WSSU Athletics Releases 2009 Football Schedule

by WSSU Office of Athletic Media Relations

Rams to play five home contests and UC Davis in California

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – Winston-Salem State University Director of Athletics, Dr. Chico Caldwell officially released the 2009 Ram football schedule on Wednesday morning with several highlights of the 11-game slate being WSSU's five home games to take place at Bowman Gray Stadium, the Urban League Classic in East Rutherford, N.J. and a West coast road trip to Davis, Calif. to face the Aggies of UC Davis.

The Rams will play a full complement of Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference games with only two non-conference opponents gracing the schedule in longtime rival, North Carolina Central University (November 14) and Great West Football Conference member, the University of California, Davis (October 17). WSSU, who will enter into their fourth year of a five-year transition to the NCAA Division I level in the fall of 2009, will play nine MEAC contests highlighted by MEAC home games against North Carolina A&T in the Battle of I-40 Classic (September 5), Florida A&M (October 10), Hampton for Homecoming 2009 (October 31), Delaware State (November 7).

The Rams will take to the road to face Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference member South Carolina State in Orangeburg (September 26) before traveling to the nation’s capital to kickoff versus Howard in Washington, D.C. (October 3) on back-to-back weeks. WSSU will also travel to points south as they visit Daytona Beach, Fla. to face Bethune-Cookman (October 24) before completing their road schedule in Norfolk, Va. against Norfolk State University in the final week of the season (November 21).

Highlighting the Rams’ games away from home marks dates at Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J. with the Bears of Morgan State University in the Urban League Classic and a cross-country trip to Davis, Calif. to face the Aggies of UC Davis. The Aggies, a team that recently completed a five-year transition to NCAA Division I will face the Rams in the first-ever meeting between the two teams.

“We are extremely pleased with our 2009 football schedule” WSSU Director of Athletics, Dr. Chico Caldwell commented. “We have a good schedule with several highlights.”

“We’ll be in the Urban League Classic at Giants Stadium and we have Florida A&M coming into Bowman Gray Stadium, which is something that our fans are excited about. We have a very balanced schedule with five home games and six games away from home and we get to take our team out to California to play UC Davis as well as playing host to Hampton at Bowman Gray Stadium for Homecoming” Caldwell added. It's uncertain whether Florida A&M will bring its famous 424-member band to Winston-Salem. "I don't know if their band is coming, because I know we can't pay for it -- they have a big band," Caldwell said. "We're excited about them coming to Bowman Gray Stadium."

Season tickets for 2009 WSSU football will go on sale on Monday, July 6 at 10:00 a.m. at the WSSU Ticket Office. Tickets may be purchase in person, or by phone via credit card at (336) 750-3220. For additional information on WSSU football, log on to the Official Website of WSSU Athletics at http://www.wssurams.com/.

Click here for 2009 Printable Schedule.

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Note to Dr. Caldwell... Great move scheduling a weaken Hampton for homecoming. The unofficial FAMU answer is no, the Marching 100 will not be coming to Winston Salem. The policy is simple--no Money, No Marching 100 Band. Nine buses, hotel and food is not free for 450 members of the hundred. Still, the price of admission is worth the trip to WSSU for the fans to see Joe Taylor's Rattlers steamroll the Rams on their way to the MEAC Championship.

Not sure who has the correct date for the Rams vs. Rattlers game -- FAMU schedule shows the game scheduled on September 12th, the Rams current OPEN DATE. The Rattlers plan to be at Miami on Oct 10 for a $400,000 payday and another demoralizing D-I flattening by the Hurricanes.

-beepbeep