USF moves Saturday’s football season opener to an evening kickoff

Even at the dawn of USF’s inaugural game week of 2020, the Bulls’ schedule remains a fluid situation.

The school announced Monday morning that Saturday’s season opener against The Citadel at Raymond James Stadium will kick off at 7 p.m., six hours later than originally planned.

It still will be broadcast on ESPN+, the network’s premium streaming service. Because the contest isn’t confined by any network or cable-television time windows, USF officials had the latitude to move the starting time.

“There’s not many times that you get an opportunity to set your game time, but with this first game we did have the flexibility to do that,” Bulls coach Jeff Scott said on his weekly radio show on 95.3-FM Monday evening.

“Hearing from some of our leadership, they were wanting a night game...and also, it just makes sense right now with the heat that we have down here in this area, and multiple teams playing a lot of guys in different positions and those type of things.”

Fans won’t be permitted for Saturday’s game, though USF is hopeful of allowing at least a limited number of spectators at its remaining four home contests.