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Washington State’s homecoming game gets a 1 p.m. kickoff

The Washington State Cougars take to the field before the first half of a college football game on Saturday, Sep 18, 2021, at Gesa Field in Pullman, Wash. (Tyler Tjomsland/The Spokesman-Review)
By Colton Clark The Spokesman-Review

PULLMAN – Washington State fans will have to get the homecoming festivities started early this year.

The Cougars announced Monday that their Oct. 9 game against Oregon State at Gesa Field will kick off at 1 p.m.

It’ll be the WSU football team’s fifth consecutive afternoon game. The Cougars meet Cal at 2:30 p.m. in Berkeley on Saturday.

Traditionally, the Cougs play the majority of their Pac-12 contests “after dark,” as they say. Six or seven of WSU’s games per year usually begin somewhere between 6 and 8 p.m.

WSU did not play a homecoming game in last year’s coronavirus-interrupted season.

The Cougars haven’t kicked off a homecoming game this early in the day since the 2015 season, when they also met Oregon State at 1 p.m.