Tar Heels warm to Thursday night lights

CHAPEL HILL -- There will be more Thursday night football in Chapel Hill.

UNC-Chapel Hill's Oct. 22 game with Florida State went smoothly enough - aside from a loss for the home team - that campus officials now say they want to host another midweek home game.

"It was a trial balloon, and we were really pleased with what we found out," said Dick Baddour, UNC-CH's athletics director. "We will do it again."

The Oct. 22 game was the first Thursday night game held at Kenan Stadium, in the middle of a congested campus. Planners had long feared the gridlock that might accompany such a large event on a workday. UNC Hospitals, which employs thousands, sits just south of the stadium and many workers get out around the same time as many fans would head into campus.

But this year's game was held during fall break, which meant fewer students would be in town. And employees were dismissed at 3 p.m. to lessen traffic.

"We were worried about backups along I-40," Baddour said. "But we were able to control the influx here enough that we didn't really see major backups. And we didn't have any accidents, so we got a little lucky."

Randy Young, a spokesman for UNC's public safety office, said the event went well in part because the university communicated well. In addition to e-mails, the university sent more than 15,000 postcards with game and traffic information to residents and businesses within two miles of campus.

The next Thursday night game may be a while, though. It probably won't be next year because the schedule won't allow it to be held during fall break, said Steve Reznick, a psychology professor and associate dean who chairs the university's faculty athletics committee.

"There's no way we're going to cancel classes," he said.

Thursday night football is a matter of debate on college campuses. It inevitably leads to grumbling about the weight given to athletics on college campuses.

Athletics officials say Thursday night games are great for exposure. They're televised nationally on ESPN and are generally the only college football game on during that time slot. Baddour said he has heard a lot of positive feedback from fans impressed with how the university, stadium, football team and crowd appeared on television.

"Hopefully, some people know more about Carolina football," he said. "Hopefully, some recruits have watched us and know more about Carolina football. It's a matter of exposure."

Florida State won, 30-27.

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