang serves many roles on the SEC Network as a sideline reporter for football and basketball, host of Out of Pocket and Thinking Out Loud, and is one of the hosts of SEC Now.
ESPN projects South Carolina to two different bowls as season starts
By Collyn Taylor
It is officially bowl projection season for South Carolina.
College football officially starts Saturday, and with kickoff on the horizon, ESPN has released its preseason bowl projections. There are also varying ideas of where the Gamecocks end up.
Kyle Bonagura has South Carolina going to the Union Home Mortgage Gasparilla Bowl and playing Virginia Tech.
The bowl is typically reserved for a six or seven-win SEC team and is played two days before Christmas in Tampa, Florida.
Mark Schlabach has the Gamecocks in the TransPerfect Music City Bowl playing Minnesota in Nashville.
