Historically speaking, I don’t think many folks have viewed Sanford Stadium as one of the most hostile environments in the SEC. Maybe that’s slowly changing.
Al.com asked 19 SEC players at the NFL combine to list the hardest places to play. Of the 28 votes cast by the 19 players, Alabama and LSU tied for the most with seven apiece. Auburn had four and Georgia three. Sure, that ain’t much, but it’s a beginning. A sample comment:
Jamarcus King, South Carolina
Pick: Georgia
Why: “Because the fans were really into it. When we played them, that was really the first week they were the No. 1 team. The fans were there and loud.”
It’s about us. And as folks in South Bend witnessed, we travel well, too.
Get The Picture 
Previous years I wouldn’t have expected anyone to say Georgia. That three players said Sanford stadium is significant.
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I’m sure noise has an impact but all this bullshit about “intimidation” is just so much hot air.
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Except for the good vibe that we give our own players I don’t think it is us intimidating the other team all of a sudden.
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As the intro said, that was a west heavy list, so to be on there three times is pretty good. I feel like Sanford isn’t necessarily the most consistently intimidating place to play, but for a big matchup it’s up there with any of them.
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I never have understood why UGA fans are such late arrivals. It would help if they would be in the stadium early and get things ramped up.
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Because drinking and trying to get laid is more important than football.
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Thank you Captain Obvious. 🙂
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I think he was being facetious. Well, I hope so.
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I hate to get nerdy about this, but has anyone ever looked at real/perceived stadium loudness in light of said stadiums’ actual physical designs and other factors?
A bowl with steeper sides (i.e., LSU) is bound to sound a lot louder than stadiums where the bowls are shallower. LSU’s stadium really is loud as hell — the one time I went there, we were up in the visitors’ section and it was still pretty deafening — but I think it’s a combination of the steep banking and cheers that seem a lot higher-pitched and “screamier.” (“Woof, woof, woof” and the like are a lot deeper by comparison.) The “other Death Valley” at Auburn on a Lake seems like a similar situation.
I’ve never been to an Alabama game there, so I’m not familiar with that setup.
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I’m no expert on acoustics but I feel that it’s generally accepted Sanford is not as loud due to not being closed in on all sides. We have the open end on the bridge side, and nobody really wants to mess with that. Auburn, LSU and Bama by comparison are all fully enclosed.
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If I was a grad or doctoral student at one of those schools that had an acoustic engineering program, I’d submit a most excellent (and quite reasonable) research grant proposal. Just cover my ticket and travel costs, give me a decibel meter and a bucket of chicken every Saturday in the fall, and I’ll have my results all typed up and ready for peer review by this time next spring.
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I agree that the stadium set up matters. There used to be a lot of talk about Autzen Stadium in Oregon being inordinately loud because of the configuration.
But I think it only matters to a degree. At a certain point loud is loud. All stadiums at big time programs get loud for big games.
Outside of LSU, the way you build up a reputation for being “intimidating” is by winning. In the 90s, the Swamp would’ve been all over this list because they were winning.
We’re 10-3 at home since Smart came, with all of those losses coming in 2016. 27-6 in the last 5 years. Only 6-4 against top 25 teams over that stretch, but 4-0 against top 10 teams.
If we improve on our record at home against the top 25 and especially if we keep that streak of wins against top 10 teams going then that’s the type of stat that will get Sanford noticed.
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Agreed. Winning is intimidating. Sanford can be plenty loud, though configuration does play a big role as well. The Rose Bowl was one of the most exciting games ever, yet it wasn’t the loudest game ever because all the sound goes up.
And Death Valley (the real one in Baton Rouge) is the loudest place I’ve ever been. It’s the only stadium I’ve ever been in where the crowd noise literally hurt my ears. This, of course, doesn’t count the amplified crap blasted at every stadium these days.
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LSU ‘13 was deafening when the Tigers has that last possession. While the noise may escape marginally more quickly in Sanford, I wouldn’t trade the look of Sanford for any of those erector sets of other SEC schools.
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*had that last possession
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I was there in 2003, when we lost 17-10. We were both ranked in the top 10 at the time, I believe. THAT was one hell of a game.
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Billy Bennett doesn’t miss 3 field goals. Nick Saban doesn’t get that SEC championship or national title. We play Ole Miss in Atlanta at 10–1.
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Loudest game I’ve ever been to. We sat right down on the field (Row 2, I believe). The sound was deafening.
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Agreed. I was in the stadium for that one, too. The loudest, most violent, football game I’ve ever been to in my life. My ears were still ringing that evening.
The post-game walk from the stadium back to the tailgate was like the Bataan Death March. So much suffering.
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Oh… and I was in Row 5. Could barely see over our bench. Good times.
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As we were walking out of that game, an LSU fan (they were all quite nice) said, quite respectfully, “Oh, we’ll see y’all again in Atlanta.” And he was right. That game … I’ll never forget the first matchup in Baton Rouge, but I’ve blocked the Atlanta game out of my mind.
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I was there as well, sitting in the LSU players’ family section. Our red and black got looked at REAL funny…
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Absolutely. Sanford is definitely better on the eyes. And Athens is better than Auburn, Tuscaloosa or Baton Rouge. Kentucky’s stadium is beautiful.
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I’ve been to an Iron Bowl in Tuscaloosa. It wasn’t overwhelming to me. It isn’t close to being as loud as the WLOCP.
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Really? I’ve been to an Auburn-LSU game on the plains, and that was one of the loudest games I’ve ever been to. I don’t think the WLOCP even comes close.
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I’ve never been to AU/LSU in Auburn, so I can’t speak to that. But the Iron Bowl in Tuscaloosa wasn’t near as loud as a good WLOCP. I would add that it’s probably due to the fact that the Iron Bowl is now a home and home. The WLOCP has split tickets.
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Maybe it’s just the first quarter of the WLOCP. When everyone still has there voice.
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Speaking as an “old” guy, there was nothing more fun than to be the villain at Clemson, So Car, LSU or Auburn. Sanford was always great but a loud, rowdy road game was equally awesome. The only intimidation was if the fools at the Atl trade school were allowed to throw their liquor bottles at us on the sidelines. And, yes, it did happen – i have a gash in the back of my helmet.
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The Clemson/Georgia series was a blood bath back in the early 80’s. Nationally and regionally, best rivalry/games going on at the time imo. A great period for both teams.
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Loudest game I ever been to involved Georgia, but not in Athens. It was the 2001 Georgia/Tennessee game in Knoxville. With less than a minute left in the game, Travis Stephens takes a screen pass (I believe) to the house for about 60 yards to take the lead.
That place was so damn loud, you could not even talk to the person next to you…they could not hear you. The entire stadium was shaking, I imagine the ground was too. I never thought loud could ever get that loud….amazing.
The Dawgs march back down the field and Greene hits Verron Haynes with less than 10 seconds to go for a TD…the infamous “hobnail boot” game. You could then hear a pin drop. Never been to a game that was that loud and that quiet all in one day…..it was a beautiful thing.
I believe this was about the time we had won 2 in a row, after seeing them winning like 9 straight. Lived in Nashville at the time, the offseason and season was brutal during their win streak. Still hate those bastids, more than any.
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I wasn’t there so take this with a large grain of salt, but that 2012 Sakerlina game in Columbia was the loudest/most intimidating setting I’ve ever perceived UGA play in. If Bacarri comes up with that long pick on SoCar’s first possession and takes the crowd out of it, who knows what happens but after that long completion it was obvious that UGA was shell-shocked and the fighting chickens smelled blood to the tune of 21 points in the first 10 minutes.
When playing at Williams Bryce, in addition to the noise its got to be a little unnerving that there is a distinct possibility that the stadium might actually collapse when the crowd gets rowdy.
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The Barn is loud because they cheat – piping in artificial sound through their PA System – which comes as no surprise as they cheat at everything.
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well, that’s cause they took their hoses away from them….they gotta play/cheat with something.
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One of three stadiums in the SEC that I have never been to. Watched it on the tube though, it sure seemed loud.
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Da’Ron Payne says Georgia. His only trip to Athens was the 2015 38-10 asphixiation in the rain. He’s either trolling, or he means the National Championship game in Atlanta for some reason.
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I wondered about that, too.
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Go look at Sanford, then make the drive to Clemson and see that stadium and try telling me Sanford can get as loud as that place. Same goes for LSU, AU, etc. Unless they totally close the stadium in, Sanford will always be at a disadvantage, not to mention that Sanford is more of an outward bowl than a straight up erector set which probably should require seatbelts in the upper deck.
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