Students Wait Hours, Nab All Tickets

But she didn't expect to give out all the tickets -- more than 9,000 -- in less than eight hours.

"I was surprised to hear they sold out the first day," Willett said. "We're very pleased."

Clint Gwaltney, director of ticket operations, said it was the first time in a few years that all tickets for a distribution were given out the first day.

Officials said that during the first four hours the lines swelled to nearly 1,000 students but crowds remained in the lower hundreds for the rest of the day.

The first students began lining up before 6 a.m., and about 150 people were still in line when tickets ran out at 3:50 p.m., Gwaltney said.

Distribution officials began giving out tickets promptly at 8 a.m., but for many students deep in the line it was hours before they got their tickets.

"We've waited here for almost two hours now," said senior Lance Johnson, who estimated he was about halfway to the office.

UNC football head coach John Bunting made an appearance at about 10 a.m., greeting students and getting them pumped up about the Tar Heels' chances for victory.

The game against Texas is one of the most publicized of the season, with UNC coming off a motivational win against Syracuse on Saturday.

Also, the game will bring back former UNC head coach Mac Brown, who was the architect of the team's mid-1990s success. In Brown's last year, the Tar Heels finished No. 6 in the nation.

Last year senior Virat Mehta waited two hours in line for tickets to the East Carolina football game. But he said the crowds Tuesday were twice as big.

"This is definitely the worst I've seen distribution," he said.

One difference from the ECU game, Mehta noted, was the number of pure UNC fans getting tickets.

"Last year people were getting tickets for their friends (from ECU)," he said, adding that not many people will be coming up from Texas.

"The crowd will be all Carolina."

The University Editor can be reached at udesk@unc.edu.