CSU FOOTBALL

CSU to open stadium earlier, vs. Pac-12 team

Kelly Lyell
kellylyell@coloradoan.com
The first game at the new on-campus stadium under construction at CSU will be played Aug. 26 instead of Sept. 9, school officials said Monday.

CSU will play Oregon State in the first game at its new on-campus stadium this fall, moving that game up four weeks to Aug. 26, school officials announced Monday.

The Rams were originally scheduled to host Oregon State on Sept. 23 but began exploring options to move the game up when Colorado State University received a Mountain West schedule that did not include a bye week.

"Playing 12 consecutive weeks without a bye is a significant challenge, so we began to look at our nonconference schedule, and we were able to make the switch fairly quickly," third-year CSU coach Mike Bobo said in a news release. "We are all excited about the opening of the new stadium and playing football on campus, and now we get to celebrate that historic day sooner than we all expected.”

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So, instead of opening the stadium Sept. 9 against Abilene Christian, a Football Championship Subdivision school, the Rams will face the Beavers of the Pacific-12 Conference on the opening weekend of the college football season.

The schedule change gives the Rams a bye between a Sept. 16 game at Alabama and their Sept. 30 Mountain West opener at Hawaii. The MW scheduled CSU with eight games over eight weeks, from Sept. 30 through Nov. 18. The Rams' week off fell on the final weekend of the regular season, Nov. 25, which would give the team an extra week to prepare for the Dec. 2 MW championship game if it were to win the Mountain Division to qualify.

CSU is moving into a new $220 million stadium with 36,000 seats and total capacity of 41,000 this fall after closing down Hughes Stadium last fall after 49 seasons. Hughes was located 3 miles west of the university's main campus. The new stadium is on the southwest side of campus.

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"The change moves up the opening of our new stadium by two weeks, but the project remains on schedule and on budget, and we expect it to be fully operational in time for the first game," CSU athletic director Joe Parker said in the news release.

Television coverage plans have not yet been announced, but the Oregon State-CSU game is one of only four scheduled among schools playing football at the NCAA's highest level, the Football Bowl Subdivision, on Saturday, Aug. 26. The others are Hawaii at Massachusetts, South Florida at San Jose State, Portland State at BYU and Stanford vs. Rice in Sydney, Australia.

The schedule change does not affect the FORTitude 10K road race, which will finish in the stadium Sept. 4. That was originally promoted as the first public even at the new stadium.

“There is great anticipation for the opening of the on-campus stadium, and a great deal of work that continues to be done in preparation for this historic event,” Parker said. “We recognize there are fans who have made plans to travel to Fort Collins the weekend of Sept. 23 who are inconvenienced by this change, but we are hopeful that making this switch as quickly as possible will help them adjust their plans. There also are many who have plans to be here Sept. 9 for what was to be the grand opening of the new stadium.

"Weighing all of the factors involved in this decision, we have been particularly mindful of the importance to the football program and its competitive factors in making a final decision.”

CSU's other home football games at the new stadium this fall are scheduled for Oct. 14 vs. Nevada, Oct. 28 against Air Force, Nov. 11 vs. Boise State and Nov. 18 against San Jose State.

New season ticket commitments are being accepted now at CSURams.com/tickets or by calling (800) 491-7267. Those renewing season tickets will begin selecting their seats in the new stadium through a process that begins March 22. Those purchasing new season tickets will be able to select their seats beginning in May.

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The schedule change does not affect the FORTitude 10K road race, which will finish in the stadium Sept. 4. That was originally promoted as the first public even at the new stadium.

“There is great anticipation for the opening of the on-campus stadium, and a great deal of work that continues to be done in preparation for this historic event,” Parker said. “We recognize there are fans who have made plans to travel to Fort Collins the weekend of Sept. 23 who are inconvenienced by this change, but we are hopeful that making this switch as quickly as possible will help them adjust their plans. There also are many who have plans to be here Sept. 9 for what was to be the grand opening of the new stadium.

"Weighing all of the factors involved in this decision, we have been particularly mindful of the importance to the football program and its competitive factors in making a final decision.”

CSU's other home football games at the new stadium this fall are scheduled for Oct. 14 vs. Nevada, Oct. 28 against Air Force, Nov. 11 vs. Boise State and Nov. 18 against San Jose State.

New season ticket commitments are being accepted now at CSURams.com/tickets or by calling (800) 491-7267. Those renewing season tickets will begin selecting their seats in the new stadium through a process that begins March 22. Those purchasing new season tickets will be able to select their seats beginning in May.

CSU's 2017 football schedule

Aug. 26 — OREGON STATE

Sept. 1 — vs. Colorado (in Denver)

Sept. 9 — ABELINE CHRISTIAN

Sept. 16 — at Alabama

Sept. 30 — at Hawaii

Oct. 7— at Utah State

Oct. 14 — NEVADA

Oct. 21— at New Mexico

Oct. 28 — AIR FORCE

Nov. 4 — at Wyoming

Nov. 11 — BOISE STATE

Nov. 18 — SAN JOSE STATE