Rutgers football fans hoping to spend the bulk of Labor Day weekend at the Jersey Shore are in luck.

Rutgers announced Tuesday its football opener against UMass has been moved to Friday, Aug. 30. The Scarlet Knights were originally supposed to host the Minutemen on Saturday, Aug. 31.

No reason for the change was given by Rutgers, which agreed to pay UMass $1.3 million for the one-time matchup in 2017.

UMass is in the midst of a coaching search after firing Mark Whipple last month following a 4-8 campaign.

The meeting between Rutgers and UMass will be the first for the two schools since 1978. The Rutgers-UMass series is tied at 2-2, with the Scarlet Knights winning the two most recent matchups in 1976 and in ’78.

The Scarlet Knights, who finished 1-11 under third-year coach Chris Ash in 2018, are set to return players who saw significant starting time at 10 of 11 offensive positions in addition to welcoming back five defensive starters.

In addition to UMass, the Scarlet Knights are hosting Boston College (Sept. 21) and Liberty (Oct. 26) in 2019 non-conference action.

Rutgers, which is 76-64-9 all-time in season openers overall, has won eight of its last nine home openers by the combined score of 293-89.

While no formal plans have been announced, Rutgers has honored the New Jersey tradition to head to the shore for Labor Day weekend with a “War Before the Shore’’ in its past two season openers. The theme has featured a sandcastle outside the HighPoint.com Stadium entrance and boats in the end zone.

Keith Sargeant may be reached at ksargeant@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @KSargeantNJ. Find NJ.com Rutgers Football on Facebook.