Johnson C. Smith football kicks off 2025 schedule in HBCU showcase game

For the second year in a row, Johnson C. Smith football will begin the season in a high-profile HBCU showcase game.

Last year, the Golden Bulls opened in the Red Tails Classic in Alabama against Tuskegee. This season, JCSU will travel to Cambridge, Mass. to compete in the HBCU Kickoff Classic against Morehouse College. The contest will be Saturday, Aug. 30 at Harvard Stadium. 

The season opener will be a rematch of last season’s week two game in Atlanta, won by the Golden Bulls 37-13. 

Johnson C. Smith has emerged as a Division II HBCU contender the past couple of seasons. The Golden Bulls, under coach Maurice Flowers, won a school-record eight games in a row to start the 2024 campaign before finishing 8-2 and barely missing out on the D2 playoffs.

Had the Bulls made the D2 post-season bracket a year ago, they could have run into top-seeded Valdosta State, which advanced from Super Region 2 to the national championship game. 

Valdosta State shows up on this year’s JCSU regular season schedule as a week two opponent. The Blazers will visit Charlotte on Saturday, Sept. 6. Valdosta’s only loss in 2024 came in the D2 title game against Ferris State. The Blazers knocked out CIAA champion Virginia Union in the semifinals en route to a 13-1 campaign.

The rest of Johnson C. Smith’s 2025 schedule features the usual collection of CIAA opponents. Like last season, the league will not use divisions. The top two teams in the standings will meet in the CIAA championship game on Saturday, Nov. 15 in Durham.

JCSU seemed to have the inside track to a CIAA title game slot through much of last fall. The Bulls beat Virginia Union and Virginia State early in conference play, then dusted off Shaw and Winston-Salem State to improve to 8-0 overall, 6-0 in the league. But familiar nemesis Fayetteville State snapped the winning streak, then long-time rival Livingstone sprang an upset on the final day of the regular season to keep them out of the championship contest.

Johnson C. Smith will play all five CIAA opponents from North Carolina this season – Elizabeth City State, Shaw and Fayetteville State on the road, and Winston-Salem State and Livingstone at home. 

The Golden Bulls will play at Virginia Union on Sept. 20 and at Virginia State two weeks later. Bluefield State will be JCSU’s homecoming opponent on Sept. 27. Senior Day will come against Livingstone on Nov. 8.

Flowers is the reigning CIAA coach of the year. Johnson C. Smith put 12 players on the 2024 all-conference list, including defensive player of the year Benari Black. The senior linebacker led the CIAA with 114 tackles, including 16 against both Fayetteville State and Virginia State. Black posted 14.5 tackles for loss.

Johnson C. Smith is slated to return one of the most dynamic offensive playmakers in North Carolina D2 football, wide receiver Brevin Caldwell. The rising senior was named an HBCU Football All-American after last season, averaging 109.0 receiving yards per game, tops among all D2 players in the Old North State. 

Johnson C. Smith 2025 Football Schedule

Johnson C. Smith 2024 Football Results