2011 FOOTBALL SCHEDULE
HUNTSVILLE, AL. - Alabama A&M will play a former rival at home for the first time in over a decade along with a up-and-coming program in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference in addition to its rugged Southwestern Athletic Conference slate of games as athletics director Betty Austin released the school's football schedule Thursday.
The Bulldogs' non-conference schedule features a trip to Hampton University and a home game against long-time Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference rival Tuskegee in addition to nine SWAC games.
"I think it's a very good schedule," Austin said. "We're returning a game at Hampton and our fans wanted Tuskegee for the Louis Crews Classic. What concerns me is we play at Southern and Grambling. When we played the seven-game (SWAC) schedule, we would go to Grambling one year and Southern the next, but with nine games, that's the way the schedule fell.
"We've got three of our first four games on the road, but if we can get past that, I think the schedules sets up well for us."
A&M opens the season on Sept. 3 at Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference foe Hampton University. It is a return game from 2009 when the Bulldogs outlasted the Pirates 31-24.
The Bulldogs visit Southern on Sept. 10 in their SWAC opener, before returning home the next week to take on Tuskegee in the Louis Crews Classic. While A&M and Tuskegee met in the Circle City Classic in 2008 and 2009, it will be the first time the Golden Tigers have played the Bulldogs in Huntsville since 1999 when former coach Ron Cooper's team came away with a 54-0 victory.
"I put in a lot of effort to get Tuskegee on the schedule for the Louis Crews Classic," Austin said. "Our fans wanted Tuskegee and we're elated to play another Alabama school. For us to be able to establish this relationship for the next four years with one of our sister schools makes me very happy."
A&M will host Tuskegee this year and in 2013 for the Louis Crews Classic. The two schools will also play each other in Mobile in 2012 and 2014, Austin said.
The Bulldogs then close out the season with eight straight SWAC games.
"That first road trip coming out of training camp is going to be tough," A&M coach Anthony Jones said. "Hampton is going to be a good football team. Then, we have to go to Southern and two weeks later we go to Grambling. The first part of the schedule is going to be the toughest part.
"After that, we'll have a chance because we'll be at home, but it's a challenging schedule. We've got nine conference games and all of them count and our two non-conference games are against teams that finish toward the top in their conference."
A&M visits Grambling on Sept. 24 before hosting Arkansas-Pine Bluff on Oct. 1, Mississippi Valley State on Oct. 8 for homecoming and Texas Southern on Oct. 15.
After an open date, A&M takes on Alabama State in the Magic City Classic on Oct. 29, visits Alcorn State on Nov. 5, hosts Jackson State on Nov. 12 and closes out the season at Prairie View on Nov. 19.
There is a possibility that A&M will play a Thursday night home game on ESPNU, but that has yet to be determined.
Alabama A&M 2011 football schedule
Sept. 3 at Hampton
*Sept. 10 at Southern
Sept. 17 Tuskegee (Louis Crews Classic), 6 p.m.
*Sept. 24 at Grambling
*Oct. 1 Arkansas-Pine Bluff, 6 p.m.
*Oct. 8 Mississippi Valley State (Homecoming), 1 p.m.
*Oct. 15 Texas Southern, 1 p.m.
*Oct. 29 Alabama State, Birmingham, 2:30 p.m.
*Nov. 5 at Alcorn State
*Nov. 12 Jackson State, 1 p.m.
*Nov. 19 at Prairie View
*Indicates Southwestern Athletic Conference game
