Missouri football’s season opener will once again be played on Thursday in prime time. The Tigers’ Faurot Field matchup with South Dakota has been moved to Aug. 31 at 7 p.m.
The game had initially been scheduled for Saturday, Sept. 2. MU opened its 2022 season on Thursday as well, against Louisiana Tech.
“We are grateful to have another tremendous opportunity to start the Labor Day weekend off with a prime-time football game on the SEC Network,” MU athletics director Desiree Reed-Francois said in a release announcing the move. “We listened to our fans after last year’s season opener and wanted to create another memorable experience to open the 2023 season. Our student section and the crowd set the tone that night and built a season-long, home-field advantage. We look forward to welcoming everyone home to Columbia on August 31 inside Memorial Stadium.”
Last year’s Sept. 1 matchup with the Bulldogs drew 47,653 announced fans to Faurot Field for Missouri’s 52-24 win. The 2023 game against South Dakota will be the fourth weeknight game at Memorial Stadium since 2009.
MU will also repeat its plan to “Tiger stripe” the stadium, encouraging fans to wear different colors depending on their section.
“A prime-time game under the lights of Faurot Field is an awesome way to open the season,” Missouri head coach Eli Drinkwitz said in the release. “We appreciate our administration, the SEC and South Dakota for accommodating the date change. We believe this allows our student section and the best fans in the country to show out loud and proud and lead into Labor Day weekend in Missouri the right way.”
In addition to the season opener, the Tiger’s yearly game against Arkansas will officially be played in its usual slot. The game, which will be played in Fayetteville this year, was set for Nov. 24, the Friday after Thanksgiving.
Besides the 2020 season, that game has been played on Black Friday for the last seven years. It is scheduled to kick off at 7 p.m. and will be aired on CBS.
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