KNOXVILLE — The University of Tennessee, Knoxville, welcomes football fans and alumni to campus Saturday for Homecoming.
Kickoff for the Volunteers’ game against the Rebels of the University of Mississippi is scheduled for 12:11 p.m. ET. Gates open at 10 a.m. CBS Sports will televise the game.
Game Day Activities
The traditional Vol Walk will start on Volunteer Boulevard, just east of the intersection with Lake Loudoun Boulevard. The walk will begin at 9:45 a.m. and will proceed down Volunteer Boulevard, past the Torchbearer statue, then down Peyton Manning Pass, then left onto Phillip Fulmer Way.
The band will begin its march to the stadium at 10:20 a.m. at the intersection of Pat Head Summitt Street and Volunteer Boulevard and will proceed down Volunteer Boulevard, past the Torchbearer statue, then right on Andy Holt Avenue, then right onto Phillip Fulmer Way. The band will briefly pause in front of the new amphitheater for its traditional salute to The Hill, then continue to the stadium.
Fans can attend the College of Arts and Sciences’ Pregame Faculty Showcase, now in its 21st year. Held two hours before each home game kickoff in the University Center Ballroom, the showcase is a free 30-minute presentation by a UT faculty member, followed by a 15-minute question-and-answer session. This week, Soren Sorensen, professor and head of the department of physics and astronomy, will present a talk titled “Nature’s Legos: The Building Blocks of the Universe.”
The Volunteer Village commercial display area will be open on the lawn of the Humanities and Social Sciences Building from 8:30 a.m. to 11:45 a.m. Also on display at Volunteer Village this season is the UT Zero Energy House prototype, created by a team of UT Knoxville faculty and students to demonstrate environmentally sustainable design.
To commemorate Veterans Day, a fly-over of Neyland Stadium will be conducted by a military aircraft from the 134th Air Refueling Wing, stationed at the McGhee Tyson Air National Guard Base adjacent to the Knoxville airport. The aircraft, a KC-135 in-flight refueler, will fly over the stadium at the end of the national anthem prior to the start of the game. The crew members are Lt. Col. Gary Smith, Capt. Justin Wilson and Senior Master Sgt. Michael Buckner.
Homecoming Events
Homecoming will be celebrated across campus, with many colleges and academic departments hosting gatherings for their alumni and student organizations engaging in relays and challenges that highlight UT spirit.
A statue of legendary Vols coach Gen. Robert Neyland will be dedicated at 2:30 p.m. Friday near stadium gates 16 and 17. A section of Phillip Fulmer Way will be closed during the event.
At 4 p.m. Friday, Grand Marshal and UT System President-elect Joe DiPietro will lead the campus parade from the Rock, at the corner of Volunteer Boulevard and Pat Head Summitt Street, east on Volunteer toward Neyland Stadium. DiPietro will assume the duties of president on Jan. 1, 2011.
Party in the Park, a large tailgate, will be held in Circle Park starting at 9 a.m. Saturday. Members of the pep band and cheerleading squad will be on hand as fans enjoy music, door prizes, face painting and games for kids. The tailgate is free and open to the public. Attendees can even take part in helping eat the world’s largest MoonPie, to be cut at 10:45 a.m.
For more information on Homecoming events, visit https://news.utk.edu/2010/11/08/homecoming-2010/.
Stadium Security
This season, UT Athletics has introduced a fan text messaging system. The system allows fans to request immediate assistance from event management and security personnel through a text message.
From a personal cell phone, fans can text the location and details pertaining to an incident, including the section, row and seat number, to 69050. The fan then will receive acknowledgement of the message, and stadium staff, security or emergency personnel will be alerted and respond to the site. Standard text messaging rates will apply, based on the provider.
UT reminds visitors that all items, including purses, are subject to search at the gates. Certain items remain prohibited inside the stadium, and those items cannot be stored at any stadium gate.
Prohibited items include the following:
- alcoholic beverages, cans, bottles or coolers
- radios without headphones
- open umbrellas
- video cameras
- stadium seats with arms
- large bags or parcels, including backpacks and large purses
- weapons of any kind, including pocketknives
Fans are allowed to bring the following items inside the stadium:
- cushions and seats without arms
- diaper bags that accompany infants
- small cameras, pagers, cell phones and binoculars
Under state law, no smoking will be allowed anywhere inside the gates of Neyland Stadium. No one inside the gates will be allowed to leave and then be re-admitted.
A no-fly zone extends over the stadium from one hour before the game until one hour after it ends, prohibiting flights within a three-nautical-mile radius and lower than 3,000-feet altitude, except as authorized by air traffic control.
Solicitation near stadium gates and along Phillip Fulmer Way is prohibited.
Only fans with permits can park on campus. UT encourages fans to use shuttle buses from the university’s Kingston Pike building, the Knoxville Civic Coliseum, the Old City and Market Square areas of downtown Knoxville and Farragut High School in West Knoxville. Limited public handicapped parking spaces and handicapped shuttle service to the stadium are available on the UT Agriculture Campus, off Neyland Drive.
Many area hotels also offer shuttle service to the game. Check with your hotel’s management for details.
For those driving on campus, Peyton Manning Pass, Middle and Lower Drives, Estabrook Drive and Phillip Fulmer Way from Middle Drive to Tee Martin Drive will be closed 30 minutes before kickoff. Directional parking will be used in Area 9 and Lots 4, 5A and 5B.
For more information on game day parking, including a map of campus parking areas, visit http://web.utk.edu/~pso/athletic.php.
Select individual game tickets are available at http://www.uttix.com.
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C O N T A C T :
Jeff Maples (865-974-3061, maples@utk.edu)
Brian Browning (865-974-3061, brian-browning@utk.edu)
Charles Primm (865-974-5180, charles.primm@tennessee.edu)