Costly upkeep, less-than-ideal weather lead most college football stadiums to use artificial turf

BY RALPH D. RUSSO
AP College Football Writer

When Aaron Rodgers went down with an injury just a few plays into his first season with the New York Jets, it reignited calls from NFL players to have all the stadiums in which they play use natural grass fields for their safety. In major college football, the players don’t have a union behind them to voice concerns. Most of the fields they play on are artificial turf. This season there are 94 schools that have artificial surface football fields and 39 with grass. Of those grass fields, most are at Power Five schools that can afford costly upkeep and maintenance.