The 2019 Houston at Oklahoma football game has been moved to Sunday, Sept. 1, both schools have announced.
The game will be televised nationally by ABC at 7:30pm ET/6:30pm CT.
“This is an exciting opportunity for us,” said OU Vice President and Director of Athletics Joe Castiglione. “It gives us great visibility at the very outset of the 2019 season. It is equally appealing to me that we get to play the game in the best conditions for student-athletes and fans. By making this move, we ensured that this game would be played in the evening, thus avoiding the heat we’ve dealt with in each of the last two seasons.”
Houston-Oklahoma is the third scheduled college football game for Sunday, Sept. 1 and first FBS game. Jackson State will take on Bethune-Cookman in the 2019 MEAC/SWAC Challenge in Atlanta, Georgia, while Morehouse and Alabama A&M will battle in the Black College Football Hall of Fame Classic in Canton, Ohio.
“Making this schedule change was an opportunity for our program to play on national television,” Houston Vice President for Athletics Chris Pezman said. “While fans’ travel plans may need to be adjusted, we hope that playing this game on Labor Day weekend will help alleviate some of those issues.”
Houston and Oklahoma last met on the gridiron in the 2016 AdvoCare Texas Kickoff at NRG Stadium in Houston, Texas. The Cougars upset the Sooners 33-23 in that contest.
The two schools first met in the 1981 Sun Bowl in El Paso, Texas. Oklahoma won that game 40-14, and then defeated the Cougars 63-13 in Norman in 2004. The Sooners currently hold a 2-1 advantage in the series.
The move to Sunday night will shorten the week for both Houston and Oklahoma leading up to their Week 2 contests. Fortunately, both schools have Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) opponents scheduled. Houston hosts Prairie View A&M, while Oklahoma hosts South Dakota.
The 2019 college football schedule kicks off in Week Zero on Saturday, Aug. 24 with four contests — Samford at Youngstown State (in Montgomery, AL), Florida vs. Miami (in Orlando, FL), Arizona at Hawaii, and Villanova at Colgate.
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