Devin White will miss the first half of No. 4 LSU’s date with No. 1 Alabama on Nov. 3 (8 p.m. ET, CBS). The SEC confirmed as much on Tuesday, and Tigers head coach Ed Orgeron has conceded the fact.
“Discussions with the SEC made clear there is no process for appeal,” LSU senior associate athletic director Robert Munson told the New Orleans Times-Picayune. “The suspension will stand.”
Though the administration has accepted White will miss the first two quarters, the fans have not.
A GoFundMe campaign launched Monday has now surpassed its goal of $4,150 to place two “Free Devin White” billboards in the Birmingham metro areas, which holds the SEC offices. As of this writing, the campaign had amassed $6,130.
BOOM!
— Bradford (@LSUbradford) October 23, 2018
All credit goes to Smalls on @TigerDroppings. Thanks to his efforts, the #FreeDevinWhite campaign raised over $6200, as of 3pm. Excess funds will go to the LSU Vet School Equine department. That donation currently sits at close to $2,500. pic.twitter.com/EsN9YMjxrl
We’re putting up a billboard for two weeks in Birmingham, AL, the home of SEC headquarters, to let them know it’s time to #FreeDevinWhite.
A downtown Birmingham billboard will cost $2305.
An I-65 billboard will cost $1845.
We’ll fund as many billboards as possible, with any excess funding going as a donation toward the LSU School of Veterinary Medicine, in honor of Devin’s love of horses.
That’s a Geaux Tigers.
White was ejected for targeting during the fourth quarter of the Tigers’ 19-3 win over Mississippi State over a targeting call that is ticky-tack at best.
#LSU LB Devin White will miss the 1st half of the #Alabama game for this targeting penalty: 😡 pic.twitter.com/TDqZQlmFsU
— ESPN NOLA 📻 100.3 FM (@ESPNRadioNOLA) October 21, 2018
LSU’s fervor -- I read one post on Tiger Droppings on Sunday that polled whether the White suspension should be a catalyst for LSU to leave the SEC -- is indicative of how devastating to the Tigers’ chances it will be to play without White for the first half. The linebacker is easily LSU’s leading tackler with 76 stops.
Alabama’s offense averages 38.8 points per game... by halftime.