Tennessee’s offseason just got a little shorter.
Tennessee athletic director Dave Hart announced in a press release Friday that Tennessee’s season opener against Appalachian State has been moved to a Thursday, Sept. 1 (TV: SEC Network, 7:30 p.m. ET) The game was originally scheduled for Saturday, Sept. 3.
The last time Tennessee opened its season on a Thursday was in 1991 when Tennessee traveled to Louisville a secured a 28-11 over the Cardinals.
The SEC approached Hart during the athletics director meeting in Jacksonville about moving the game to Thursday. Hart discussed the change with Tennessee coach Butch Jones when he returned to Knoxville. The idea was met with approval from Jones.
“This decision was not made in a vacuum,” Hart said in a statement. “The collaboration that ensued included the Chancellor, Provost, our University CFO, Vice Chancellor for Student-Life and representatives from both University Development and the Tennessee Fund as well as key athletics department personnel. Challenges related to the implementation were identified and discussed at length over the course of several days. Academics was our collective primary concern. Our goal will be to do this with minimal impact to the class schedule.
“At the end of the deliberations all were supportive of moving forward with the game on Thursday night ahead of the barrage of games to follow throughout the Labor Day weekend.
The change gives Tennessee two extra days to prepare for its next opponent Virginia Tech. Tennessee and Virginia Tech will play on Sept. 10 at Bristol Motor Speedway and the matchup is expect to draw the highest attendance in college football history.
