There will be college football on Saturday night.
More than five months after the coronavirus pandemic shut down all sports, and even as several major …
There will be college football on Saturday night. More than five months after the coronavirus pandemic shut down all sports, and even as several major conferences have opted against competing this season while others attempt to manage outbreaks of positive cases, the 2020 college football season will begin roughly as scheduled with a game between two teams from the Championship Subdivision. Central Arkansas and Austin Peay (9 p.m. ET, ESPN) were originally scheduled to complete a home-and-home series in Conway, Arkansas, before the pandemic led the two teams to shift the meeting to the Cramton Bowl in Montgomery, Alabama. Not household names, the schools are among the better programs in FCS. Both teams reached last season’s playoffs, with Central Arkansas advancing to the second round and Austin Peay reaching the quarterfinals in winning a school-record 11 games under coach Mark Hudspeth, who abruptly resigned in July, citing the need to spend more time with his family. He was replaced on an interim basis by associate head coach Marquase Lovings. As the only game of the opening weekend — known as Week Zero — and broadcast in prime time on ESPN, the matchup is expected to draw an audience starving for football content. “This is different,” said Central Arkansas athletics director Brad Teague. “And certainly because we’re the only game on Saturday and the first game of the college football season, the first NCAA contest since COVID shut it down in the spring, there is a lot more excitement.” The chance to play on ESPN “is thrilling for these guys,” Teague said.
