2020 College Football Season

If my math is correct, it has been 229 days since Joe Burrow threw six touchdowns passes against Clemson, to lead his LSU Tigers to the 2019 National Champiionship. It seems like a lifetime away because this year’s offseason has been filled with athlete activism, accusations, and, oh yeah, a pandemic. The 2020 season has been in doubt for months, and games continue to get postponed, moved, and even scheduled right up to the first kickoff.

Finally the season is about to begin in less than three hours. Why it has to be a 9:00 pm est start is beyond me - but I am not going to rant about it, because we have the beginning of the college football season! I can only hope and pray that the season lasts through April, but that seems like wishful thinking.

But we have a game tonight, the FCS Kickoff game, which has been played since 2014 (Sam Houston State at Eastern Washington was the first game), and it’s a match of two very solid teams - both ranked nationally in the FCS Preseason Poll. Austin Peay, which set a school record for wins last year (11), and Central Arkansas both earned a share of their respective conference title. The Bears of UCA are favored by four points, but this game will be a toss up.

They will be playing at the Cramton Bowl in Montgomery, Alabama, this evening, and it will be far different than anything we have ever seen at a college football game - except maybe a mid-week game at Eastern Michigan! Only 2,000 tickets were distributed to the schools and game sponsers - with none going to the general public. There will be no bands, cheerleaders will be in the stands, and the game announcers will be calling the game from an ESPN studio in Bristol, CT!

A lot will be misssing from tonight’s game, and most all, if not all, of the subsequent games this fall. But the game that we love is back! In time, the game will return to normal with tailgating, raucous crowds, and electrified bands - but until then, sit back and enjoy the effort that went into making this game, and the ones to follow, a reality this year!