Buffs will meet WVU in ESPN primetime
The Buffs will hit primetime this coming season in a Thursday night game against Fiesta Bowl champion West Virginia.
The Mountaineers, who beat Oklahoma in the postseason bowl, were a national title contender last season. Getting the chance to play them on Thursday, instead of Saturday, will guarantee a much larger audience.
“Playing West Virginia offers an opportunity to continue the sense of momentum for the program,” said Mike Bohn, the CU athletic director. “It exposes the entire university to the college-level equivalent of Monday Night Football.”
Football schedule 2008
Saturday Aug. 30 Colorado State at Denver
Saturday Sept. 6 Eastern Washington
Thursday Sept. 18 West Virginia
Saturday Sept. 27 at Florida State
Saturday Oct. 04 Texas
Saturday Oct. 11 at Kansas
Saturday Oct. 18 Kansas State
Saturday Oct. 25 at Missouri
Saturday Nov. 01 at Texas A&M
Saturday Nov. 08 Iowa State
Saturday Nov. 15 Oklahoma State
Friday Nov. 28 at Nebraska
Late last week, the schedule showed no sign of the Mountaineers making an appearance in Boulder for the 2008 season. It seemed as though the previously scheduled game was off for good. On Monday evening, CU announced that ESPN would be televising the game nationally on Thursday Sept. 18. It will be only the second Thursday night home game for the Buffs in the history of the school.
“This is great exposure for the university and the football program,” said Dan Hawkins, the CU head football coach. “It’s also a bonus to play such a big team.”
Along with West Virginia, the Buffs will be facing off against Colorado State, Eastern Washington and Florida State in non-conference games.
“I think Colorado has always scheduled very aggressively,” Hawkins said. “We’ve played great teams from around the country. It adds to CU’s reputation as a national institution, not just a regional institution.”
The Buff’s Big 12 schedule includes the yearly contests between the Big 12 North teams as well as games against the Big 12 South’s Texas, Texas A&M and Oklahoma State.
For players, the chance to take on Texas in the Buff’s Big 12 opener at Folsom Field is going to be a great opportunity to show the South what the North is made of.
“I’d like to say that historically, in the past, there’s been evidence to support that the North is weaker than South,” said Maurice Cantrell, a senior fullback for the Buffs. “Recently the North has made a surge to compete thoroughly with the South. (The Big 12 South) now might not necessarily be the teams to beat.”
Last season, coach Hawkins said there were three key games to the schedule. Those games were the Colorado State, Oklahoma and Nebraska games. With the season still six months away, Hawkins said it’s too early to tell what the key games are, but the entire schedule is important.
“Well, you know you look forward to all of them,” Hawkins said. “We put a lot of credence in the winning the opener and the last game; throw in the fact they’re rivals. We want to get going on a good note and end on a good note.”
The 2008 season opener will be on Saturday, Aug. 30, in Denver at INVESCO Field at Mile High. The Buffs will be the home team against in-state rivals Colorado State. The regular season will come to an end in Lincoln, Neb., when the Buffs and Cornhuskers faceoff in the annual out-of-state rivalry game.
Contact Campus Press Staff Writer Philip Fisher at Philip.Fisher@colorado.edu.
