• Sept. 22: Bye
• Oct. 1: at Sacramento, 6 p.m.
• Oct. 8: at Las Vegas, 7 p.m.
• Oct. 15: Las Vegas, TD Ameritrade Park, 7 p.m.
• Oct. 21: at Virginia, 6 p.m.
• Oct. 28: Sacramento, TD Ameritrade Park, 7 p.m.
The United Football League took another step in getting its third season off the ground with Tuesday's release of its 2011 schedule.
The first play of the third season will be run in Omaha, when the Nighthawks face Virginia on Thursday, Sept. 15 at TD Ameritrade Park. The last play of the UFL's second season also came in Omaha, and the league's future has been cloaked in uncertainty since.
It has survived, although in a restructured form. Instead of its plan to field six teams, the UFL will play with four clubs — Omaha, Virginia, Sacramento and Las Vegas. The teams will play a round-robin schedule over seven weeks, with the UFL championship game set for Nov. 4 or 5 at a site to be determined.
Omaha's other home games will be Oct. 15 against Las Vegas and Oct. 28 against Sacramento. The fact that the Nighthawks will go a month between their first and second home games doesn't concern coach Joe Moglia.
“I’m just happy we’re playing,” Moglia said. “With our fans, I’d prefer to play every game at home. But I’m not in charge of that.
“We want to put a team on the field that Omaha is proud of, and we’ll need to do that both home and away.”
The UFL played with four teams during 2009, its first season. The league expanded last year, adding Omaha, and had hoped to play a six-team, 10-game schedule this season.
But financial concerns forced it to move the Orlando franchise to Virginia, which had been slated to play in 2011 as an expansion team. Last week, Commissioner Michael Huyghue announced that the UFL was suspending operations in Hartford.
The 10-game season has been reduced to six games, with the two teams with the best records playing for the title in November.
“In a six-game season, every game counts,” Huyghue said in a statement. “Not only is there no room for a losing streak, but our teams will be in playoff mode right from the opening kickoff.
“That will make for some tense and exciting games.”
All but two of the 12 games will be played either on Friday or Saturday. Omaha will play three games on Saturday, the first two of which will be Oct. 1 at Sacramento and Oct. 8 at Las Vegas.
The Oct. 15 home game against Las Vegas coincides with an open date for the Nebraska football team. The Huskers play at Wisconsin on Oct. 1 and will host Ohio State on Oct. 8.
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