June 7, 2012
The national spotlight will be on Nashville for the opening of the 2012 college football season on Thursday, Aug. 30 when Vanderbilt hosts South Carolina. ESPN announced Thursday that the game between the Commodores and Gamecocks will kickoff at 6 p.m. CT and will be televised nationally by ESPN.
The Aug. 30 start date will mark Vanderbilt’s earliest start to a season since 2008 when the Commodores played at Miami (Ohio) on Aug. 28. Coincidently, Vanderbilt’s last home game on a Thursday night was the week after playing at Miami (Ohio), and it also came against the Gamecocks. Vanderbilt won that meeting 24-17.
Vanderbilt’s 2012 meeting with South Carolina was one of 68 games ESPN announced as part of its television schedule on Thursday. More games will be added during the season. Vanderbilt’s game against South Carolina will be followed on ESPN by Washington State playing at BYU.
South Carolina leads the all-time series 17-4, but there have been a number of tightly-contested games in recent years. Last year, South Carolina won 21-3 in Columbia.
Vanderbilt’s second game of the season will be Sept. 8 at Northwestern. That game will begin at 7 p.m. CT and will be televised by Big Ten Network.
For information on purchasing season tickets, call 615-322-GOLD (4653) or click here.