George Ferguson Column: Let there be more light in local college football

Some may argue that football was meant for Saturday, and meant to be played in the day time. Others argue that, football, in its purest form, is high school football on Friday nights. Of course, then there’s the holy day, reserved for the NFL on Sundays.

Really though, the time of day you like your football is a personal preference.

For me, however, whether it’s Friday’s Saturday’s, or the Super Bowl on a Sunday night, I have to be honest, football under the lights is best.

Of course, I grew up watching football at Blue Pony Stadium on Friday nights. At a young age, I was playing football in the end zones while the Blue Ponies were replaying on the field. As I got older, walking circles around the field was the popular thing to do. And of course, in high school, since I decided not to play myself, watching all of my friends from the student section is what I did.

My love affair with night games at Blue Pony Stadium continues too. Early in my Havre Daily News days, I spent many nights, some hot, some freezing cold, covering the Blue Ponies from the sidelines. And now, while I don’t cover the Ponies anymore, I’m still there, every Friday night, as the most recent voice of Blue Pony Stadium.

So, though I’m only 41 years old, that’s a lot of tradition and history with football being played under the lights, and I guess that’s why I’m now such a big fan of college football under the lights too.

In my days spent going to school at the University of Montana, there were no night games at Washington-Grizzly Stadium, or Bobcat Stadium, then known as Reno H. Sales Stadium, as neither had lights at the time.

That was fine. It was what we were all used to back then. But, a couple of things happened a few years ago that changed my view of night games in Montana.

The first was a trip my wife and I took to the old Husky Stadium in Seattle to watch what was then the first true night game at UDub in over a decade. The Huskies were playing their hated rival, the Oregon Ducks, and while it was a typical, rainy, windy, cold October night in Seattle, the atmosphere was incredible. The crowd was electric and the game was beyond fun. It was big-time college football at it’s prime time best.

And, as I sat high above the famed Husky Stadium, soaking it all in, literally, I wanted the same thing for my Montana Grizzlies. And, it was just one year later that I got it — sort of.

The 2004 Football Championship Subdivision playoffs were being completely taken over by ESPN, meaning, the network was setting the game times for all of the playoff games, because, well ESPN can do that. And, when Montana was set to host New Hampshire in the 2004 quarterfinals, ESPN set the kickoff for 5 p.m. E.S.T. While still daylight in Missoula at that time, sunset in December comes quick, and, because Washington-Grizzly Stadium didn’t have its own lights, ESPN trucked them in.

I have to say, when darkness fell that day, Wash-Griz became a completely different stadium. It was incredible, at least it looked that way on TV, because, thanks to then sports editor Ryan Divish making the trip down for the game, leaving me at home to cover Havre Invitational wrestling, I wasn’t there for the first, under-the-lights game in Missoula.

But, it wasn’t the last, and I was there for the first true night kickoff at Wash-Griz, a 2007 FCS semifinal game against UMass. That was another incredible spectacle and is, to the this day, still known as one of the loudest games in stadium history. ESPN again trucked in the lights for that one, as they did for the famous blizzard semifinal game against Appalachian State. And with those temporary lights night games, a new era in Montana college football was truly born.

I’ve been to every night game at Wash-Griz since, the UNI win in the FCS quarterfinals, and all of the night games since the university installed permanent lights. And they’ve all been magical.

But, in the years since Montana, and Montana State started playing night games, a lot of the old guard, of which I like to think I’m part of, didn’t like the prime time starts. I heard from Griz and Cat fans alike that it messed with travel plans and, many preferred the 12 p.m. or 1 p.m. kickoffs that had been the norm for eons.

To those people I can say just one thing — I’m sorry. There’s absolutely nothing like a college football game under the lights. It’s fun, it’s exciting and the crowds for all the ones I’ve been involved with, have been extra pumped up. So, I say, both UM and MSU need to play more night games, not fewer.

This coming season, the Griz will open the year with a night game against Saint Francis, MSU will do the same with its annual Gold Rush game, the Bobcats’ home opener against Bryant. There will also be some late-afternoon kickoffs for both teams throughout the season, and, there’s a good chance that, for the second time in the last three seasons, the annual Cat-Griz game will also be played under the lights when it comes to Missoula on Nov. 19.

Even Frontier Conference schools are following suit. Many times, Frontier teams only play night games when they conflict with high school playoff games. That’s been the case here at Montana State University-Northern in recent years. But not this season. The Lights will play a true night game against Eastern Oregon Oct. 8 at Blue Pony Stadium, while Montana Tech and Southern Oregon also have true night games scheduled this season at their home stadium.

And that’s what I like to hear. Night games are a big deal in college football. Look at the SEC and the Pac 12. They play a lot of prime time, Saturday night games, and they’re some of the biggest games of the year. So, why not Montana? Maybe people used to be afraid of playing at night because of the cold, but that’s kind of a silly excuse. We brag about being tough here in Montana, so we can certainly spend a few extra hours being tough at night, too.

Yes, night games shouldn’t just be for high school football, and I for one am glad UM, MSU and Northern are all getting with the fun of going under the lights. I’m not saying it has to be every Saturday by any means. But, there is nothing quite like a college football night game, and Montana college football fans shouldn’t be deprived or afraid of the fun.

No, night games around here, whether you’re a Griz or a Cat, are something that should be embraced. And I for one can’t wait until fall, and it’s time to turn on the lights.