Minnesota Football: Week 1 and 2 Kickoff Times Announced

The Golden Gophers will host the Oregon State Beavers at TCF Bank Stadium on Thursday, September 1 to open the season this fall, with kickoff set for 8 p.m. The game will air on the Big Ten Network.

This will be the second consecutive season that Minnesota football has opened up their season on a Thursday night at 8 p.m. The Beavers were 2-10 a season ago in their first year under Gary Andersen.

The following week, the Golden Gophers will take on the Indiana State Sycamores at TCF Bank Stadium in a marquee matchup that will air on the ever popular ESPN News. Kickoff is set for 3 p.m.

Indiana State, an FCS program that belongs to the Missouri Valley Conference, was 5-6 last season.

I have no complaints about either kickoff time. The Thursday opener against Oregon State at 8 p.m. will make for a late night, but that just gives you an excuse to take Friday off, right? And I am surprised that the Indiana State game was not relegated to the dreaded 11 a.m. kickoff. But the trade-off is being stuck with ESPN News, I suppose.

Kickoff for the Colorado State Rams game -- the Gophers' third and final non-conference matchup of the upcoming season -- has not been announced yet.