Syracuse Football: Home opener changed to Friday, Sept. 1

Syracuse Orange football has changed its season opener against Central Connecticut State to Friday, Sept. 1, SU Athletics announced on Thursday. The Orange were originally scheduled to kick off its season versus the Blue Devils on Saturday, Sept. 2.

SU Athletics is marketing the new season opener date as “Friday Night Lights” in a reference to the vast majority of high school football teams who play most of their games on Friday nights (or it’s a reference to the critically acclaimed movie of the same name. OR it could be a reference to the critically acclaimed TV show, ALSO of the same name. Honestly, who knows?)

Syracuse also played its season opener on a Friday night last year. The Orange defeated the Colgate Raiders 33-7. The game featured the first glimpse of Syracuse’s offensive potential under Dino Babers.

Quarterback Eric Dungey threw for 355 yards and two touchdowns. Amba Etta-Tawo hauled in 12 catches for 210 yards and a score. And Erv Phillips tied former Syracuse and NFL Hall of Fame wide receiver Art Monk’s single-game receptions record by catching 14 passes for 87 yards.

We’ll see how Syracuse fares on Friday night this time around.