All the dates aren’t set yet, but we do know the content of the 2025 Gardner-Webb football schedule. The non-conference slate will be a challenge for sure.
The Runnin’ Bulldogs from the FCS will play a 12-game slate for the second year in a row, facing four non-conference opponents and eight foes from the Big South/OVC Football Association.
For the fifth year in a row, GWU will challenge two FBS opponents.
The season opens with a road trip to Western Carolina over Labor Day weekend. The Bulldogs and Catamounts have played five times since 2016, with Gardner-Webb winning the last two meetings in 2019 and 2021.
Western Carolina flirted with the top 25 much of the 2024 season, placing second in the Southern Conference with a 6-2 record (7-5 overall).
Gardner-Webb will then travel to an ascending ACC program, Georgia Tech on Sept. 6. The Bulldogs nearly knocked off the Yellow Jackets the last time they faced off in 2008. Tech escaped 10-7. Georgia Tech took playoff-bound Georgia to multiple overtimes and advanced to a bowl game this past season, finishing 7-6, 5-3 ACC.
The 2025 Gardner-Webb football home opener at Spangler Stadium will be Sept. 13 against The Citadel from the Southern Conference. This will be the first meeting between these two schools since The Citadel swept a pair of games in 2014 (37-14) and 2016 (31-24). The Bulldogs were 5-7 in 2024.
The final non-conference showdown will be against Ohio, an FBS opponent from the MAC. The Bobcats (11-3) are coming off a conference championship season but will be under new management in 2025. Coach Tim Albin left to take the head job at Charlotte. GWU also played Ohio in 2016, losing 37-21.
The Big South/OVC has not released its 2025 conference schedule yet but plans to in early January. If the league flips home and away teams from the 2024 schedule, Gardner-Webb will host UT Martin, Southeast Missouri State, Charleston Southern and Western Illinois. In that scenario road opponents will be Tennessee Tech, Lindenwood, Eastern Illinois and Tennessee State.
Gardner-Webb, which won the Big South in 2022 and the Big South/OVC in 2023, finished 4-8 in 2024 in the first year under coach Cris Reisert. The Bulldogs went 3-5 in conference play and showed promise. Reisert and staff have recruited well.
2025 Gardner-Webb Football Schedule
- Aug. 30 – at Western Carolina
- Sept. 6 – at Georgia Tech
- Sept. 13 – THE CITADEL
- Sept. 20 – at Ohio
- TBA – Charleston Southern, Eastern Illinois, Lindenwood, Southeast Missouri State, Tennessee State, Tennessee Tech, UT Martin and Western Illinois
Gardner-Webb Future Football Opponents
- 2026 – Chattanooga (Sept. 16)
- 2028 – at The Citadel (Sept. 2)
- 2030 – at Chattanooga (Sept. 14)
More 2025 FCS Football Schedules
2025 Campbell Football Schedule
2025 North Carolina A&T Football Schedule
2025 Western Carolina Football Schedule
