OU Football Moves Season Opener To Friday Night

The Oklahoma football season just got a little bit closer after the university announced that it is rescheduling its season opener.

The Sooners will now take on the Temple Owls on Friday, August 30 instead of Saturday, August 31. OU said that this will be the first Friday night home game in stadium history. University of Oklahoma Vice President and Director of Athletics Joe Castiglione made the announcement on Tuesday and called this a unique opportunity for OU.

"We were asked to consider moving up the season opener by a day so ESPN could televise our first game as a member of the SEC in a primetime window," said Castiglione. "It's a unique and exciting opportunity for us, as it will be our first Friday night game in the history of Gaylord Family – Oklahoma Memorial Stadium and will give our team tremendous visibility nationally. Another major plus is, given the kick time, our players and fans should benefit from a cooler temperature. It's reasonable to expect that playing in the evening will significantly mitigate some of the heat issues we typically deal with during early season day games. Our first-ever 'Friday Night Lights' will undoubtedly be one for the books, and we're excited to open the season and our first year in the SEC in such a spectacular fashion."

According to OU Athletics, the heat indices in Norman for OU's last three season-opening games reached 93 degrees in 2023, 96 degrees in 2022, and 105 degrees in 2021. Three of the last four years have produced a heat index high of at least 98 degrees on Aug. 31 in Norman.

"We recognize this schedule change will impact travel plans for some fans. We ask hotels in our area to work closely with those individuals to accommodate the move from a Saturday game to a Friday night contest," said Castiglione.

The Sooners officially join the SEC on July 1.