Lamar will begin the 2019 football season playing a home game on a Thursday.

That hasn’t been done since the 1962 season, according to a school release.

The season opener against Tennessee’s Bethel University has been moved up two days to Thursday, Aug. 29. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. at Provost Umphrey Stadium in Beaumont.

Lamar athletic director Marco Born feels the move will allow students to enjoy a game and still get to take off for the Labor Day weekend.

“We’re always open to trying new things in terms of making our gameday experience more fan friendly, especially for our students,” Born said in the release. “Traditionally, college football is played on Saturdays, but we also know that a lot of our students use the Labor Day Weekend to get away with their families. We felt moving this game to Thursday allowed our students the opportunity to be at our game as well as spend the rest of the weekend with family.

“If you ask any of our coaches, they will tell you that our students create a great atmosphere at all of our events. They create an energy in the stands that our student-athletes feed off of. It makes a difference.”

Lamar set other home kickoff times for 2019: Mississippi Valley State at 6 p.m. Sept. 7, Stephen F. Austin at 6 p.m. Sept. 28, Abilene Christian at 6 p.m. Oct. 5, Central Arkansas at 3 p.m. Nov. 2 and McNeese State at 3 p.m. Nov. 23.

The Cardinals’ road games include: Texas A&M on Sept. 14, Southeastern Louisiana on Sept. 21, Sam Houston State on Oct. 12, Incarnate Word on Oct. 19, Northwestern State on Nov. 9 and Houston Baptist on Nov. 16. Times for those games have not been set.

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I.C. Murrell: 721-2435. Twitter: @ICMurrellPANews