Equipment Crew Gets Gophers Ready Long Before Bowl Game
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- The Gopher football team wouldn't get anywhere Thursday against Missouri in the Citrus Bowl without the guys who pack up and transport the helmets and shoulder pads.
As soon as they found out the team was headed to Orlando for the Buffalo Wild Wings Citrus Bowl, Andy Harris and the equipment team got into gear. They loaded up the 18-wheeler on Dec. 20, 2014, and pointed it to Florida. When the truck arrived in Orlando, Harris and his crew were already there.
"Our advance team arrived down here on Dec. 22 to get the lay of the land, so when the truck arrived (the next day), we could get all of our equipment and everything to the rooms they needed to go to," Harris told WCCO Radio's Dave Lee in Orlando.
They're already preparing for the ride home. Six hours before kickoff, the crew loaded one of two luggage trucks, which goes to the stadium and is joined by another truck that will carry luggage from the traveling party. The preparations for the ride home picks up in earnest when the Gophers break for halftime.
"Once halftime is over, we can push stuff we don't need any more back on the truck and start filling all the holes," Harris said. "Once the game is over we pack 'er tight and send 'er home."
Eleven student managers make up the largest part of the Gopher football equipment crew.
"We're always looking for student managers at the U," Harris said. "What people don't realize is we pick up the whole football complex (which includes computers and video equipment), and move it to Orlando for an entire week.
And after it's over, they pick it up, pack it in and bring it back to Minneapolis.
They're called the Golden Gophers, but at the Citrus Bowl, maroon is the color of the day. The Gophers will be wearing maroon from head to toe, with gold numbers and other highlights. This is just the second time this season the Gophers have worn all maroon on the football field. The only other time was in the Sept. 20, 2014, game against San Jose State, which the Gophers won 24-7.