The NIU football team is on the rise, and with the success comes an increased amount of support.

This means more fans, more tailgating and ultimately, more garbage to be picked up after the games.

To prepare for this, the NIU Grounds team set up more than 180 trash bins all around Huskie Stadium prior to Saturday’s game.

Darryl Grayson, interim superintendent of NIU Grounds, said no matter how many bins they set up, there still is trash everywhere.

“There will be areas trashed with a barrel right next to it that is half full,” Grayson said. “Some people won’t use a bin if it is 10 feet from them.”

The night after the game, Grayson and his crew collects all of the barrels they set out that morning. The following day, Grayson sends a crew of four workers to go out and pick up the garbage that was left on the ground.

They start by the Huskies’ soccer field and work their way through all of the areas where the Huskie faithful were tailgating.

One big problem the Grounds team runs into is broken bottles. Bottles are not allowed while tailgating, but fans tend to bring them anyways.

Grayson said this can lead to Grounds workers slicing themselves during pickup, and the glass can even puncture the tires of some of the work trucks.

Grayson accredits the liquor stores around town for putting up flyers reminding patrons not to bring bottled beer to the festivities.

The amount of garbage can be excessive at times, but the chances of anyone receiving a citation from the police for littering are pretty slim.

Lt Matt Kiederlen of University Police said controlling littering during tailgating is a hard task with everything else going on, but he hopes people are using the trash cans.

“We kind of expect it to be a mess,” Kiederlen said. “But garbage cans are put out, and it is appreciated if people would use them.”

While the trash containers are out there, senior business major Jeremy Hayes says he isn’t likely to be caught using one.

“It ain’t my problem to pick up the trash,” Hayes said. “That’s why the maintenance crew gets paid the big bucks.”

Grayson said the increase of trash was expected when the football team started winning games, and went on to say he’s glad to see all the support the team is getting.