The Daily Emerald is providing live coverage of students attending ESPN’s College GameDay broadcast for University of Oregon football versus The Ohio State University, prior to the live show Saturday morning at 6 a.m. PST.
Updated 11:45 p.m.
Approximately 300 Duck fans and a few Buckeye fans are gathered on the Memorial Quad.
Cheythan Winters, sophomore, arrived on the Memorial Quad at 4:30 p.m., over 13 hours before the broadcast is set to begin.
“It’s the biggest game in Oregon history, especially in Eugene. This never happens, especially on the West Coast…it’s a once in a college career thing,” Winters said.
Winters is hoping to get picked for Pat McAfee’s Kicking Contest and win up to $100,000.
The contest is for early arriving fans who have a chance to attempt a 33-yard field goal during the live broadcast for the opportunity to win up to $100,000 of McAfee’s personal money.
Winters is planning on staying up until “maybe Sunday early morning” without any energy drinks or cups of coffee.
Marcus Ludes, sophomore, who arrived at 4:45 p.m., said this game is “really important for the Ducks.”
“I think they need to establish themselves in the Big Ten,” Ludes said.
Alex Ochoa, sophomore, is attending his first GameDay with friends. Ochoa arrived at the Memorial Quad at 8 p.m., but admitted he would have arrived sooner if he didn’t have to work.
“It’s lit. You know, it’s going to be fun. [We will] see what happens. It’s going to be a long day ahead of us, but we’re gonna get there, and we’re gonna have some fun,” Ochoa said.
Ben Weisman, sophomore, is also attending his first GameDay.
“A couple of my buddies were here two years ago for UCLA and they told me all about it. My older brother’s been hyping this up and I’m super excited to be here and I can’t wait to see everyone’s faces when Pat McAfee chooses Oregon over Ohio State,” Weisman said.
Weisman offered his predictions on how the game will go.
“I think Oregon’s gonna trail in the first and then we’re gonna get what we need to get done in the second half,” Weisman said.
Updated 10:30 p.m.
With the highest-ranked football game in Autzen Stadium history set to kick off in less than 24 hours, hundreds of students have gathered on the Memorial Quad at the University of Oregon.
The top-three matchup between Oregon and Ohio State has brought ESPN’s famous College GameDay show to Eugene.
Stay tuned to the Emerald on social media and at dailyemerald.com for live coverage throughout the night.
The following staff members contributed to this reporting: Jasmine Saboorian, Campus News Editor; Ysabella Sosa, Campus News Associate Editor; Tarek Anthony, Investigations Editor; Angelina Handris, Corey Hoffman, and Sasha Love, Campus News Reporters; Stephanie Hensley, City News Reporter; and Saj Sundaram, Photographer.