Illinois now has two Friday night primetime games on 2017 slate (at USF 9/15 and home vs. Nebraska 9/29)

The American Athletic Conference and University of South Florida announced Thursday that the Illinois football game at South Florida, originally scheduled for Saturday, Sept. 16, will now be played on Friday, Sept. 15, in primetime. The game will be aired live on ESPN. An exact kick time will be determined at a later date.

The Illinois-USF game will be played at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Fla., home of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Second-year Fighting Illini head coach Lovie Smith was head coach of the Buccaneers for two seasons before coming to Illinois in 2016.

Illinois now has two Friday night games on the 2017 schedule, as the Fighting Illini are slated to host Nebraska at Memorial Stadium on Friday, Sept. 29.