While I’ve been to 3 SECCGs, several UGA games in Jax and neutral site games in Tampa and Orlando, Vandy is the only road SEC game I’ve been to - in 2002. I was working on a Masters degree in TN and a Gator buddy offered me a ticket.
Had a great time with my friend but it was a surreal, depressing atmosphere. It was a noon EST kickoff, which meant 11am local time. There was zero interest or energy on campus about the game. Few tailgates scattered around, one restaurant/bar open that was packed but nothing else. Zero indication a game was on that day.
The stadium was battleship gray - like a ship for the Commodore, get it? Dull. The sky was gray, as it is there from October through April. There were 6,000 Gator fans tucked in one corner and about 3,000 Vanderbilt fans scattered around the rest of the stadium. Had it been a ship it would have tipped over.
With so few fans, concessions were paltry and bad. I love a hot pretzel at a game. Theirs was cold and hard.
The game was dull despite being Grossman v. Jay Cutler. The Gators won 21-17 but looked listless.