BATON ROUGE - On Friday nights in the fall, you can count on the Krewe of Old School to load up its purple and gold trailer and head for LSU's campus. With COVID-19 restrictions preventing tailgating this year, that trailer is headed for a backyard.

"This is 2020, go figure," Brian Belzer said.

While the wives stayed inside, some of the krewe's core members spent Friday afternoon unpacking and setting up. As always, the first tailgate began with a prayer for the unusual season ahead.

This group made the decision months ago to follow, as much as possible, their time-honored Tiger tradition.

"We decided that if there wasn't a tailgate, we were going to have tailgating," Belzer said. "This is a tradition that's as long as LSU football is. We were not going to give up our tradition of all of us getting together, gathering together, and enjoying the camaraderie and the fine south Louisiana cooking."

The krewe set up the backyard just like their typical on-campus location - tents, fryers, speakers - nothing left behind. They're sticking to their regular routine.

"Early morning breakfast, first thing in the morning," Belzer said. "We're going to have the stereo system. We're going to have the people. We're going to have the drinks. We're going to have the great food. It's going to be very exciting."

For the five home games this year, the krewe will rotate among members' houses. They expect tomorrow's season opener to bring several dozen krewe members and guests, while still following 'phase 3' guidelines.

It's not what they hoped for, but the group plans to make the most of their home away from home, until they can return to the cathedral of college football.

"The great thing is, is where we tailgate on campus, is under the oaks in front of the Frey Computer Building and we got the big oak here, too," Belzer said. So, it's going to be almost like home."