ATLANTA – The Prairie View A&M University Panthers will open the month of September facing the North Carolina Central Eagles in the 14
th MEAC-SWAC Challenge at Georgia State Stadium.
The Panthers (0-1) and Eagles (0-0) will kickoff Sunday just after noon eastern time / 11 a.m. central on ESPN2 and online at ESPN3.com. The Panther Sports Network radio broadcast begins with Panthers Countdown To Kickoff at 10:30 a.m. on pvpanthers.com/sportsnetwork.
The pregame show will preview Sunday's game and will also feature interviews with John Grant, Executive Director of the MEAC-SWAC Challenge and the Celebration Bowl, Panther junior RB
Dawonya Tucker, and Head Coach
Eric Dooley.
At halftime, new SWAC Commissioner Dr. Charles McClellend will be interviewed along with Panther head volleyball coach Tacho Tyler.
Prairie View A&M wrapped up on-field preparations with a Saturday afternoon edition of 'Fast Friday'.
"We had a good week of practice," said PVAMU head coach
Eric Dooley. "I thought at the beginning of the week, we came out a little sluggish for whatever reason. However, as the guys understood the magnitude of this game, they picked it up immediately. That's what I expected from them."
The Panthers are looking to bounce back after opening the season last week at Rice. Prairie View A&M led into the second half and fourth quarter before losing on a field goal on the final play of the game, 31-28.
"We didn't have the success we wanted last week," Dooley said. "We were in the ball game, but that wasn't our goal. Our goal was to win the ball game. The guys' energy went up as the week went on, and today was one of our better day-before-game practices."
The SWAC has won three of 12 games in the head-to-head Labor Day Weekend matchup of Division I Historically Black College Conferences, with one game being cancelled due to weather. PVAMU will look to join Southern as the only SWAC teams to win in the series.
"Everyone understands the magnitude of the game," said Dooley, who was as assistant coach for two of the wins at Southern in 2007 and 2010. "The guys' attitude has adjusted as we get closer to kickoff and they understand it's going to take a maximum effort, because we're playing against a good football team. I feel good about how we've prepared. We just have to cut down on some of the mental mistakes from last week. We didn't have a lot of penalties (six for 60 yards), so now we have to build on those things and keep moving forward."
