Gene Dalton | The Roanoke Times

A new security gate on the east side of Lane Stadium will help fans get into the facility more quickly, officials say.

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BLACKSBURG -- The tens of thousands of Hokie faithful who descend on Lane Stadium for Virginia Tech's football opener Saturday may find it a little quicker to get to their seats.

An additional entrance and changes to screening procedures are intended to ease bottlenecks at the gate, but officials still encourage fans to head toward their seats early to avoid the crush that starts about half an hour before kickoff. Saturday's game against Northeastern begins at 1:30 p.m.

As part of a $200,000 renovation project Tech has added an eighth entrance to the stadium. Gate eight is on the east side closer to Blacksburg's North Main Street.

In one of several stadium policy changes Tech students, who last year were only allowed to enter though one gate, can now use any entrance.

Greg Sagstetter, the undergraduate student representative on Tech's governing Board of Visitors, recently said the old situation "was actually a safety issue," with hundreds of students pressing against one another to get in.

Another new rule for entering the stadium: bag searches will take place before people go through the stadium turnstiles. Last year those searches took place within the gates.

Tech has hired a private company to do bag searches, which last year were handled in-house with help from police. RMC, of Richmond, has done bag screening at auto racing events in Bristol, Martinsville and Richmond, said Associate Athletic Director Tom Gabbard, who oversees game-day operations at the stadium.

From 80 to 100 people will be on hand to search bags at games -- "probably a few more" than last year, he said.

Another change for this season: tickets have bar codes. Intended to prevent fraud, including students selling the tickets they get free through a lottery, the bar codes won't be scanned as part of the entry process but can be used to verify a legitimate ticket, said Sandy Smith, assistant athletic director for ticketing services. Individual tickets are not sold to the general public. When tickets reserved for opposing teams are not taken, they are sold online, but the last of those were snatched up last month, Smith said. Lane Stadium seats 66,233, Gabbard said.

In another change, Tech has relocated the game-day parking reserved for people with disabilities to the Shultz lot off the Alumni Mall.

Appearing before Tech's Board of Visitors earlier this week, Athletic Director Jim Weaver said more than a dozen undercover officers will be patrolling the stands to enforce behavior rules and the prohibition on bringing in alcohol. Ushers, Weaver said, have been urged to be "more responsible for watching their respective areas -- and not the contest."

On the Net: Virginia Tech football parking details are at www.parking.vt.edu