WKU and the University of Tennessee Chattanooga have mutually decided to move their originally scheduled season opener on Sept. 3 to a later date. WKU Athletics spokesman Bryan Fyalkowski stated in a press release Tuesday.

The Hilltoppers first matchup of the 2020 campaign is slated to be played Sept. 12 against the University of Louisville the program announced via Twitter.

WKU was originally set to face off against Indiana University on Sept. 12, but the Big Ten conference decided to play a conference-only schedule this season.

{{tncms-inline account=”WKU Football” html=”<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">It's official. We’re the +1.🚩 2020 Season Opener⚪️ WKU at Louisville🗓 Saturday, September 12🏟 Cardinal Stadium <a href="https://t.co/0LKImAfb2E">pic.twitter.com/0LKImAfb2E</a></p>— WKU Football (@WKUFootball) <a href="https://twitter.com/WKUFootball/status/1291359404214951937?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 6, 2020</a></blockquote>” id=”https://twitter.com/WKUFootball/status/1291359404214951937″ type=”twitter”}}

When the two programs met last season in Nissan Stadium on Sept. 14, the Cardinals came out on top 38-21. 

With the postponement of the Chattanooga game, the Hilltoppers season opener in Houchens-Smith stadium will be Saturday Sept. 19 when they host Liberty University. All eight of WKU’s conference games remain unchanged, including their first C-USA battle against rival MTSU on Oct. 3.

“We have had continuing discussions with Chattanooga regarding the date of our 2020 football game,” WKU Athletic Director Todd Stewart said in the release. “Given the recent changes among many programs regarding their start date for the upcoming football season, WKU and Chattanooga have mutually agreed to not play during the opening week of the season and will move our game to a date later in the season. We are looking at a couple options, and we will announce the new 2020 game date as soon as it is finalized.”

In result of the program’s COVID-19 testing last week, WKU will take a precautionary measure in delaying fall camp as well which was set to start on Wednesday Aug. 5. While voluntary workout activities will continue, the start of fall camp will not be announced until the Hilltoppers non-conference schedule is finalized.

Nearest C-USA foes Middle Tennessee State University and Marshall University are both taking different routes in beginning their respective seasons. While MTSU has an official fall sports update via zoom set for Thursday Aug. 6, Marshall has already begun their fall camp.

Football beat reporter Casey Warner can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @thecaseywarner.