COLUMBIA, S.C. — Thousands of die hard fans came out to see the University of South Carolina take on University of Florida's football team Saturday, despite rainy conditions from post-Tropical Storm Nestor.
"We don't care about the rain, Gators can swim," Chuck Monroe shouted in support of Florida's team.
He joined hundreds tailgating the game from outside Williams-Brice Stadium as the rain poured down, on and off, onto their pop-up shelters.
"Look, gators eat chickens for lunch, that's all I got to say," he added. "Go Gators!"
A block away from Monroe's tailgating area was Michael Orr's.
"We're expecting the rain and we're expecting a victory," Orr said. "We don't care, we beat Georgia last week, we're gonna beat Florida this week; we got it."
South Carolina and Florida battled for most of three quarters, but the Gators had a fast finish to close the game with a 38-27 victory over the Gamecocks.
Despite the loss, South Carolina fans say they will continue to support their team.
"Ain't nothing perfection about (South Carolina), and I get it, but guess what, ain't nothing perfection about me either. We going to support them day in and day out, because that's who we believe in," Tony Wilson said.
Florida is off next week before facing No. 10 Georgia in its annual rivalry game in Jacksonville, Florida, on Nov. 2.
South Carolina heads to Tennessee on Saturday.
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