BEAUMONT, Texas – For the first time since the 1962 season, Lamar University will play a Thursday home game announced Director of Athletics Marco Born Tuesday morning. The Cardinals have moved their season opener against Bethel to Thursday, Aug. 29^th. The contest will kick off at 7 p.m. from Provost Umphrey Stadium.
 
"We're always open to trying new things in terms of making our gameday experience more fan friendly, especially for our students," said Born. "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 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 huge difference in games," added Born.
  
The Cardinals also set kick off times for the 2019 season. Following the season opener, the Cardinals next three home games will kick off at 6 p.m. Those will all be Saturday contests which will include dates against Mississippi Valley State (Sept. 7), Stephen F. Austin (Sept. 28) and Abilene Christian (Oct. 5). The final two home games of the regular season will kick off at 3 p.m. (Central Arkansas on Nov. 2^nd and McNeese on Nov. 23rd).
 
The Cardinals are coming off one of their best seasons in program history, and its best as Division I program. Big Red rebounded from a 1-4 start to win its final six games of the regular season and qualify for the NCAA FCS Championships for the first time in program history. Along the way, the Cardinals recorded wins against three ranked teams, and a fourth – Incarnate Word – who went on to earn a share of the league title and finished the year ranked.
 
The Cardinals opened spring camp on Feb. 27^th, which was two days later than originally planned, due to lightning in the Beaumont area. Big Red enters the new season looking to fill several gaps on both sides of the field. The Cardinals lost a starting quarterback and the league's offensive lineman of the year to attrition, to go along with five receivers. On the defensive side of the ball, LU graduated more than half of its starters, including the entire secondary and an All-American.