Texas State, SMU move 2020 season-opener to Aug. 29

The 2020 season will start a week earlier for Texas State and SMU.

Director of athletics Larry Teis announced in a statement Monday morning that the Bobcats’ game against the Mustangs, which was originally scheduled for Sept. 5, will be moved to Aug. 29. The news was first reported by the Austin American-Statesman.

“With the season being permitted to start on August 29 as scheduled, this move will give us extra time between our first two home games to manage any variety of possible circumstances that may occur,” Teis said in the statement. “Our original schedule did not have any open dates in (September). This improves our approach to managing the conditions of these unprecedented times safely.”

Texas State and SMU were both approved waiver requests from the Sun Belt and American Athletic Conferences, respectively, to make the move official. The change comes after the NCAA announced that all Division I teams were permitted to begin the regular season on Aug. 29.

The school said in the statement that updated safety guidelines and protocols for gameday procedures, including capacity limitations for Bobcat Stadium, will be announced later. Texas State's home game against UTSA remains scheduled for Sept. 12.