Mizzou will open SEC season under lights; early KU, K-State kickoffs also announced

Missouri football’s Southeastern Conference opener Sept. 9 against South Carolina will kick off at 6 p.m. from Memorial Stadium and air on ESPN2.

The school announced the evening kickoff Wednesday for the matchup between SEC Eastern Division rivals.

The Tigers lead the all-time series with the Gamecocks 4-3, including a pair of bowl victories.

Mizzou is 2-3 against South Carolina since joining the SEC in 2012, including a 31-21 loss last season at Williams-Brice Stadium.

The Tigers won the last meeting at Memorial Stadium 24-10 in 2015 during then-freshman quarterback Drew Lock’s first career start.

MU beat the Gamecocks during the 1979 Hall of Fame Classic and authored the biggest comeback in program history against former coach Steve Spurrier’s squad in the 2005 Independence Bowl.

The Tigers also matched the program’s largest fourth-quarter comeback to win during the 2014 matchup at South Carolina.

Kickoff times for the remaining September games will be announced at a later date.

The only other game time that has been announced is for the Battle Line Rivalry against Arkansas, which will kick off at 1:30 p.m. Nov. 24 at Reynolds Razorback Stadium in Fayetteville, Ark.

▪ Kansas State’s Sept. 2 opener vs. Central Arkansas in Manhattan will kick off at 6:10 p.m. and be streamed on KStateHD.tv. The Wildcats’ second game, Sept. 9 at home against Charlotte, will kick off at 11 a.m. and air on Fox Sports KC.

K-State’s Sept. 16 game at Vanderbilt is set for a 6:30 p.m. kickoff on ESPNU.

▪ Kansas announced four kickoff times Wednesday. The season-opener Sept. 2 against Southeast Missouri will start at 6 p.m. in Lawrence and will air on Spectrum SportsNet. The Sept. 9 game against Central Michigan will kick off at 3 p.m. and air on FSKC and the Sept. 16 game at Ohio will start at 1 p.m. and stream on ESPN3.

The Jayhawks’ Nov. 11 game at Texas will kick off at 5 p.m. and air on the Longhorn Network and on Spectrum SportsNet.

Ward wins SEC’s top-freshman honor

Missouri freshman jumper Ja’Mari Ward was chosen Wednesday as the SEC Freshman Field Athlete of the Year.

Ward won the conference title in the long jump and established top-10 marks in Tigers history in the long and triple jumps.

Ward also was among four Mizzou athletes to claim All-SEC first-team honors along with junior 5,000-meter champion Karissa Schweizer, redshirt sophomore 10,000-meter champion Jamie Kempfer, and redshirt sophomore discus champion Gabi Jacobs.

Ward’s conference title-winning jump of 26 feet, 8 1/4 inches ranks second in Tigers history, second in the nation this season and is fourth in the under-20 junior world rankings for 2017.