The Duck entered the “Pat McAfee’s Kicking Contest” area, prepared his motorcycle for a lap and took photos with enthusiastic fans.

Pat McAfee started a new rendition of ‘Shout’.

They chose a lottery winner for the competition and named ticket number 0848 as the winner.

The Duck revved his motorcycle and was greeted with shouts of excitement.

Hundreds of signs and flags, some the size of a mini refrigerator, flew above the sea of ​​football fans. A sign to the right of the stage read: “Today is my birthday.”

Callie Neet was the birthday girl who celebrated her 12th birthday on ‘GameDay’. She said her plans for the day included seeing the Ducks win.

Neet said it was great to be there. Both she and her parents are big Ducks fans.

“It’s amazing,” Neet said. “Go to ‘GameDay’ and go Ducks!”

Parents Kevin and Kim Bayne and their son Spencer Bayne are longtime Ducks fans, but they attended their first-ever “GameDay” on Saturday morning.

Spencer said his parents took him to his first Ducks game when he was one; now he’s 31. Kim said they’ve been season ticket holders for years, but they used to live a 12-hour drive away. They’ve been living in Eugene for about a year now and finally had the chance to attend “GameDay.”

The family arrived at 6am. Kevin and Kim said they were both surprised to see everyone come out so early with a lot of energy.

“It definitely lives up to the hype I’ve been building and watching since I was a kid,” Spencer said.

Although they were disappointed not to see their favorite host, Lee Corso, on the panel – he has been ill but is expected to return to the show soon – Spencer said he hoped someone else would take on the long-time mascot head of The Duck to set up. “GameDay” tradition.

Oregon football players weigh in on the game against Ohio State

Oregon Football’s Dillon Gabriel, Jeffrey Bassa and Jabbar Muhammad weigh in on the Ducks’ upcoming top-3 matchup against Ohio State.

The Ducks (5-0, 2-0 Big Ten) will play the Buckeyes (5-0, 2-0 Big Ten) in the first-ever top-3 matchup in Autzen, with kickoff at 4:30 p.m.

For those who can’t get tickets, there are still plenty of ways to watch the Oregon vs. Ohio State to watch. Check out our story here for all the details, including a list of places to watch, time, TV schedule and streaming information.

Justin Jackson and his 9-year-old daughter, Adalynn, were out bright and early. He said they arrived in Autzen at 3 a.m. and expected a large crowd. They were able to sneak into the stadium where they met host Pat McAfee, who brought them to the field and had them appear on his podcast.

“It was great,” Jackson said.

Jackson said he has been to every “GameDay” since 2000, but this was the first time he brought Adalynn. The sign she made in the car early today read, “This is my first GameDay.” Jackson carried Adalynn on his shoulders so she could get a good view.

“My dad was a custodian at UO for 30 years, so every year growing up, that was our thing,” Jackson said. “Now that he has passed away, it is our business.”

There were cheers around the quad as the show started. The Duck jumped into the crowd and surfed through the hands of fans wearing “GameDay” helmets.

ESPN’s Pat McAfee began singing “Shout” with the crowd, receiving echoes of “Hey!” McAfee said this is his second time attending UO for “GameDay.”

Saturday’s game sees the No. 3 Ducks play the No. 2 Buckeyes, making it the biggest game in Autzen Stadium history in terms of rankings.

But this isn’t the first time the ‘GameDay’ crew has chosen Eugene for their game of the week.

The UO campus and Ducks fans have featured prominently in some memorable moments of ESPN’s premier college football show over the years. For a look back at some of the show’s previous trips to Eugene, see our “Looking Back” gallery.

The Duck has just made his grand entrance in a yellow convertible Corvette, wearing a specially designed tracksuit. The audience welcomed him with loud applause.

Thousands of football fans flooded the “GameDay” set and packed in like sardines. The crowd surged toward the front of the Lillis Business Complex and the crowd’s cheers could be heard for blocks away.

As the show’s 6 a.m. start time approached, attendees began rushing to the set so as not to miss the show.

University of Oregon coaches were up early, handing out donuts and meeting fans around 4:30 a.m. as a crowd gathered by the thousands outside the set of ESPN’s “College GameDay,” donning green and waving signs.

The crowd was already loud, and coaches from the university’s other teams – volleyball, baseball, basketball and others – helped the fans stay energized all morning. Women’s basketball coach Kelly Graves was among those passing out donuts.

The Ducks marching band showed up shortly after 5 a.m. and revved up the crowd even further.

The “College GameDay” giant of gates, stages and lighting overtook about half of the Memorial Quad lawn. Several semi-trucks were parked on Kincaid Street, south of 13th Ave. The campus was lively, with at least 200 Ducks lining up to enter the pit and another 100 milling around the quad. Ducks playfully chased Buckeyes fans as they walked by.

At 12.30 pm on Friday, the first fans were already waiting at the front of the set, which was set up on Thursday.

Isaac Michaels and Zack Salazar, both seniors at UO, were the first in line. The pair brought their chairs, plates and blankets and squatted for a long time. Michaels said his goal was to be one of the first in line.

“I wanted a chance to win a lottery ticket for the field goal,” Michaels said, referring to Pat McAfee’s Kicking Contest, which gives the lottery winner the chance to win $80,000 if he makes a field goal. “That was the most important thing for me. It’s also cool to be at the front of the line.”

He added that he looked forward to McAfee igniting the crowd. Salazar said he was excited to see ESPN analyst Nick Saban.

Salazar transferred to UO in early 2023 and missed the 2022 “GameDay” coming to town for the Oregon vs. UCLA. He said it motivated him to come out and get the full experience in his senior year of college.

“It’s a unique opportunity you get here,” Salazar said. “It’s just a really fun experience just to be here and meet new people.”

Michaels said they befriended the group right behind them in line — there were eight people in total and they arrived much earlier than anyone else — and looked out for each other when they went to the bathroom or picked up food. It is the first time for both groups to participate in “GameDay”. They planned to stay out all night and only get about an hour or two of sleep.

Further down the line, more fans waited excitedly. Students could be seen eating food they picked up from nearby restaurants and making plates in preparation for the morning show.

UO junior Destiny Valenzuela had arrived at 6:15 p.m. with her group of friends, all attending for the first time.

“We packed a lot of food and snacks. We packed some games to keep us occupied, and a speaker for music,” Valenzuela said. “We’re going to take turns napping.”

Valenzuela said that as big as the game is, she wanted to be a part of it. Currently, both Oregon and Ohio State are undefeated and respectfully ranked third and second in the country.

“For me, it’s a unique experience,” said Ben Hudson, a UO junior. “I’ll never be 20 years old again and experience ‘GameDay’. I didn’t want to miss it.”

Juniors Colleen McInerney and Alexa Haenel said their product design major will bring them to the UO Portland campus for their senior year, so this will be their last chance even if “GameDay” returns to UO next year.

Although McInerney is the only one of the four friends who will attend Saturday’s game, they still wanted to take advantage of the fandom experience through the morning program. Valenzuela said she applied for a student card but was about 6,000th on the waiting list. She plans to watch the game from home.

Miranda Cyr covers education for The Register-Guard. You can contact her at [email protected] or find her on Twitter @mirandabcyr.