Louisville football: Cards season opener may get new date

Louisville football may have some schedule changes.

For several months now, we’ve known that Louisville football is set to kick off the highly anticipated 2020 season against North Carolina State on the first Thursday night, September 3rd, of the college football season at Cardinal Stadium – but in the last few weeks and months, more and more discussion has been had about whether that date will need to change.

Change the date of an opening night college football conference matchup… who would ever do such a thing? A state and city head over heels with horse racing, bourbon drinking, and fashion.

Much like with every major event planned for the 2020 calendar year, the Kentucky Derby had to make some incredibly challenging decisions when it came to the 146th running set to be held on May 2nd, as it has been the first Saturday in May for every running but one. As the global pandemic became a threat to the safety of people, social distancing practices had to put in place, and because of the huge popularity of the event and economic impact, the Derby was rescheduled for September. The date – Saturday, September 5th.

As we all know, Derby is more than just a single race or single day at Churchill Downs. It’s a weekend-long party that spans from Thursday to Saturday with “Thurby,” Oaks, and, of course, the Derby.

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With more time to prepare and plan, it’s become evident that a football game being held at night the Thursday of Thurby is going to cause major logistical issues.

So, what will Vince Tyra and Louisville football do?

On a virtual conference call this week, Louisville Athletic Director, Vince Tyra, spoke about the football program’s season opener and how moving the game could be an option to help with the influx of people and expected traffic that will come with the Kentucky Derby.

“We’re trying to sort out whether we can pull that off Thursday night or whether we should be playing Wednesday night,” Tyra said. Churchill Downs spokesperson Darren Rogers spoke with the Courier-Journal about the track’s side of things and issues that could come to fruition, saying:

"“We’re planning for spectators on Derby week in September, and Thurby has grown in popularity in recent years. A daytime Thurby followed by a nighttime UofL game certainly would provide some operational challenges for all parties, including city traffic officials. We’ll all work together to make it the best experience possible.”"

Both parties seem to be on the same page that having both major events on the same day with fans in attendance could be a major problem, and it goes without saying that if something is to be done it’ll have to come from the Louisville side.

The way I see it there really aren’t a lot of options considering that with Derby falling on the same weekend as the season opener and Labor Day there aren’t many open days for football.

Tyra mentioned that Wednesday, September 2nd could be an option for the game against North Carolina State but according to the article from CJ’s Tim Sullivan, that would require a waiver from the NCAA via the Division I Football Oversight Committee.

If Wednesday is a no go and Thursday simply won’t work, the only other day that could be a match with no racing taking place would be Sunday, September 6th.

The TV networks would obviously have something to say about whether a game could be moved and still televised in an open slot, but several other decisions would first have to be made to even consider that.

Sunday would still be a great day for football, especially it the game could be played later in the day to allow for those who partook in the Derby Festivities to manage their hangovers and get back out for their fourth day of drinking in a row. That date, and anything after however, could interfere and cause issues with Louisville’s week two matchup which comes in the form of a road trip to Death Valley to take on Clemson.

No options are really “ideal” at this point and it’s very possible that the game could stay on Thursday and kick-off at a new time or even at the same time. The biggest decision maker will likely be whether or not fans will be allowed to attend the events, something we probably won’t know for a while. If no fans are allowed, all of this becomes moot. However, if the pandemic has subsided enough for people to gather and spectate sporting events, it’s likely that the game will be impacted in some form or fashion

The decision will be one of many that Tyra has to make over the coming weeks and months about the 2020 season across all sports. If the game is able to stay on Thursday night, it would allow for Louisville to be one of the first games of the season played and have the same amount of rest ahead of Clemson the following week.

However, if I’m a fan, I don’t have any interest in sitting in traffic outside of the stadium for hours trying to get a spot to park. If moving the game to Wednesday or Sunday will eliminate that, it will allow for the athletic department and operations team’s to ensure the fan experience is on par or above what it would be in any other scenario and allow for the city/community to enjoy the long overdue running of the Kentucky Derby.

Regardless, we’re in for one hell of a Labor Day weekend.