The atmosphere inside and just around Arizona Stadium is superb. The student section — a very large one at that — is absolutely packed with red shirts.

The tailgate area behind the scoreboard was filled and festive, but it gives enough room for people to comfortably walk through. It included a decent amount of alumni participation and the band playing in the background. 

Speaking of alumni, CMU has a decent showing of support at the stadium.

As far as conditions, it is about 90 degrees and dry at the moment. There is a thunderstorm in the distance, but it is heading away from the stadium. I’ve been told it will be dark or very close to dark by kickoff at 7 p.m. local time (10 p.m. EDT).

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E-mail the author: Andrew Stover