NCAA Football 2011: Michigan State Spartans Set for Friday Night Fun

Michigan State University announced today that the Spartan football team will open up the 2011 campaign on September 2nd, a Friday night. The game against the Youngstown State Penguins will kickoff from East Lansing at 7:30 p.m., and will be aired on the Big Ten Network.

The atmosphere will be electric, as students will be amped up to begin a new football season. They will also be celebrating the end of the first week of classes, albeit it's only three days long.

This announcement means that the Spartans will open consecutive seasons on a Friday night. In 2012, the stakes are raised a bit, as Boise State rolls into East Lansing on the last day of August to open up the 2012 season on ESPN.

Per Mark Hollis via Adam Rittenberg:

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"Over the years, fans have expressed increased interest in kicking off our home football schedule with a Friday night game on Labor Day weekend," Michigan State athletic director Mark Hollis said in a prepared statement. "We believe it will be a positive experience for our entire fan base, including the student body, and we couldn’t pull something like this off without campus-wide cooperation....By moving the Youngstown State game to Friday night, it's also our hope that the state tourism industry will receive a positive bump since most fans will now have the opportunity to make plans to enjoy the entire Labor Day weekend."

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The Spartans are 5-4 all-time in night games played at Spartan Stadium. Notre Dame was stunned by "Little Giants" in the previous night game.

A few notes on the opponent:

Current Ohio State head coach Jim Tressel started his head coaching career at Youngstown State.

The Penguins men's basketball team beat Butler in Horizon League play this year