6:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. Saturday Oct. 15.
Long before many of the tailgaters have awoken there are rumblings within the Ohio State University Police Department.
The department kicks off the day with a 6:00 a.m. command briefing with high ranking police members from the Franklin County Sheriff's Department, Ohio Highway Patrol and the Columbus Police Department. From 6:00 a.m. until 7:00 a.m. briefings are held in the department informing police of the operational gameday procedures.
At 7:30 a.m. patrolman Jim Compston pulls out of Blankenship Hall in his white cruiser. As the sun peeks over the campus buildings the streets remain eerily empty; the tailgaters have yet to come out.
"I love working gamedays because it's busy. It's a whole different atmosphere - it breaks up the monotony," Compston said.
Compston, 43, has been on the force since 1998. He works the streets until a few hours before gametime when he then works as Jim Tressel's personal security.
During the early hours of the morning Compston randomly rides along campus streets, his eyes scanning for out of place happenings.
"It's hard to explain but when something or someone is out of place it's easy to pick up on," he said. "You can pick people out who don't belong here easily. If you see a 40-year-old man walking around with a backpack and a piece of metal sticking out of it, he's probably not here for a good thing."
Compston said he tries not to get himself into a routine while on patrol.
"The worst thing you can do is get in a pattern," he said. "I kind of go where the car takes me."
This morning the extent of Compston's adventures is a burglar alarm and an abandoned bicycle. Typically there is not much action on campus, he said.
9:00 a.m. to Gametime
Kyle Howe and Charles Gierach walk around the west stadium lots, their eyes dart trying to spot open beer containers.
Since they cannot walk up and look into each cup they only ticket those who are drinking out of beer bottles or cans openly. If caught with an open container a citation costing around $100 is issued.
Fifteen minutes after starting their patrol the duo grabs their first open container. Casually walking up to the violator Howe points to the full beer can and motions to for the suspect to come over.
The suspect plays dumb and tries to talk his way out of the ticket by claiming he did not realize it was illegal to be drinking outside.
The enforcement of open containers has become more stringent since the riots after the 2002 Michigan football game, Howe said.
"A couple years ago there used to be bars of open liquor bottles - you don't see that any more," he said.
Typically Howe and Gierach will bust around 10 people each home game for open containers, he said.
The duo keeps a tab on their citations and competes with the other alcohol teams patrolling other areas.
"That's how we keep entertained," Howe said. "We have to have a little competition. The only thing that keeps it worthwhile is the internal competition."
By 11:05 a.m. they have already issued 4 citations and have just spotted another violator.
While being issued the citation the suspect again tries to play dumb insisting he was not aware of the law. He said he thought it was legal to drink alcohol within the parking lot.
"I had no clue I would get a ticket if I had an open container," he said to the police. "I'm a Cleveland Browns fan, I'm a tailgater."
By gametime, Howe and Gierach have busted seven people for open containers more than anyone else within the same area.
"I don't particularly like to write these tickets," Howe said. "But if they do it right in front of me I will."
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