Your CSU Rams will open their 2017 season - and their new on-campus stadium - against the Oregon Beavers! Thanks to Coach Bobo, they'll also get a much-needed bye week later in the season.
No bye week? No problem for Mike Bobo and the Rams! Bobo and his staff found a solution quickly, and Joe Parker executed the plan. Now the Rams will open the 2017 season and their new on-campus stadium against Oregon State on Aug. 26. This will be the earliest home opener in program history and the earliest start to the season since CSU played at Virginia in 2002. Bobo said in a statement,
It was myself and Coach (Will) Friend and (director of operations Tom) Ehlers and Joe on the schedule when it came out. We were looking at it and comparing everybody's schedule... At first, it was, well, it is what it is and accept the challenge. Then it was, let's make a call and see if they're interested."
Bobo and his team combed the schedules of other non-conference opponents and targeted Oregon State because the Beavers also had a tough stretch to break up. CSU originally saw the schedule three days before it was released to the public. In those three days, they were able to create a solution. Parker reached out to his contacts at Oregon State and, once he'd convinced them that CSU wasn't looking for a competitive advantage and only wanted to land a bye week, the process moved smoothly.
With the switch, the Rams will now have a bye week that comes basically in the middle of their season, and breaks up the season by non-conference and conference play. It also allows CSU a bye week between its two longest road trips, to Alabama and Hawaii.
The on-campus stadium is to be completed by June 9, with the football staff moving into their offices around June 19. Since single-game tickets are not on sale, so there was no concern about altering the schedule and affecting ticket distribution. Because there is a lot of excitement around the first home game and the first game in the new stadium, Bobo feels the atmosphere will be will be even more electric since not many other teams will be playing that week.
Are you excited to see the new stadium? Let us know what games you'll be at down in the comments!
