The Johnson C. Smith University (JCSU) football program has its eyes set on another groundbreaking HBCU football season, as its 2025 football schedule has been finalized. The Golden Bulls are set to begin the season with two historic matchups. One is historic because of where it’s played, and the other, because of who the Golden Bulls are playing against.
A Historic First: HBCU Football at Harvard
Following a 2024 campaign that saw JCSU go 8-0 before falling short of the CIAA championship game. The Golden Bulls look to build on its first back to back winning seasons in over a decade by facing opening the season against Morehouse College in the HBCU Kickoff Classic at Harvard University on August 30, 2025. This will be the first-ever football game played on Harvard’s campus by two HBCU football programs. In 2019, Harvard hosted Howard University in Boston for its first game against an HBCU. A game that has grown into the Truth and Service Classic. A yearly matchup between the Crimson and the Bison at Audi Field in Washington, DC.
Last year, JCSU opened its season at the Red Tails Classic with a nationally televised 21-13 win over Tuskegee University. The next week, JCSU headed down to Atlanta on a short week for a big road win over Morehouse. This season, the Golden Bulls start with Morehouse in its week zero Classic, but instead of a big road game to follow, JCSU football will host the 2024 NCAA Division II runner-up, Valdosta State.
Coach Flowers on historic matchup in Boston
“Well, the 25 golden Bulls schedule, wow, it’s really a competitive one. We’re approaching it knowing that every team on the schedule is going to be better (than last year). We are making sure that we do our part by preparing ourselves to be a better football team. The first game of the season with Morehouse at Harvard Stadium in Boston, Massachusetts, so I mean amazing opportunity that came about from both schools from Morehouse and Johnson C Smith, both have Strong alumni in that area, and so that’s how the game came about and we’re just glad to be able to be the first two HBCUs to play a football game in Massachusetts.”
High-Stakes Home Opener
For its home opener on September 6th, JCSU football hosts NCAA Division II runner-up Valdosta State. The Golden Bulls’ matchup with Valdosta State gives JCSU a prime opportunity to test itself against one of the top DII programs in the nation early in the season. Valdosta State has long been a dominant force in Division II football, including knocking off CIAA champion Virginia Union in the playoffs last year. This will be a critical measuring stick for the Golden Bulls as they aim to build themselves into one of the top HBCU programs and one of the top teams in Division II football.
Coach Flowers on hosting Valdosta
“Our philosophy on scheduling really has grown as we have grown as a football program. We speak often about the process of just doing the things that make you better as an individual on doing the things that make you better as a team and we realize that that becoming a championship program does not happen overnight and so in our process of building the JCSU Football program, we knew that we could not just start scheduling top teams,” said JCSU football head coach Maurice Flowers. As he heads into his fourth season at the helm of HBCU football in Charlotte, NC, Coach Flowers believes his program is finally ready to take on some of the top DII teams in the country. Including one from their own backyard, as JCSU prepares for another spring scrimmage against Wingate University.
Working with Wingate
“You know Wingate was just coming off of the schedule when we were hired and we were asked to renew, but we knew our program wasn’t ready at that time so what we wanted to do was make sure we were building for that. And so that’s what we did and like even the scrimmage with Wingate last year came at that time when our program had been growing to be able to compete with better teams. And Wingate is a team that is gonna compete for the championship in the region every year. Wingate is going to be a top 25 team, Wingate is going to be a team that’s going to go to the playoffs and so you know that’s those are measuring stick opportunities. So that’s what we’re taking the Wingate scrimmage as is a measuring stick opportunity.
“The game with Valdosta State, you don’t step out there in that deep water if you don’t feel like you’re ready, and so, when I say that deep water, that means to play against a team that is a perennial division II power. When you look at division II championship programs that’s one of the first two teams that you look at for the last couple of decades and so you know great opportunity for our program and then for our university to be able to host the game with them on campus so we’re looking forward to it.”
Building on a Historic 2024 Season
JCSU’s status as a true championship contender was solidified during the 2024 season when the Golden Bulls made history with an unprecedented 8-0 start. Their success garnered national attention, leading to multiple features on ESPN’s College GameDay. The program’s resurgence has also been chronicled in the HBCU Gameday Original series Brick x Brick. Which has been covering the program since Coach Flowers’ first win in 2022. The “HBCU Hard Knocks” series provides an inside look at the team’s journey, challenges, and triumphs. The documentary-style series resonated with fans in the HBCU football landscape and is now aired nationally on Sundays at 7 pm on Fox Soul as part of HBCU Gameday’s flagship weekly show on the network.
A Season of High Expectations
With the momentum of their historic 2024 season propelling them forward, JCSU enters 2025 with aspirations of a championship run. The two high-profile matchups to begin the season provide an opportunity for the Golden Bulls to showcase their brand of football on a national stage. Whether making history at Harvard or facing off against one of Division II’s elite programs. JCSU is prepared to prove it on the gridiron in 2025.
2025 JCSU Football Schedule
| Date | Opponent | |
|---|---|---|
| Aug. 30 | vs | Morehouse College |
| Sept. 6 | vs | Valdosta State |
| Sept. 13 | at | Elizabeth City State |
| Sept. 20 | at | Virginia Union |
| Sept. 27 | vs | Bluefield State |
| Oct. 4 | at | Virginia State |
| Oct. 18 | at | Shaw |
| Oct. 25 | vs | Winston-Salem State |
| Nov. 1 | at | Fayetteville State |
| Nov. 8 | vs | Livingstone |