Zone Coverage: Georgia State and Charlotte Set to Open Sept. 4 at 3:30 p.m. on ESPNU

Release from Georgia State Athletics:

With a unique opportunity to be the only game played in the nation, Georgia State announced Monday it will open the season with Charlotte live on ESPNU on Friday, Sept. 4 at 3:30 p.m. It will mark the second-straight season the Panthers open the year with a nationally televised game.

Georgia State has opened each of the last five seasons with a weekday home game, a tradition that started with the inaugural game in 2010.

Last season, due to a conflict with the Georgia Dome, the Panthers were able to open the season on a Wednesday, a day before the traditional start to the college football season. A request to do the same this season was not successful, pushing the Panthers back to a Friday start. The Atlanta Falcons are scheduled for an exhibition game in the Georgia Dome on Thursday and the Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game is set for Saturday.

“We looked at and studied every option,” Director of Athletics Charlie Cobb said. “Two things unfolded as we developed a time to play this game. The first was the opportunity to be the only game being played in the nation, live on national television.

“The second was to not go up against high school football on Friday evening. We have a great respect for the work the GHSA does. This will allow fans the perfect opportunity to start the Labor Day weekend cheering on the Panthers.”

Along with the national exposure, many activities will be put into place to allow fans to start the Labor Day weekend with the perfect opportunity to kick-off college football season in the right way.

“We are going to encourage our students to faculty and staff already on campus to come up the street to the Georgia Dome to join us for our opener,” Cobb said. “We know that we can make the Georgia Dome a great home field advantage for our program and we plan to do that in the season opener and all games during the upcoming season.”