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SALT LAKE CITY -- There is a huge party going on at The University of Utah. Thousands of Ute fans are spending the night so they can get an early start Saturday morning.
That's when the undefeated and third-ranked Horned Frogs of TCU take on undefeated and fifth-ranked Utah. It's one of the biggest games ever played in the state.
The ESPN College GameDay set is up, and Ute fans were out early Friday morning to cheer on their football team.
There is a measure of revenge Ute fans are hoping to exact. The Horned Frogs thumped Utah, 55-28 in Fort Worth last year. GameDay was also on site for that contest. But two-thirds of the way through the season, with an undefeated team, Ute fans do not lack confidence.
Seven additional direct TRAX trains will run to Rice-Eccles Stadium from Sandy departing at:
- 10:55 a.m.
- 11:15 a.m.
- 11:35 a.m.
- 11:55 a.m.
- 12:15 p.m.
- 12:35 p.m.
- 12:55 p.m.
FrontRunner will also run an extra train departing Ogden Station at 11:46 a.m. In addition, FrontRunner will have an extra train from Salt Lake Central Station northbound departing one hour after the conclusion of the game. These trains are in addition to the regular Saturday FrontRunner service, which runs once per hour.Bus
UTA will run a direct bus shuttle between Stadium Station and Gallivan Plaza to accommodate additional riders, before and after the game. The buses will display "TRAX Shuttle" in the header. The bus shuttle will begin operation at approximately 12 noon and will also run for one hour following the conclusion of the game.
"Welcome back Ross Evans. I hope you miss a couple more field goals," MUSS president T.J. McMullin said.
The atmosphere surrounding the game has permeated the campus.
"Everybody's going crazy on campus. They're fired up and they're ready to get going," McMullin said. "They're ready for Saturday, and I don't think anybody has really paid too much attention in class. It's kind of been detrimental to the studies of a lot of university students, but we're focused on what's most important right now -- and that's beating TCU."
By Friday afternoon, a bird's-eye view of Guardsman Pass revealed rows and rows of campers decked out in Utah red, owned by Ute fanatics.
"This year is the biggest, and this game is the biggest," Ute fan brad Gunnell said Friday.
"We're going to beat TCU, and that's the way it is!" Ute fan Linda Montano said.
"Utah by 75," Ute fan Greg Waters said. "That's going to be the temperature and the score!"
The game is sold out, with fans scrambling to get tickets.
University of Utah alumni Creed Anderson was planning to go until a family tragedy. His mom, 84-year-old Donna Anderson, passed away of cancer and the funeral is Saturday.
Instead, Anderson took his prime Crimson Club tickets and turned them into a tribute to his mom.
"She was a good woman, a great woman," he said, "one who liked to give service and was kind."
Anderson posted an ad on ksl.com and on Facebook saying he'd give them away to the person who committed the best act of service for another.
In four hours, Anderson had more than 50 stories: one nominating a woman who baked pies for the doctors and other patients at her father's hospital, another from a single mom nominating the neighbor who fixed her heat. Almost all ended saying no matter if they get the tickets, they're happy for the reminder of the importance of service.
"No better way to honor my mom's memory than by doing this. This is what she would have wanted," Anderson said.
Meanwhile, fans hoping to attend GameDay are being asked to show up at 6 a.m. Saturday for the broadcast open at 7 a.m. Parking is available in the Huntsman and Merrill Engineering lots.
This is the third GameDay stop in Utah. The first was for the BYU-Utah tilt in 2004. The second was last year in Provo for the TCU-BYU contest.
The MUSS is hoping at least 10,000 fans show up for GameDay. The broadcast's record is 18,000, set at Missouri earlier this season.
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*Story compiled with contributions from Sarah Dallof and [
View ESPN Game Day in a larger map/small>](<mailto:aadams@ksl.com</aAndrew Adams.
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