By 10 a.m. on Saturday morning, the party was just beginning in front of NC A&T's Truist Stadium.

Hours away from kickoff at 1 p.m., alumni, fans and community members bundled up in Aggie-branded jackets and sweatshirts in the parking lot outside of the stadium. Smoke from grills clouded the air between tailgate set-ups. A band played a soulful R&B track from the stage. Members of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Inc. smoked cigars in a circle of folding chairs.

This is considered the downtime of the "Greatest Homecoming on Earth" - the calm before the storm. By the afternoon, the crowd tripled, fighting through the barricaded lines to head toward their seats. They left behind the outer streets of campus where other festivities passed the time before the game then stopped to pick up free fried

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