Getting into Neyland Stadium for the Third Saturday in October usually requires generational family season tickets or a huge chunk of your rent. On October 17, tickets reportedly averaged over $600. But one man decided to take his chances with a $40 workaround.
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The No. 14 Tennessee Volunteers faced the No. 6 Alabama Crimson Tide in one of college football’s most famous rivalries. Twenty-year-old Blake Bible of Morristown, Tennessee, allegedly tried to join the 100,000-strong crowd by posing as a security guard. He might even have pulled it off had he waited until he was through the gates to crack open his drink.
According to court records first reported Monday by WVLT News, University of Tennessee police arrested Bible outside the stadium shortly before the 3:30 pm kickoff window. Officers caught him “pretending to be a security guard to sneak inside Neyland Stadium.” His disguise was simple enough, but it came with one rather obvious flaw.
Bible had allegedly gotten his hands on an official staff polo shirt and hat belonging to Axis Security, the Johnson City-based private event staffing company contracted by the university to work the gates and concourses on game days. With 101,915 people packing the stadium area, someone in an event polo walking with purpose near the G10 parking garage ramp on Phillip Fulmer Way might not attract much attention.
That is, unless the supposed security guard is casually walking down the ramp sipping a White Claw.
Police spotted Bible near the G10 ramp shortly before kickoff, wearing full Axis gear and “drinking an alcoholic beverage,” according to the arrest records. That prompted officers to stop him and call over an Axis supervisor working the perimeter.
The supervisor confirmed that Bible did not work for the company and told police that the shirt and hat had been stolen to gain entry to the game. According to the arrest warrants, the items were valued at approximately $40. The supervisor chose to press charges. Bible was booked on a misdemeanor charge of theft of property valued at less than $1,000. And he could not watch Tennessee’s defense suffocate Alabama for three and a half hours.
The defense absolutely dominated in the Volunteers’ 26-10 victory, sacking quarterback Keelon Russell five times and forcing four turnovers. The Crimson Tide managed just 201 total yards and converted only two of their 13 third-down attempts as the Volunteers shut down their offense.
At the other end, DeSean Bishop powered Tennessee’s ground game with 159 yards and two touchdowns on 32 carries, helping the Volunteers control the clock and wear down Alabama’s defense. The victory sent the Neyland Stadium crowd into a frenzy and gave Tennessee its third consecutive home win over its historic rival. As for Bible, he is scheduled to be arraigned in Knox County court on October 30.
No underage drinking citation appeared alongside the theft charge in the initial booking report. That was one less charge for Bible to worry about, though his attempt to pass as a security guard had already gone wrong.
If there is a rulebook for bluffing your way past stadium turnstiles, rule number one is to commit to the bit. Carry a clipboard, wear a pair of khaki pants, keep your eyes forward, and above all else, avoid drinking a hard seltzer in front of campus police minutes before kickoff.
Bible’s failed attempt to sneak into Neyland Stadium came during an unusually bizarre week for the University of Tennessee Police Department. Just days earlier, officers had tracked down and charged a 19-year-old visitor from New Jersey with felony vandalism after he allegedly knocked the head off the fiberglass Smokey statue outside Gate 21 Plaza on the night before the Arkansas game.
The incident forced the university to bring in a replacement Smokey statue from the campus recreation center ahead of the Alabama crowd’s arrival. With another unusual case already on their hands that week, Tennessee’s police had plenty to deal with. As for Bible, being stopped before kickoff at least spared him the trouble of having to work a security shift he had never signed up for.
Tennessee’s 26-10 victory gave the Vols their third straight home win over Alabama and left the Crimson Tide, now with two losses, outside the latest playoff projections.
Before fans rushed the field, athletic director Danny White appeared in a recorded message on the stadium video board. He asked them to stay in the stands for two minutes so Alabama’s players and coaches could get off the field.
The crowd didn’t hold for long. Fans poured over the walls and onto Shields-Watkins Field while the Tide were still making their way off the turf, triggering a $500,000 SEC access-to-competition-area fine that goes straight into Alabama’s athletic coffers.
Between Tennessee’s half-million-dollar tab and Bible’s October 30th court date over $40 worth of stolen polyester, Saturday turned out to be an expensive afternoon for everyone who crossed a barrier they weren’t supposed to.