Davidson football unveiled its 2025 football schedule Friday, and first-year Wildcats coach Saj Thakkar will have his hands full as he assumes command of the program.
Davidson will play a 12-game slate, which includes a pair of top-25 caliber non-conference foes as well as the champion, runner-up and two out of three third-place teams from last year’s Pioneer Football League standings.
For the first time since 2019, the Wildcats will open at home. Georgetown will be in town on Saturday, Aug. 30 to launch the Thakkar era. The former coach at Division II Bentley University was hired in December to replace Scott Abell, who moved to Rice after seven successful seasons with the ‘Cats.
Georgetown, which plays in the Patriot League, has been a recurring football opponent since 1999. The Hoyas hold an 11-4 record against Davidson during that span, including winning six of the last seven since 2010. Georgetown pulled away to a 46-24 triumph in last year’s opener.
Davidson will play two in-state foes during the non-conference portion of the schedule. The Wildcats will renew acquaintances with Elon in week two (Sept. 6). St. Andrews will travel to Davidson for a night game two weeks later. The other non-conference contest is against Tennessee Tech on Sept. 13.
Elon finished strong in 2024, winning five of its last six games. Tennessee Tech posted a 7-5 mark and received votes in the final FCS rankings from Stats Perform.
Davidson plays in the Pioneer Football League, the only Division I non-scholarship conference. Long before it was even conceived that Cal and Stanford would play in the ACC or USC/UCLA/Washington/Oregon would be in the Big Ten, the PFL forged a coast-to-coast footprint. The conference currently features 11 schools from across the country.
The Wildcats will host PFL opponents St. Thomas (Minnesota), San Diego (California), Presbyterian (South Carolina) and Dayton (Ohio) this season, while traveling to Stetson (Florida), Drake (Iowa), Morehead State (Kentucky) and Marist (New York). Butler and Valparaiso do not appear this year.
Drake has won the last two Pioneer titles, posting a 15-1 conference record during that span. Davidson hasn’t played Drake since beating the Bulldogs 48-14 in 2022.
San Diego finished second in the league a year ago with a 6-2 conference mark. The Toreros won or shared every PFL title from 2014-2019, its hold on the championship trophy interrupted by Davidson during the 2020-21 COVID season. The Wildcats and San Diego shared the 2021 crown.
Morehead State and St. Thomas (the 2022 PFL champ) tied for third – along with Butler – in the conference standings a season ago. All three were 5-3. Davidson went 4-4 in the PFL.
The annual Carolina Border Clash (also known as the Battle for the 1919 Cup) between Davidson and Presbyterian will be hosted by the Wildcats on Nov. 8. The contest is slated for a 5 p.m. kickoff.
Davidson won a high-scoring affair against Presbyterian last September, 48-37. The ‘Cats have won the past four meetings, scoring 48, 45, 56 and 70 points in the process.
Thakkar just turned 34 and is one of the youngest head coaches in Division I football. He had success at Bentley, leading the D2 program to an 8-2 record in 2024 and 6-4 in 2023.
It will be intriguing to see what type of offense Davidson runs under Thakkar. For the past seven years under Abell, the Wildcats carved out their niche as a shotgun triple option team, often leading the FCS in rushing yards per game.
Thakkar has promised a more balanced attack, with tempo, and likely will ditch the option approach.
Thakkar signed a recruiting class of 20 high school players back in December and is working the portal to shore up for the loss of multiple transfers after Abell departed.
It looks like one transfer portal move may not materialize after all. All-conference running back Mari Adams, who galloped for 1,231 yards last season and 1,019 in 2023, announced in November that he planned to enter the portal. But his name is included on the official 2025 Davidson roster posted at the school’s Web site, and his photograph was used on a social media graphic promoting the 2025 schedule.
Adams’ backfield mate, Mason Sheron, also is listed on the 2025 roster. Sheron finished with 923 yards in 2024. He recently earned a prestigious academic all-American honor from the College Sports Communicators.
Davidson 2025 Football Schedule
| Date |  | Opponent | Time/Result | TV/Record |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug. 30 | vs | Georgetown | 1 p.m. | |
| Sept. 6 | at | Elon | 1 p.m. | |
| Sept. 13 | at | Tennessee Tech | TBA | |
| Sept. 20 | vs | St. Andrews | 7 p.m. | |
| Oct. 4 | at | Stetson | 1 p.m. | |
| Oct. 11 | vs | St. Thomas | 1 p.m. | |
| Oct. 18 | at | Drake | 1 p.m. | |
| Oct. 25 | vs | San Diego | 1 p.m. | |
| Nov. 1 | at | Morehead State | 1 p.m. | |
| Nov. 8 | vs | Presbyterian | 5 p.m. | |
| Nov. 15 | at | Marist | 1 p.m. | |
| Nov. 22 | vs | Dayton | 1 p.m. | |
| * denotes PFL game |
To read more about Davidson football and see results from the 2024 season, visit the Wildcats schedule page. This page will be updated with results once the season begins.
