SALT LAKE CITY — All eyes will be on Utah this Saturday for the Fox Sports Big Noon kickoff show before the Utes tangle with Texas Tech.
And while security is always top of mind for officials at the U, there may be a bit more emphasis, considering it’ll be a little more than a week after the tragic event at Utah Valley University.
The stage is literally being set up for the Fox pregame show Saturday, the first time the Big Noon Kickoff Crew will be in Salt Lake, and that includes former Utah head coach Urban Meyer.
The Campus Police Chief says security will be in place, but not oppressive.
A semi-truck full of gear is being set up to help entertain the field full of fans, along with millions watching on TV, during the Fox Sports Big Noon Kickoff show on Saturday.
But with the murder of Charlie Kirk down at UVU just last week, Tyler Vonderahe says some UofU students might be thinking a little more about security.
“Honestly I always feel pretty safe here, campus police usually always having people around. But I can understand how some people might feel that way.”
Student James Roberts will be attending the game and is confident that he will be safe.
“I mean security is on my mind, it’s very noticeable that there is a strong presence of security at every Utah home game. But my safety is not something I am super concerned about, I think all the campus people do a great job.”
“If you add layers of security, that’s key.
That is University of Utah public safety Chief Keith Squires.
As former commissioner of the Utah Department of Public Safety, his experience goes back decades and includes security operations for the 2002 Winter Games.
Chief Squires says his team will be ready.
“So by the time it’s game day, we have the resources here, the personnel, they’ve been trained, they know where to be staged and they know what to do. So it’ll be much of what we handle on a normal game day.”
Chief Squires says there’s always that potential of other threats that they have to monitor for and try to identify and then minimize the chances for somebody to try to do harm.
“But you still don’t want to have it be so oppressing that people feel uncomfortable. So it’s a matter of balancing that and really doing it in a smart, strategic way so you can minimize those risks.”
James Roberts agrees.
“And I expect things to go as planned this Saturday.”
“My focus is all on the game and being around there and seeing my friends and just having a great time there.”
Just a few things for those planning on coming up here Saturday morning; the Fieldhouse will be open before dawn in case folks are chilly or need to use the restroom.
And a reminder that kickoff is 10 AM so a lot earlier than normal.
