While the St. Thomas football team regularly has 1:10 p.m. starts on Saturday game days, the team will experience a change of pace next season: a night game.
Coach Glenn Caruso said St. Thomas will be playing a night game away at Wisconsin-River Falls next season. He also said that a night game at St. Thomas is not out of the discussion.
“The tailgating and all of that kind of stuff lends itself more to afternoon games,” Caruso said. “Not to say we wouldn’t be opposed to a night game as a changeup, but it’s just not the norm.”
Doug Hennes, vice president for university and government relations, said he remembers attending night football games when he was a St. Thomas student.
“We played night games when I was a student back in 1973,” Hennes said. “We had a night game against St. John’s for homecoming and we won. I don’t think there’s been a night game since I’ve been back (working at St. Thomas).”
Many college football teams across the nation play at least one night game during the regular season. With the exception of a game played between Hamline and Augsburg this season, no other MIAC night games have been played.
Dan McKane, MIAC executive director, said there are a lot of reasons why teams don’t play at night, but it’s mainly the tradition of starting a game at 1:10 p.m.
“I think it’s coaches wanting consistency in terms of eating team meals at 10 a.m. and we’ll get on the bus and we’ll take the field at this time,” McKane said. “They like knowing the whole routine for the whole season for a 1 p.m. game.”
Senior cornerback Chinni Oji said he doesn’t think a night game would change the team’s performance.
“It wouldn’t affect us that much or me personally,” Oji said. “I would probably do things differently, but it would be fine.”
On the other hand, Caruso said he thinks his team would be affected by the time difference. With his experience working with different schools, including North Dakota State, Wisconsin-Eau Claire, and University of South Dakota, he knows how players react to certain game times.
“It certainly affects the rhythm and flow of the players and it’s just not our players, it would be obviously the players on the other side,” Caruso said. “There are a lot of routines that we follow for no other reason than familiarity breathes comfort.”
Caruso said St. Thomas has a strong football following and one of the perks of not playing a night game late in the season are the conditions for fans.
“There are some difficulties in terms of time of the year, it might not be the best time for the spectators,” Caruso said.
McKane also said the safety of crowds and players as they travel back home is a big reason why some teams don’t play night games.
“An evening game may bring people on the road later at night when it’s more dangerous,” McKane said. “You also see some different conduct at evening games, potentially with alcohol.”
The MIAC has led Division III in attendance for three out of the last four years. McKane said he doesn’t know for sure if MIAC night games would affect the already strong turnout for conference play.
Freshman tight end Luke Molus said a night game would be a great experience all around for the coaches, the players and the fans.
“I think that we would have a pretty good atmosphere,” Molus said. “Everybody is looking for something to do and football is a national pastime, so everyone wants to come watch football.”
Jesse Krull can be reached at krul7386@stthomas.edu.