PVAMU Panthers Continue To Prepare For 'Unknown' Rice Owls

PRAIRIE VIEW, Texas -- The Prairie View A&M University football team continued practice Wednesday night for the 2018 season opener at Rice Saturday night.

Coverage of Panthers Training Camp on pvpanthers.com is sponsored by Texas Farm Bureau Insurance. Texas Farm Bureau Members can receive free tickets to Panther home athletics contests by showing proof of membership at the PVAMU Ticket Office. Panther Nation can visit the local Texas Farm Bureau Agent in Waller to become a member today.

Tickets for Saturday's game are available online at pvpanthers.com/ricegame for only $25 for the game at Rice Stadium. Tickets can also be purchased in person at Wolf's Department Store.

The PVAMU Marching Storm, which high-stepped down Broadway and dazzled a global audience in the 2017 Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, will be in the house at Rice Stadium in the season opener for both teams.

The game will be video streamed online on ESPN+, the new online portal of ESPN, at the cost of $4.99 per month. The subscription comes with a free seven day trial. The monthly subscription renews every 30 days, and would also be good to watch the Panthers – Sam Houston game on Sept. 8.

All radio broadcasts of Panthers football will be available online at pvpanthers.com/sportsnetwork with a 30 minute pregame show before each contest.

In a unique season opener officially called 'Week 0' with only a handful of games this weekend to open the college football season, both the Panthers and Owls are in a unique stage of preparation.

Both programs have new head coaches who are leading programs for the first time, both as offensive coaches who've had great success. They've put together coaching staffs that have had success at their previous stops. So as PVAMU head coach Eric Dooley gets set to lead the Panthers against Rice and new head coach Mike Bloomgren, homework has been key.

"It's a lot of unknowns," Dooley said. "It's a lot of things you have to assume. It's a lot of research, in a way taking you back to school. We've had to research their coaches and where they came from. That being said, you can research all you want, but you have to understand the head coach. He may have a certain philosophy he wants to use. Regardless of where they came from, the staff has to adapt to what he wants to do. At the end of the day, that's what they are going to do. There's going to be some challenges, so we'll just have to make adjustments."

PRAIRIE VIEW A&M UNIVERSITY ATHLETICS MEDIA RELATIONS