CAA, Fever expect big student turnout for Thursday's game

UNC's rivalry with Duke is debatably one of the most exciting aspects of being a Tar Heel. 

Thursday will be yet another meeting of the schools, as the two football teams square off at Duke's Wallace Wade Stadium at 7:45 p.m. 

But as with all away games, the questions of ticket availability and transportation are on students' minds. Carolina Fever and the Carolina Athletic Association will be helping some students with that. 

"We want as much Carolina blue there as possible," said Camden Freeman, one of Carolina Fever's co-chairs.

With the game taking place at Duke, UNC students seeking to support the team have to find a way to the stadium. 

"We have about 60 tickets for our top members," Freeman said.

Freeman said there will be a car caravan for members, but no official fan bus provided by Fever. 

The Carolina Athletic Association has 50 tickets for sale for students, each of which includes transportation on a bus.

"We did a Clemson game earlier and tickets sold out before we even started selling them so we decided to do the Duke game this week,” said Jessie Nerkowski, president of the CAA.

The organization has been selling tickets in the Union due to the weather this week, and will be in the Pit Thursday from 10 a.m. until tickets sell out. Nerkowski said the CAA has been planning this opportunity for students since the summer.

She said they had about 20 tickets left. 

“This is all out of our budget because we have a pretty large budget to work with every year,” Nerkowski said. “We pay for the bus, and tickets are half price. Unfortunately, we can't fund all of it, but it's all through our budget that we're doing."

For students who have yet to buy tickets, they are still available through the ticket office for $60. Both Nerkowki and Freeman expect a large Carolina crowd.

“It’s a pretty big rivalry, so there’s always a good turnout,” Freeman said.

Freshman Jake Barton purchased his ticket with the CAA and is anxiously anticipating the game.

“UNC versus Duke is arguably the greatest college sports rivalry ever,” Barton said. “As a freshman, having my first chance to be a part of the rivalry, even if it is just traveling down the road to watch us play football against them, it was an opportunity I've been looking forward to since I was little kid watching UNC-Duke games on TV and couldn't pass it up."

Students who did not purchase their tickets through the CAA like sophomore Alexis White have found other ways of getting to the game.

“I’m driving,” said White. “It’s my first Duke-Carolina football game, so I’m just excited to experience it. And because it’s at Duke, if we beat them there it’d be pretty awesome.”

university@dailytarheel.com