SU football to play Thursday night home game for first time in more than two decades
UPDATED: June 2, 2011, 1:10 a.m.
For the first time in 22 years, the Syracuse football team will play a home game on a Thursday night.
The Orange’s 2011 season opener against Wake Forest will be played on Thursday, Sept. 1, in the Carrier Dome, SU Athletics officials announced Wednesday. The game is slated for an 8 p.m. start time and will be shown on ESPN3.
The game will be ‘a terrific way for the university and the community to start the Labor Day weekend before enjoying all of the other activities the area and the region have to offer,’ said SU Athletic Director Daryl Gross, according to the press release.
The last time SU hosted a Thursday night game was Nov. 23, 1989, two seasons prior to the formation of the Big East conference for football. That night, the Orange fell to West Virginia 24-17 in front of 46,757 in the Carrier Dome.
As of Wednesday, the game against Wake Forest is the first of three home games the Orange will play on weeknights in 2011. Two of SU’s four conference home games will be played on Friday nights, also with 8 p.m. start times.
On Friday, Oct. 21, Syracuse hosts West Virginia, and on Friday, Nov. 11, SU takes on South Florida.
In 2010, the Orange began the season on the road for the first two weeks of the season. This year’s home opener takes place 17 days earlier than last season’s first game in the Carrier Dome on Sept. 18.
Syracuse is 1-1 in home openers under third-year head coach Doug Marrone. SU defeated Maine 38-14 last season but fell to Minnesota 23-20 in overtime in 2009.
Published on May 31, 2011 at 12:00 pm
Contact Michael: mjcohe02@syr.edu | @Michael_Cohen13
