COLUMBUS, Ohio — Tennessee is raiding Ohio State and its local police department is taking notice. The Ohio State University Police Department is preparing to keep fans safe as they travel near and far for the first round of the College Football Playoff in Columbus.
More than 100,000 people will pack the stadium to watch the Vols and the Buckeyes play. Even more will be around campus and the university district to watch the game.
"Obviously the environment and the weather is a little different for us," OSU Police Chief Dennis Jeffrey said. "As far as our game plan, it's going to be very similar to other games we've had."
The police department will make some changes to the stadium, one of which involves more lighting in the area. Ohio State police have also made staffing adjustments to make sure officers don't get burnt out.
OSUPD spoke with 10TV in Columbus and said that after the fight from the Ohio-Michigan game, they feel confident they have a good strategy in place if a fight happens on the field again.
"We've added some planning to that and using some resources," Jeffrey said. "We feel pretty confident we'll have a good strategy in place should something happen. We hope it doesn't of course, but we feel pretty well prepared should something like that happen."
They said having a night game changes things.
"Obviously we'll have people leaving much later, overall plans have been consistent," he said.
Police said they are also taking steps to make sure no goalposts are taken down after the game. Following their defeats against Alabama, Vol fans have torn down the goalpost twice in the last three years.
Kickoff for the College Football Playoff is 8 p.m. You can watch it on ABC and ESPN.
