Security Beefed Up For Discover Orange Bowl
MIAMI GARDENS (CBSMiami) - The biggest party in town Wednesday night was also a huge security undertaking for South Florida law enforcement officials.
The 78th Orange Bowl game at Sun Life Stadium drew swarms of Clemson Tigers and West Virginia Mountaineer fans, all happy to be in the Magic City.
"It was 14 degrees when I left my house," said West Virginia fan Jordan Dennis.
The crowd loving, and semi-mocking, our "cold front".
"Oh it was snowing," said Ruth Sellers from West Virginia. "We got like five inches of snow."
Fan are also spending money across South Florida.
"We went down to Joe's Stone Crab last night. Worked out real nice," said Clemson fan Jim Neely.
"That's what it's for," said fan Sellers. "Get to spend money, enjoy the sun."
Inside the stadium, Miami-Dade Police have been working to make sure the fun - and safety - continues tonight.
"We love this game. It's a tradition here. It's an iconic event in this community," said Miami-Dade Police Director James Loftus.
And with the national spotlight on South Florida tonight, they are not taking any chances.
From trucks to the locker rooms, everything is being sniffed.
"This is the response to threats to stadiums nationwide," said Jeff Schmidinger, member of the MDPD Bomb Squad.
A team of dozen dogs and even more technicians are be seeking out explosives.
Officials say all of it is precautionary and they have not received any specific threat.
"This game in is in the National spotlight and would be naive for us to not think there might be some people who are here with bad intentions," Loftus told CBS4's David Sutta. "So yes, they are going to see a lot of visible presence, there is going to be a lot of invisible presence, a lot of technical presence. A number of different layers."
