Football season is less than 100 days away, and the Auburn football program has announced the kickoff time for the first three games on the schedule. The Tigers will host UMass on September 2 in Jordan-Hare Stadium to begin the season at 2:30 p.m., and will return back home on September 16 for a matchup with Samford at 6:00 p.m.
However, between the two early home games, head coach Hugh Freeze and the Tigers will make a cross-country trip to play on the West Coast, hosted by Cal. The pacific time game will kickoff at 7:30 p.m., meaning fans who are not traveling to the game will watch the opening kick at 9:30 p.m. central time or even 10:30 p.m. eastern time.
According to Justin Ferguson via Twitter, the September 9 contest will be the latest kick since the Tigers traveled to play Arizona in 1976:
I believe the 9:30 p.m. CT game at Cal will be the latest kickoff in Auburn football history
— Justin Ferguson (@JFergusonAU) May 31, 2023
the Tigers have had recent kicks at 8 p.m. CT (2021 LSU and 2016 Clemson) and its trip to USC in 2002 was an early evening kick
unless 1976 at Arizona was surprisingly late, this is it
look at that, it's a tie https://t.co/UEKFX5dWDv
— Justin Ferguson (@JFergusonAU) May 31, 2023
Obviously, a 9:30 p.m. start time to a football game is not ideal. With the game lasting as long as it does, there’s no doubt that Auburn football fans will be up way past midnight watching the Tigers play.
I'm getting sleepy just thinking about a 9:30 kickoff.
— An Auburn Man (@GridironTiger) May 31, 2023
Mark your calendars ~ nap time on September 9th
— BarringtonK🦚 (@BarringtonKC) May 31, 2023
The Cal game with that 9:30 p.m kickoff time finna have me in the recliner knocked out for the night by Halftime 😴 https://t.co/egvayaLOZM pic.twitter.com/dwIIxe2J2P
— BEAN ✝️ (@Brandon_Bean4) June 1, 2023
It will be an exciting game, and a rare sighting of the Tigers on the West Coast, so prepare accordingly with nap time and plenty of caffeine.