On Monday, Nov. 9 Monmouth football officially announced their 2021 Spring football schedule featuring four conference games beginning in March. After the Big South cancelled their Fall schedule due to COVID-19, the Hawks will finally get their chance to defend their conference title from last season.
“We are looking forward to competing again in the Big South,” said head coach Kevin Callahan. “It’s been a long time since we played, and the team is excited about the opportunity to get back on the field.”
Ultimately, just five teams from the Big South chose to participate in Spring football which includes Charleston Southern, Gardner-Webb, Kennesaw State, Monmouth, and Robert Morris. Campbell, Hampton, and North Alabama have all chosen not to participate in the Spring season.
Despite the short slate of games, the winner of this shortened season will then receive a bid into the automatic qualifier for the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Football Championship Series (FCS) Playoffs.
The schedule features all conference games beginning with an away matchup against the newest member of the Big South, Robert Morris on Mar. 13. They come from the same conference Monmouth previously competed in, the Northeast Conference, where both teams combined for 11 conference titles while splitting their head-to-head record ten games apiece.
Following this one, the Hawks will stay on the road for a matchup against Gardner-Webb on Mar. 20 whom Monmouth has a 5-1 record against all-time. Last season’s matchup was a stunning 49-28 dominance on Homecoming where the blue and white scored seven times and compiled 599 yards of total offense.
The Hawks will host their first home game against Charleston Southern on Mar. 27 at Kessler Stadium, a team Monmouth also handled in 2019-2020 by a score of 35-13 on the road. The two teams are even all-time with a 3-3 record head-to-head.
The regular season schedule will wrap up at home against Kennesaw State on Apr. 10 following their bye week. This matchup has become the top rivalry in the Big South over the past couple years with both teams battling for the top seed in the conference. The Owls lead the all-time series by a commanding record of 4-1 however that one loss came last season in a statement 45-21 victory for MU while KSU was ranked fourth nationally. This was Monmouth’s first ever win against a top-10 team in their history.
The Hawks have begun practicing at Kessler Stadium with necessary precautions being made including the conference rule of allowing 15 non-competition season practices. The Monmouth campus can now look forward to a definitive football season while the status of fans in the stadium remains a question for the future.
PHOTO COURTESY of Monmouth Athletics