NEW ORLEANS — Aside from the pregame Mardi Gras-style miniparade that rolled through the middle of campus — one that featured cheerleaders on floats tossing green beads to the assembled crowd — the scene in and around Tulane’s Yulman Stadium on Sept. 6 was one not unlike many others at college football games that day.

Outside the stadium, tailgaters camped out, grilling meat and drinking beer, while a band performed in the campus quad. Fans and scalpers bought and sold tickets on nearby streets.

People like Patrick Foran, the director of graduate admissions at Tulane’s A. B. Freeman School of Business, threw parties at their homes near campus. Foran even shuttled partygoers from his home to the stadium in a pedicab, which he said he recently purchased for social rides.

Inside the stadium, a local celebrity — in this case the actor Bryan Batt, best known for his portrayal of Salvatore Romano on “Mad Men” — performed the national anthem shortly after a parachutist swooped down from the sky, an American flag flapping furiously in his wake. A vibrant, raucous student section fostered a hostile environment for the opposing team, Georgia Tech.