USU Football’s Season Opener At Auburn Will Be Nationally Televised

Utah State football’s 2011 season opener at Auburn on Saturday, Sept. 3 will be televised on either ESPN or ESPN2 and will kickoff at 11 a.m. CT at Auburn’s Jordan-Hare Stadium, as the Southeastern Conference announced the first three weeks’ schedules Thursday at the SEC Spring Meetings.

USU’s game against the defending national champions gives the Aggies two nationally televised games, as USU’s game at BYU on Friday, Sept. 30 will also be televised by ESPN.

The Aggies will tangle with the Tigers of Auburn for the first time ever and will be USU’s first Southeastern Conference opponent since Arkansas in 2006.

The USU-BYU game is one of two games involving a WAC team already scheduled with ESPN on ESPN2. The other telecast that has been announced is Fresno State hosting Boise State in a non-conference game on Friday, October 7. The game will be shown on one of the ESPN networks. Other games to be televised on ESPN networks, along with starting times, will be determined later this spring. The WAC Sports Network will again broadcast several games during the 2011 season. Those selections will also be made at a later date.

Utah State will return 46 letterwinners (28 offense, 17 defense, one special teams), including 16 starters (nine offense, six defense, one special teams), from last season’s 4-8 overall mark, and 2-6 in WAC play, in head coach Gary Andersen’s second season at the helm of the Aggie program.

After its season-opener at Auburn, Utah State’s home opener is on Saturday, Sept. 10 at 6 p.m. (MT), taking on in-state foe Weber State, marking the first time that USU and WSU have squared off since 2001, and Utah State leads the all-time series, 11-1. The Aggie-Wildcat match-up will have special meaning for Andersen, who will be facing his mentor, Weber State head coach Ron McBride. Andersen played for McBride at Utah in 1985-86.

For USU football ticket information, contact the USU Ticket Office at the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum, or by phone by calling 1-888-USTATE-1 or (435) 797-0305.

Fans can follow the Aggie football program at twitter.com/USUFootball. Aggie fans can also follow the Utah State athletic program at twitter.com/USUAthletics or on facebook at Utah State University Athletics.