Tennessee football could be starting a tradition with new date for opener

Thanksgiving is all about the Egg Bowl. Labor Day should be a specific designation for one team to open the season. Now, Tennessee football has the opportunity to follow suit and be the team that opens the SEC Network Thursday night season.

Rocky Top will open its second straight season on Thursday night. After beginning the Josh Heupel era last year with a 38-6 win over the Bowling Green Falcons, they will now face the Ball State Cardinals on Sept. 1 to begin 2022, according to the SEC.

Joining Tennessee football to play Thursday night will be the Louisiana Tech Ragin’ Cajuns. UT will face Ball State on SEC Network starting at 7 p.m. ET, and Mizzou will face Louisiana Tech on ESPNU starting at 8 p.m. ET.

Since college football now has a Week 0, these won’t be the first two games by SEC teams on the year. The Vanderbilt Commodores hold that honor, as they’ll face the Hawaii Rainbow Warriors on the road Saturday, Aug. 27.

However, the Vols still have a chance to corner the market on this specific date. Thursday night football to kickoff Labor Day weekend has become a big deal for the sport over the past decade or so. It seemed to be a common tradition for the South Carolina Gamecocks.

Every year except 2011 from 2009 to 2016, South Carolina opened the season on Thursday night. They happened to have their best four-year run in history during that time, from 2010 to 2013, where they won the SEC East, finished in the top 10 three times and had one top five finish.

Sure, Steve Spurrier was coaching the team then. However, he coached them from 2005 to 2008 as well and never had a top 25 finish. In fact, his first top 25 finish was that 2010 season, a year after they began to regularly play a Thursday night game.

Now, since South Carolina has moved away from that, why not Tennessee football? The Vols could be one of the most recognizable programs starting out everybody’s favorite college football weekend until Thanksgiving. Such national attention could only help.

To make it easier, they should do what they’ve been doing, which is hosting a MAC or other lower-level Group of Five program they can beat up on. That way, they cash in on the hype that comes with Labor Day weekend while also always getting a win.

This isn’t to say Thursday night games are cakewalks for the Vols. After all, they needed overtime to beat the Appalachian State Mountaineers on Thursday night back in 2016, and that team had more hype than any Vols team to open the season since Phillip Fulmer was fired.

Still, last year, albeit an ugly win, set a good vibe for the season. This also could prove helpful for the Vols going into the next week, as after their opener, they’ll get a 10-day rest. Often times, their toughest non-conference game is their second game of the year. Why not take advantage by building this tradition?

Cornering the market on Thursday is much better than doing it on Labor Day, which will result in a short week before your next game. Tennessee football is onto something special here. They now get time off before visiting the Pittsburgh Panthers, who just lost their star quarterback. This is a way to stay ahead of the curve.