The front row of Autzen Stadium’s student section is hallowed ground in the world of student fans.  It’s the territory of some of the most dedicated (read: craziest) fans in the country. And because Autzen’s student section is all first-come first-serve, those students must earn their place at the front each week.
It’s an equally simple and chaotic process. Gates to the stadium open three hours before kickoff, but the students who inhabit the front of section eight routinely arrive at Autzen six hours before kickoff and sometimes spend the night before the game scattered in front of the south gate.
When the stadium gates do open, students shuffle to a holding area at the top of the seating bowl until the seats open approximately 90 minutes before kickoff. At that point, it’s a mad dash of students taking stairs two and three at a time, cutting diagonally across rows of seats down to field level.
Put bluntly, getting a front row seat is easy — if you’re crazy enough.