GRAPHIC BY LOGAN KIRKLAND
With what is being called the most anticipated Egg Bowl in Mississippi’s history, the University Police Department’s security plans for the Egg Bowl will be the same as they were for the Alabama game.
UPD Chief of Police Calvin Sellers said the university is expecting as many people as the stadium can hold.
“All of our games this year, except for Presbyterian, have been sell-out games, so we expect that much of a crowd,” Sellers said.
Vaught-Hemingway Stadium’s capacity is 60,580. At the Alabama game this season, the attendance reached 61, 826 people and was the fourth most attended game in the stadium’s history. It was 832 attendees short of beating the stadium’s attendance record of 62,657 at the Ole Miss vs. Alabama game in 2009. The record attendance for an Egg Bowl game at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium is 60,245 attendants in 2002.
According to Sellers, despite the influx of out-of-town fans coming to Oxford, Egg Bowl weekend will be a lot different from Alabama weekend.
“The difference being that both fans drive in for the game and drive home,” Sellers said.
Since the Thursday before the Egg Bowl is Thanksgiving, Sellers said he is not expecting heavy traffic in town or around campus until the morning of the game. The university will use the same plans for traffic that they always have, Sellers said.
According to Michael Harmon, captain of field operations for UPD, no special security plans will be used during Egg Bowl weekend. Every operation will be run just like it would be for every other game, Harmon said.
“I’ve already made contact with Mississippi State, and they’re going to send more officers with the team and the band,” Harmon said.
UPD is expecting the Egg Bowl game to be bigger than the Alabama game, Harmon said.
“I’ve been working here since 1991. I played football here, so I know about the Ole Miss-Mississippi State rivalry,” Harmon said. “Everything is magnified.”
According to Sellers, if arrests have to be made during the game, the Lafayette Count Sheriff’s Department will have a van outside of the stadium and will transfer violators to the Lafayette County Detention Center.
Sellers said he would be more worried about campus violations made if the game were to be against LSU.
“We’re all Mississippians at this game,” Sellers said.
As for the use of cowbells, Sellers said the university is not responsible for cowbells that have to be left outside of the stadium.
“Cowbells are not allowed in our stadium,” Sellers said.
According to Sellers, fans will not be allowed to leave cowbells outside the gates where a lot of fans usually leave umbrellas.
“They need to understand if they bring a cowbell to a gate, and we take that away from them, they’re not going to get it back,” Sellers said. “We’re going to throw them in the Dumpster.”
As for students who may be thinking of rushing the field, UPD will have a plan in place if that should take place.
“We’re always concerned about students storming the field. Hopefully, if that happens, we have a plan in place for students not to disrupt the field this time,” Harmon said.
