The football team arrived in Oregon this morning and promptly set to work preparing for Saturday’s quarterfinal playoff game against Linfield College.

With an early flight and two hours gained by traveling west, the team had a full day to get settled into a foreign atmosphere and turn their thoughts toward kickoff.

“It was a pretty long day with the time difference and everything,” junior Brady Ervin said. “Overall, it was pretty good.”

Junior Cyrus Allen said the team was bused straight from the airport to the field at Linfield.

“We spent two hours there, ate lunch there, and just walked around the field to get used to it,” Allen said.

Ervin added that the field was a little bit different, but said it “seems like it will be a fun stadium to play in.”

After traveling back to the hotel, players were given a mandatory two-hour napping period. Later in the afternoon, the team had a walk through in the parking lot. After a team dinner at a local restaurant, the Tommies went back to the hotel for meetings and were then given the night to rest.

Commenting on the level of nerves the team was feeling throughout the day, Ervin said he felt it hasn’t been an issue.

“We’ve got a pretty relaxed group of guys,” he said.

Come Saturday morning, the Tommies are scheduled for an 8 a.m. wake up call and aim to be at Linfield by 10 a.m. From there, team meetings and warm-ups will fill the morning until a noon kickoff (Pacific Standard Time).

The final piece of coaching for Friday – early curfew to guarantee a chance for a good night’s sleep.

When asked if the coaches will need to go room to room to enforce the lights-out curfew, Ervin said he didn’t think it would be necessary.

“Everyone is pretty tired,” he said. “So I think we’re all going to be pretty well conked out by then.”

Jordan Osterman can be reached at jrosterman@stthomas.edu