Fans react to ejections during Mizzou football games as Mizzou faces South Carolina Saturday
Alison Patton
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
The Mizzou Tigers and the South Carolina Gamecocks went head-to-head Saturday at 6 p.m. at Memorial Stadium.
The Tigers reclaimed the Mayor’s cup with a 29-20 win over the Gamecocks.
When the two played each other in 2023, 41 fans were ejected from the game, marking one of the highest totals that year, according to previous reporting.
This year, 31 fans have been ejected from a game, according to records obtained by ABC 17 News. The University of Kansas rivalry game on Sept. 6 saw the most ejections so far with 24, according to previous reporting. The top reason for ejections were alcohol related, including a minor in possession, intoxication and sneaking alcohol into the stadium.
Mizzou fan Christina Johnson said she’s all for ejections, if it’s for the right reason.
“If they’re being disruptive and terrible and mean to people, get them out,” Johnson said.
Johnson and her two kids, who graduated from the University of Missouri in 2022 tailgated before the game.
Saturday’s game marked Mizzou’s fourth home game this season, with the homecoming game set for Sept. 27 against the University of Massachusetts at 6:30 p.m.
Fans driving into Columbia for the game could see traffic on I-70 and increased highway patrol presence, according to previous reporting.
The Johnsons said they left their Kansas City home at 4 a.m. to get to their tail gating spot at 7 a.m., so they didn’t see any traffic.
A Missouri Department of Transportation press release urged drivers to leave early for the game and to expect delays while leaving the game. MoDOT is working to add an extra lane to I-70, but that means narrow lanes and reduced speeds force traffic to slow down through work zones scattered across the highway.
Madison Johnson, Christina’s daughter, said her boyfriend had to take about a 15 minute detour while on I-70 because of an accident near Odessa.
Drivers coming into Columbia should leave earlier rather than later if they want to avoid traffic jams, according to the MoDOT release.