The clock changes from 0:00 to 15:00 and counts down as the players run down the field and the kicker boots the football high in the air. The game begins.
Fans focus on the game, but the people who make sure it goes flawlessly do not participate in this luxury — they have been focused on the logistics for the past week.
The week before the game, people in the Athletics Department are already working on making sure the game will run without a hitch.
The stadium staff makes sure the field is ready the week before the game. According to Dick Christy, assistant athletics director, the weather is a factor in whether the field gets painted for a game. He said the week of the Appalachian State game — Sept. 2 — the words in the end zone weren’t red because it had been raining that week.
The week before each game, Chris Austin, the director of marketing, writes a script for the football game, according to Christy. He said they want to make sure the fans are entertained throughout the game.
“We want to fill every second that isn’t football,” Christy said.
Christy said Austin works all week on the script, but he said it rarely goes as planned. When something strays from the original script, Austin said he has to adjust the script to make everything else fit.
Two days before the game, the operational team checks the players’ uniforms to make sure everything is clean, and also makes sure the players’ helmets have the right stickers.
Once game day arrives, activities at Carter-Finley Stadium pick up as everyone makes sure the stadium is ready for the game.
According to Christy, four to six hours before kickoff, the media can arrive at the stadium. Around the same time, Christy said he arrives at the stadium to prepare for the game.
The operational team will have a meeting about three to four hours before kickoff to make sure everything is properly planned and there aren’t any problems with anything, according to Christy.
Event Staff has a meeting, similar to the one the operational team had, around two to three hours before the game. According to Christy, the Event Staff meets to clear up who will be where and when to make sure they have enough security throughout the day’s events.
Two and a half hours before kickoff, the team will walk through the fans before entering the Murphy Center. The bus driving the football team is escorted down Trinity Road by police cars. Christy said the team does this to pump up the crowd and get the fans excited.
“Two hours before the game, everything gets put in motion,” Christy said.
At this time, people who have tickets to Vaughn Towers can enter the stadium. According to Christy between two hours and an hour and a half before kickoff is when the stadium is double checked and everyone makes sure everything is ready to go. At this time, he said vendors check prices, the bathrooms are checked and all motor vehicles must be cleared from the concourse.
An hour and 45 minutes before kickoff is “crunch time,” according to Christy. At this time, people start to line up at the gates. Christy said about 10 to 15 percent of the students will be at the student gates at this time to make sure they have the best seats.
An hour and a half before kickoff, the gates are opened to the public.
Until about 35 to 45 minutes before kickoff, Christy said the two football teams warm up and practice. And, on a usual game day, the introduction video begins to play seven minutes before kickoff.
In the seven minutes, the teams run on the field and the national anthem is sung, among other things. After that, the football game begins and the people who put it on hope everything goes as planned — or as close to it as possible.
