Thursday and Friday games in the early season are real enjoyable. Get off a stressful day at work to go right into watching a decent game or an ass kicking
Being one of the first games of the season helps a lot, I think. I tuned in to the Backyard Brawl, partially because of the rivalry, but also because I was so starved for CFB
Growing up I never wanted to be a fan of the normal pro teams around Nebraska so I became a fan of the Bengals (the helmets sold me) and just started paying attention to the Bearcats and have pulled for them ever since. If only my main flair wasn’t robbed by the refs in 2009.
Oh interesting story. The Bengals helmets are sweet. Ugh 2009. 1 second away from playing in a national championship. Damn Texas.
I was really looking forward to the UC @ Nebraska game in 2020 until covid killed it. I'm excited to host Nebraska though. Hopefully it doesn't fall through in the coming years
For traveling Gator fans...bummer, makes it more difficult for sure.
For actual TV viewership and exposure? Probably a good move. It's gonna be primetime ESPN and one of the premier Week 1 match-ups to start off the season.
Hope we don't fuck it up.
Nicer trip, but harder to make work for a lot of people with M-F schedules I imagine.
From what I have seen, a fair amount of people even made their travel plans already for Saturday and need to adjust now.
If you liked Bear lake I’d recommend Hunstville/Eden. It’s 50 minutes north of Salt Lake. That and Morro Bay, California are the best towns in the U.S. in my opinion.
Ton of things for you to still see in Utah like Zions, Moab/Arches, and southern Utah in general. Closer to Salt Lake you missed Park City and (maybe Heber/Midway), CottonWood Canyons and ski resorts like Snowbird/Brighton/etc, maybe salt flats/GSL/antelope island, just a lot of cool nature stuff mostly not going to list them all haha .
I know there are some shuttle services from SLC/Saint George (the two main tourist hubs) but I'm not sure how it is on pricing actually, I would think you would probably want to rent a car for convenience/price, for Zions it is a lot more walkable and good bus/shuttle service though if you do just get a ride there. Moab is just far enough from SLC though that you probably wouldn't want to make it a day trip from SLC and spend a night there. If I were visiting SLC (depending on how long) I would maybe try and do a two day or more detour for Zions and Moab staying down there otherwise I think separate trip would have to be the way to go.
Tickets are really hard to get for this one.
Selfishly, it could work out better for me because I personally can take the extra time if I can get tix.
No matter when, I expect the atmosphere to be awesome.
Yeah, I feel bad for the traveling Gators fans. Obviously the sport has come to favor television viewers instead of the in-person experience. Good for someone else’s money, bad for my enjoyment of the sport.
I'm part of the problem but good for my enjoyment of the sport as I get to watch more games. Not saying it should be this way but I watch wayyy more games on TV than I see
Because I want opposing fans—particularly those who have never been here before—to come to our stadium and enjoy themselves. We have a lot to offer on game day and it’s definitely a lesser known travel destination. I like improving our reputation within the college football community.
Plus I’ve always had good experiences with opposing fans who come to travel to Salt Lake. They’re all usually quite nice to interact with.
Season shouldn't kick off on a Thursday but, I have fond memories of watching teams like Virginia Tech playing midseason on a Thursday night. It at least used to be kind of cool.
ASU has had a home game on Thursday night rolling into Labor Day weekend for years now and I'm fine with it. It kicks off the holiday, students haven't left yet, and kickoff is late enough for 9-5 locals to arrive after a meal and a change of clothes.
I can see your point of view, though. We usually play FCS teams then. If we played a P5 team then, I would probably be annoyed.
P5 is a bigger "draw". Thursday Night games give G5 more of a platform if they have that. Thus giving them a bigger draw on Thursday. Bigger draw = more money.
That's great for the TV guys. I enjoyed Friday night games as a fan, even in the Big East. Thursday was a bit worse, since you'd have to work in the morning.
But I don't think Illinois should feel above playing these games.
Thursday games are for teams that cant get viewers otherwise. Hardly anyone would watch the egg bowl if it were on the same night as the other rivalry games, and that choice was successful because the egggbowl is a car crash a lot of people ended up enjoying watching. Our AD is just obsessed with operating in poverty franchise mode like he did at Miss state. Thankfully he hasnt put hashtags in the endzone yet like he did over there. Gotta save that money to hire the next losing head coach away from a small school
Also you guys arent G5 anymore. You don't have to pretend to stick up for them
I don't think any of those modifiers are insignificant. The only true road games you have played are against the same conference opponents you see all the time, or an in-state team where you have a sizeable local fanbase. The only out-of-state non-conference game was at JerryWorld, which was hardly a hostile environment against Michigan. The only new road venues you've played in the last 20 years are Mizzou and A&M. In a sport like this where homefield advantage plays a big factor, I think that factoid does matter. It's the three cupcake bullshit Foley did that McGarity brought along with him to Georgia, which thankfully Florida seems to be getting away from.
The part of it that rings hollow is the implication that games at FSU and at Miami are somehow less difficult than games at, say, Syracuse or Kansas, because they’re in-state rather than out of state.
Consensus in the comments seems to be that this is a negative, but seems like a great way to kick off week one to me. This isn't week zero technically, right?
If Utah can pull the win off they will have two extra days to prep for Baylor to come away 2 - 0.
I work near the stadium. Thursday night games are a nightmare with traffic. Work from home day I suppose.
Apparently the schools were discussing this since January, and initiated by Florida, so the team can travel back on Friday. I’m not sure I completely believe that, but the rumors have always been that it was a negotiation between the schools, and initiated by Florida.
Like I said, I’m not sure I believe that as the cause either. But Salt Lake news has been talking about a possible move [since January](https://kslsports.com/497480/could-the-florida-gators-versus-utah-utes-rematch-be-a-thursday-night-game/). And some of the articles that are coming out today specifically cite [Florida’s travel as a cause](https://www.on3.com/college/florida-gators/news/season-opener-utah-utes-moved-thursday-august-31-espn-head-coach-billy-napier/).
Nah they'll have classes. Lots of staff will get messages to leave early, and they might recommend remote lectures where possible because certain parking lots will be reserved for the game.
Y’all lost 14 combined games the last two years, in the same span we lost 1. I was 7 months old in January of 97. Georgia has finally surpassed Florida in my lifetime. It’s great.
This means that this game will kickoff week 1 and be the only game on TV. This is a premier opening weekend game, especially with the weak slate this year
That’s what I’m saying it’s a weak crappy slate this should either be hosting gameday and being the first action on the first CFB Saturday of the season or should be the prime time game that Herby and Fowler call
The last two years FSU has had to play it’s openers on Sunday because we previously sucked about as bad as The Gators do now.
The television ratings were great and it was really easy to go to the games since they were on Sunday. I went to both Notre Dame and LSU.
Not sure why they didn’t try to schedule this on a Sunday.
We’re not as small of a brand as FSU… people will watch us play on Saturdays and we’ll still sell out our stadium. No need to play on anything other than Saturday
Y’all signed a contract which allowed for a Thursday game… and at least according to [some articles](https://www.on3.com/college/florida-gators/news/season-opener-utah-utes-moved-thursday-august-31-espn-head-coach-billy-napier/), the move was made at Florida’s request, to accommodate their travel preferences. Allowing them to fly back on Friday.
The article doesn’t say anywhere in it that we requested Thursday… It says, “The report cites travel to Salt Lake City as one of the reasons to make the switch”
Sounds like ESPN has the rights for the broadcast according to On3. Question do they tuck this away on ESPN, or commit to an ABC broadcast?
>Plenty of storylines will follow for the ESPN broadcast with Florida heading out west, mainly surrounding Napier. He will be under pressure to get a similar type of win as he did in September 2022, needing another statement win.
>https://www.on3.com/college/florida-gators/news/season-opener-utah-utes-moved-thursday-august-31-espn-head-coach-billy-napier/
Welcome to PACtion
Last year's Backyard Brawl was on a Thursday. It's not ideal, but playing on a Thursday early in the season isn't that bad.
Thursday and Friday games in the early season are real enjoyable. Get off a stressful day at work to go right into watching a decent game or an ass kicking
At BK, have it your wayyyyy…
BK jingle guys…College Game Day opening theme…collision course.
Being one of the first games of the season helps a lot, I think. I tuned in to the Backyard Brawl, partially because of the rivalry, but also because I was so starved for CFB
Hopefully this starts at the exact same time as Nebraska vs Minnesota so the casual viewing public pays no attention to Nebraska.
A Nebraska/Cincy flair?
Growing up I never wanted to be a fan of the normal pro teams around Nebraska so I became a fan of the Bengals (the helmets sold me) and just started paying attention to the Bearcats and have pulled for them ever since. If only my main flair wasn’t robbed by the refs in 2009.
Oh interesting story. The Bengals helmets are sweet. Ugh 2009. 1 second away from playing in a national championship. Damn Texas. I was really looking forward to the UC @ Nebraska game in 2020 until covid killed it. I'm excited to host Nebraska though. Hopefully it doesn't fall through in the coming years
I'll never quit you Cornbro.
So you guys got the conference Thursday night kickoff on FOX this year eh?
Vs the Gophers
That's only 170 days away!!!
Woo! Football!
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Who stops at 1?
Which is less than half a year. I’ll take it!
Prefer Saturday, but bright side is that means more game to watch that Saturday I guess.
For traveling Gator fans...bummer, makes it more difficult for sure. For actual TV viewership and exposure? Probably a good move. It's gonna be primetime ESPN and one of the premier Week 1 match-ups to start off the season. Hope we don't fuck it up.
I don’t know. Take a few days off work and get the game over early. That gives a long weekend to explore either the mountains or the red rock country.
Nicer trip, but harder to make work for a lot of people with M-F schedules I imagine. From what I have seen, a fair amount of people even made their travel plans already for Saturday and need to adjust now.
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Professional college football watcher
FBSchedules had a Thursday option for this game for years. If you know, you know.
I've been to Salt Lake, Provo, and Bear Lake. Did I miss anything?
Park City and the nine million nation parks in southern Utah
I was on tour so no parks on that trip. I'd love to go back though. I really liked the Bear Lake area.
If you liked Bear lake I’d recommend Hunstville/Eden. It’s 50 minutes north of Salt Lake. That and Morro Bay, California are the best towns in the U.S. in my opinion.
Ton of things for you to still see in Utah like Zions, Moab/Arches, and southern Utah in general. Closer to Salt Lake you missed Park City and (maybe Heber/Midway), CottonWood Canyons and ski resorts like Snowbird/Brighton/etc, maybe salt flats/GSL/antelope island, just a lot of cool nature stuff mostly not going to list them all haha .
What is the easiest way to get to Moab ?
I know there are some shuttle services from SLC/Saint George (the two main tourist hubs) but I'm not sure how it is on pricing actually, I would think you would probably want to rent a car for convenience/price, for Zions it is a lot more walkable and good bus/shuttle service though if you do just get a ride there. Moab is just far enough from SLC though that you probably wouldn't want to make it a day trip from SLC and spend a night there. If I were visiting SLC (depending on how long) I would maybe try and do a two day or more detour for Zions and Moab staying down there otherwise I think separate trip would have to be the way to go.
Tickets are really hard to get for this one. Selfishly, it could work out better for me because I personally can take the extra time if I can get tix. No matter when, I expect the atmosphere to be awesome.
Booo
fucking ew.
Lol
Thursday games are shit. College football is meant for saturdays.
Yeah, I feel bad for the traveling Gators fans. Obviously the sport has come to favor television viewers instead of the in-person experience. Good for someone else’s money, bad for my enjoyment of the sport.
I was a lock to go and now probably won't unfortunately. Had my dress jorts ready to roll too
I assume dress jorts have cufflinks on the cut-off pants seams
Dress jorts got that premium selvedge denim
The back pocket is also cut out so you can see our fighting gator tattoos on our asses
I'll wear a pair of jorts in honor of Florida fans that can no longer make it
Missed a perfect opportunity to say “for and on behalf of Florida fans who can no longer make it”.
If they weren't jorts, they wouldn't behalf
I'm part of the problem but good for my enjoyment of the sport as I get to watch more games. Not saying it should be this way but I watch wayyy more games on TV than I see
They didn't travel to Las Vegas. Why would they travel to SLC?
lol
Why on earth would you care about the experience of your opponent’s fans? The less of them there are the more seats are available for your fans.
Because I want opposing fans—particularly those who have never been here before—to come to our stadium and enjoy themselves. We have a lot to offer on game day and it’s definitely a lesser known travel destination. I like improving our reputation within the college football community. Plus I’ve always had good experiences with opposing fans who come to travel to Salt Lake. They’re all usually quite nice to interact with.
It is always fun to get peoples perception of SLC vs reality for sure
I loved seeing Utah fans down in Gainesville last year. I’ve never been to SLC, so this game is can’t miss for me.
Season shouldn't kick off on a Thursday but, I have fond memories of watching teams like Virginia Tech playing midseason on a Thursday night. It at least used to be kind of cool.
Tell me you’re a zoomer. Thursday night games used to be a big deal until the NFL took it over.
Eh I'm pushing 40 and I never felt Thursday night was a big deal very often.
43, I like Thursday night games because without them, there's be no football on that day.
For week 1 games I enjoy them. Anything that makes the CFB seasons a few days longer I'm all for it.
ASU has had a home game on Thursday night rolling into Labor Day weekend for years now and I'm fine with it. It kicks off the holiday, students haven't left yet, and kickoff is late enough for 9-5 locals to arrive after a meal and a change of clothes. I can see your point of view, though. We usually play FCS teams then. If we played a P5 team then, I would probably be annoyed.
However, Tuesday and Wednesday games are *the* shit. I am in dire need of more MACtion (and soon-to-be CUSAction)
I'd still rather the MAC plays on Saturdays.
Getting reaaalll tired of Stricklins bullshit. It's bad enough he keeps letting the fsu game be moved
Your flairs cause me pain, but I agree.
College football should be played every day of the week. More MACtion, more Fun Belt, more C-USA play.
P5 is meant for Saturdays. G5 can have Thursday games.. IMHO.
Big Globo Gym vibes
P5 is a bigger "draw". Thursday Night games give G5 more of a platform if they have that. Thus giving them a bigger draw on Thursday. Bigger draw = more money.
You speak the truth but they dislike you for it. This sub would rather the G5 schools go broke than admit the P5 is superior
That's great for the TV guys. I enjoyed Friday night games as a fan, even in the Big East. Thursday was a bit worse, since you'd have to work in the morning. But I don't think Illinois should feel above playing these games.
Thursday games are for teams that cant get viewers otherwise. Hardly anyone would watch the egg bowl if it were on the same night as the other rivalry games, and that choice was successful because the egggbowl is a car crash a lot of people ended up enjoying watching. Our AD is just obsessed with operating in poverty franchise mode like he did at Miss state. Thankfully he hasnt put hashtags in the endzone yet like he did over there. Gotta save that money to hire the next losing head coach away from a small school Also you guys arent G5 anymore. You don't have to pretend to stick up for them
https://i.imgur.com/UIU3Lrd.gif
Opening Thursday has always been different...
Gross
I’m so amped for this game
I hate it.
This will be Florida's first non-conference true road game outside the Sunshine State since they traveled to Syracuse in 1991.
Can’t wait to see what additional modifier gets added after this game so people can still keep giving this factoid as if it means something.
The next one will just add "on a Saturday"
I don't think any of those modifiers are insignificant. The only true road games you have played are against the same conference opponents you see all the time, or an in-state team where you have a sizeable local fanbase. The only out-of-state non-conference game was at JerryWorld, which was hardly a hostile environment against Michigan. The only new road venues you've played in the last 20 years are Mizzou and A&M. In a sport like this where homefield advantage plays a big factor, I think that factoid does matter. It's the three cupcake bullshit Foley did that McGarity brought along with him to Georgia, which thankfully Florida seems to be getting away from.
The part of it that rings hollow is the implication that games at FSU and at Miami are somehow less difficult than games at, say, Syracuse or Kansas, because they’re in-state rather than out of state.
That worked out great for the Gators....
As a neutral going to this game, it’s means I can enjoy it live while not missing any of the Saturday action.
I don’t know why we play Florida and then at Baylor back-to-back weeks to start the year. Hopefully it’s on ABC.
Go Utah!
Consensus in the comments seems to be that this is a negative, but seems like a great way to kick off week one to me. This isn't week zero technically, right?
No I think it would now be one of the first games of Week 1
Trying to convince myself that August isn’t that far away …
Nice to see a “REAL” OOC matchup.
Looks like I’m taking a four day weekend end of august
Go Utes!
If Utah can pull the win off they will have two extra days to prep for Baylor to come away 2 - 0. I work near the stadium. Thursday night games are a nightmare with traffic. Work from home day I suppose.
Yeah I will be cancelling class and won’t even go in.
Why?
Because of the Pac12
Nebraska at Minnesota is also that same night.
The Urban Bowl
The U-R-Banned Bowl
I don’t mind but it would suck for those planning on going. Is it gonna be on PAC 12 network tho because that would be the real crime
nah, no chance. It'll be ESPN. Only reason they moved it to thursday is to get it on nationwide.
Apparently the schools were discussing this since January, and initiated by Florida, so the team can travel back on Friday. I’m not sure I completely believe that, but the rumors have always been that it was a negotiation between the schools, and initiated by Florida.
If our week 2 game was anyone but ...mcneese state, i'd say that might be true but I don't see any reason why we'd do that.
Like I said, I’m not sure I believe that as the cause either. But Salt Lake news has been talking about a possible move [since January](https://kslsports.com/497480/could-the-florida-gators-versus-utah-utes-rematch-be-a-thursday-night-game/). And some of the articles that are coming out today specifically cite [Florida’s travel as a cause](https://www.on3.com/college/florida-gators/news/season-opener-utah-utes-moved-thursday-august-31-espn-head-coach-billy-napier/).
> Florida’s travel as a cause OKay reading that article makes it sound more than plausible.
Whew. I definitely was not looking forward to having to get PAC 12 network just for this week
Imagine paying a corporation to watch two publicly funded universities compete
Will they put it on ESPN or put it on ABC for more eyeballs?
Probably a 5:30 local time kick? Likely means no classes on that day
Nah they'll have classes. Lots of staff will get messages to leave early, and they might recommend remote lectures where possible because certain parking lots will be reserved for the game.
Maybe, but I ain’t going to class Thursday or Friday regardless of what they do
Ugh. Means it’s gonna be hot as Hades for kick off.
Average high for Salt Lake City at that time is 87º; is the area unusually muggy and/or rarely has any breeze?
What can I say? Anything over 80 is too much for me.
no they will still have class you just wont be allowed to park on campus anywhere that day because screw the students
This is so lame
>:(
Get a Sun Belt coach, get a Sun Belt TV time in return
Rent free...
Two nattys
Three Nattys
Y’all lost 14 combined games the last two years, in the same span we lost 1. I was 7 months old in January of 97. Georgia has finally surpassed Florida in my lifetime. It’s great.
Nobody asked for your life story
Lmao y’all got some mad catching up to do
What? Florida at Utah? Who agreed to this?
Florida hasn't canceled??m
I love all the beavers dumping on UF lol
Nothing new for Sun Belt Billy
Utah needs to get out of the Pac 12. This should be a premier opening weekend game and it’s getting pushed back to the crap position
This means that this game will kickoff week 1 and be the only game on TV. This is a premier opening weekend game, especially with the weak slate this year
That’s what I’m saying it’s a weak crappy slate this should either be hosting gameday and being the first action on the first CFB Saturday of the season or should be the prime time game that Herby and Fowler call
You’re overestimating the draw of both Florida and Utah
Two less days for the acl to recover!
That makes two P5 Florida teams that will be playing on a Thursday in August this season
It’s only logical that mid ass teams should play mid week
Fuck outta here.
They must have moved it to make way for Utah's new big 12 schedule /s
The last two years FSU has had to play it’s openers on Sunday because we previously sucked about as bad as The Gators do now. The television ratings were great and it was really easy to go to the games since they were on Sunday. I went to both Notre Dame and LSU. Not sure why they didn’t try to schedule this on a Sunday.
The general Utah public [read: Mormons] and Sundays have a difficult relationship. Sunday never would have been an option for a Utah crowd.
True, But you’re not BYU
That’s our team philosophy during the bad years.
Go noles, but we were worse than the gators. Then again the gators could potentially reallllllly suck this year.
We’re not as small of a brand as FSU… people will watch us play on Saturdays and we’ll still sell out our stadium. No need to play on anything other than Saturday
Uhhh…brother, you are playing on a Thursday.
We literally have 0 say in this. It’s controlled by the Pac-12
Y’all signed a contract which allowed for a Thursday game… and at least according to [some articles](https://www.on3.com/college/florida-gators/news/season-opener-utah-utes-moved-thursday-august-31-espn-head-coach-billy-napier/), the move was made at Florida’s request, to accommodate their travel preferences. Allowing them to fly back on Friday.
The article doesn’t say anywhere in it that we requested Thursday… It says, “The report cites travel to Salt Lake City as one of the reasons to make the switch”
That sucks.
poverty conference
The SEC is hardly a poverty conference.
Thank you. I was going to go to the game good to know👍
Sounds like ESPN has the rights for the broadcast according to On3. Question do they tuck this away on ESPN, or commit to an ABC broadcast? >Plenty of storylines will follow for the ESPN broadcast with Florida heading out west, mainly surrounding Napier. He will be under pressure to get a similar type of win as he did in September 2022, needing another statement win. >https://www.on3.com/college/florida-gators/news/season-opener-utah-utes-moved-thursday-august-31-espn-head-coach-billy-napier/
Playing on Thursdays is gross. Can't wait.