KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — The Tennessee Vols' home opener against Bowling Green is now set for Thursday, Sept. 2.
The Neyland Stadium kickoff is 8 p.m. It was originally supposed to be played Saturday, Sept. 4. That's Labor Day weekend.
"Any time you consider moving football games to a weekday—which is rare—you want to be sensitive to out-of-town fans who have to make plans to travel to Knoxville," Tennessee Director of Athletics Danny White said in a prepared statement Tuesday. "In this case, the Labor Day holiday and four-month lead time should help in that regard. Sliding our opener to this Thursday primetime window gave us a wonderful opportunity for our football student-athletes to kick off their season in the national spotlight.
It'll be new coach Josh Heupel's official debut with the Vols.
Home of the Vols: Neyland Stadium
The game will be broadcast on the SEC Network.
This will be the second time the two teams have met. UT won the opener in 2015 59-30.
This fall marks Neyland's 100th year in operation.
Season tickets are available here.