Despite exhaustion, heat and a lengthy waiting game, students are eager to see how the football team will perform on Saturday. | Thom Dwyer/The Cougar

The Cougars’ game against the University of Oklahoma Sooners is upon us.

With anticipation at an all-time high, students had to make a substantial effort to secure tickets to the season’s opening game at Cage Rage held at the TDECU Stadium.

“I woke up roughly around 4 a.m. to prepare and got on campus around 6:30 a.m.,” Louis Rauda, a sports management sophomore, said. “The experience waiting in line was great but exhausting, but when you want something badly, you fight through the hours and pain.”

This year’s Cage Rage had students more ecstatic than ever because the rival in the AdvoCare Texas Kickoff is the third-seeded University of Oklahoma Sooners. Athletics secured 5,000 reserved student tickets at NRG Stadium, 1,000 of which were lower-level tickets that had students waking up at dawn to be the first in line.

Throughout the day, the line of eager students accumulated around the stadium and down the block toward the parking garage. Many waited in line for hours on one of the year’s most humid days in Houston.

“I got to the stadium at noon and it was actually super-hot and I was exhausted,” Angelica Duong, a mathematics freshman, said. “At first the waiting was not that bad because everyone was just blasting music and interacting with each other, but toward the last hour the line started moving closer toward the gates, and everyone started pushing and everything just got really aggressive.”

Many students echoed Duong’s sentiment and added that little was done to prevent students from jumping ahead in line.

From incoming freshmen to returning seniors, all came out to participate and dive into the festivities. With this being the first time that the season opener has been held at NRG Stadium against a notable opponent, many that camped out shared different opinions on their experiences.

“This is my last year at UH, and rushing through the stadium gates felt like everyone was charging the field after the team won a game,” George Culpepper, a psychology senior, said . “A lot of people jumped the gates and got ahead of me and overall it was just very crowded and hectic.”

For some, this was the first time they have been a part of the commotion.

Not only ticket vouchers were distributed, but tours of the team’s newly renovated locker room were also offered to fans in attendance. The school spent over $1 million on the new locker room, and they were eager to show it off.

“Waiting in line was really long and tiring,”  Reagan Neider, a communication freshman, said. “It was definitely worth the wait when I was finally able to enter the gates and see the UH locker room and experience being on the field with all of the fun activities.”

Big 12 Conference implications could potentially be on the line when the Cougars take the field on Saturday and fans are taking notice. Arguably a de facto tryout for the conference, the fans are ready to see if the team can have a loss-free season.

“UH vs. OU is going to be an incredible game because of last year,” William Hopkins, an accounting senior, said. “I think we’ve got an amazing chance to have an awesome game and I think that everyone’s starting to recognize that and trying to be a part of the experience.”

sports@thedailycougar.com

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“Students brave heat for tickets to see 2016 Cougars pounce” was originally posted on The Daily Cougar