[media-credit name=’DEREK MONTGOMERY/Herald photo’ align=’alignnone’ width=’648′][/media-credit]University of Wisconsin athletic officials are resting easy following last Saturday’s football-season opener and the implementation of a new student-ticket policy. The policy, which was widely accepted but not necessarily approved by the student fan base, came off with no major altercations or debauchery.

As UW sophomore Dan Hoffman soberly entered the stadium around 9:30 a.m. on game day after waiting two hours for good seats, the new ticket protocol became a source of scorn.

“Personally, I hate it,” Hoffman said. “I wish we could go on Wednesdays again because I scheduled my classes so I wouldn’t have class then, and [having to get tickets] before the game … really takes out of the pre-game party.”

But while UW senior Chris Diller entered the stadium not far behind Hoffman, he maintained a more reserved take on the situation.

“It’s a pain in the butt getting here so early and everything,” Diller said, hoping for seating in section P. “I think it’s good that we’re still allowed to sell our vouchers and turn them in on a day-by-day basis … but I don’t want to get here this early.”

Diller said even though the ticket line was long, officials moved students along at a steady pace.

As some upperclassmen weighed the differences between the systems, UW freshman Benjamin Orell did not know the difference.

“[I] really don’t know [what the old policy was like], but the line’s moving quickly, so I can’t complain,” he said. “I’m pretty exited. I don’t know what to expect, but I think it will be a good time.”

By second quarter, some students staying true to Breese Terrace pre-gaming still hadn’t experienced the changes themselves.

“The old policy was … whatever,” UW junior Jeremy Lange said while skipping the early portion of the game. “I mean, I spent a couple of nights at the Kohl Center. I spent one night in the rain outside the Kohl Center, so, for me, I’m not crying to see the old policy go. I’ll still sleep at night.”

Lange, who added he had not gotten much sleep the night before game day, said he was ready to bypass the new system completely and sell his voucher.

“For me, it was like … I went out last night, and I really didn’t even want to get up for the game this morning,” he said.

But Lange admitted after witnessing the opening-game-day atmosphere, he experienced a change of heart.

“But [once] you get down here, you start talking to people, people get a little party going on and it pumps up your school spirit to be partying with people from your school,” he said. “You see alumni and everyone around here and people who graduated five years ago dressed head to toe in red. … That tells you you need to get pumped up, not just sell your ticket and walk away.”

Lange entered Camp Randall shortly after first quarter and was seated in section J.

Despite mixed reactions from students, UW Police and athletic administrators praised the policy’s debut as a success, exceeding their expectations.

“We’re very pleased,” UW Associate Athletic Director of Communications Steve Malchow said. “The chancellor’s office asked us to be more efficient, fair and law abiding. I think, on all those fronts, we’ve succeeded.”