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Campus Life

Playing Defense Against Heat

NC State students get pumped up for the Pack before the WCU football game.

After last year’s Labor Day weekend opener against Louisiana Tech got the Dave Doeren era off to a hot and muggy start, the NC State athletics department announced a set of heat precautions for fans, staff, students and faculty attending this year’s first game of the season.

Kickoff is set at 12:30 p.m. for Saturday’s opener against Georgia Southern at Carter-Finley Stadium. Like last year, when the Pack scored a 40-14 victory over Louisiana Tech, the summer heat could have an impact on attendance for the game and for those who choose to leave the stadium midway through the contest to return to the parking lots.

While fans cannot bring open or unsealed bottles into the stadium, there will be two hydration stations set up in the stadium parking lots and one inside the stadium on the southeast concourse by Gate 6.

There will also be eight stations giving away ice around the concourse, as well as four misting tents. Two misting tents will be located under the scoreboard in the north end zone concourse and two in the south end zone concourse.

Rex Healthcare will be located by gates 4 and 8 and inside the stadium at the north end concourse and roaming teams of first responders and emergency services will provide care where needed.

The Wolfpack Club will distribute rally towels that can double as cooling clothes to the first 20,000 fans through the gates.

The athletics department also suggest fans planning to attend the game begin their hydration for Saturday’s game on Friday night and continue to drink water prior to and during Saturday’s game.

Wolfpack Club Day

Saturday’s game is designated as Wolfpack Club Day, celebrating the contributions of the NC State Student Aid Association, which provides scholarships, facilities and enhancements to Wolfpack athletics. The organization, which boasts more than 20,000 members, will handle the fundraising for the $14 million indoor practice facility that is now under construction in the Carter-Finley parking lots near the Dail Practice Fields.

Finally, the athletics department will honor the jersey of former All-America defensive lineman Mario Williams, now a star defender for the Buffalo Bills, at Saturday’s game.