• The 2024 season kicks off Saturday evening in Prairie View, Texas as the Texas Southern Tigers prepare to face longtime rival Prairie View A&M in the 39th edition of the Labor Day Classic. The Panthers have won 15 of the past 18 Labor Day Classic contests since 2004. Overall, PVAMU has won 17 of the past 20 contests since 2004 and are 4-0 at Panther Stadium.
• Saturday's contest will feature live audio on KTSU 90.9 FM and will be shown live on ESPN+.
• The Labor Day Classic has rotated between both schools since it became a home-and-home affair in 2011. Since 1985, the game has been played at Delmar Stadium, Robertson Stadium, the Astrodome, NRG Stadium, Rice Stadium, Panther Stadium and Shell Energy Stadium.
• For the first time since 2021, the game will feature a pair of quarterbacks who're starting their first Labor Day Classic as the 2022 and 2023 classic starters in Andrew Body and Prairie View A&M's Trazon Connley have moved on.
• For the first time since 2022, the classic will feature a new face on the sidelines as TSU head coach Cris Dishman makes his head coaching debut against former Houston Oiler teammate Bubba McDowell. • TSU had six players earn preseason All-SWAC honors as linebacker Jacob Williams earned first team honors while defensive end Michael Akins, offensive lineman Mehdi Torrence, linebacker Isaiah Bogerty, quarterback Jace Wilson and defensive back Javius Williams earned second team honors.
• PVAMU linebacker Warren Shankle is the son of TSU golf coach Willie Shankle. • TSU was picked to finish sixth in the SWAC West. The Tigers have to replace all-time leading rusher LaDarius Owens at running back as they return five starters on offense and eight on defense.
• Weather has always been a factor since the game shifted to Prairie View in 2016. It rained in 2016 and 2022 as the 2018 contest was played in a chill. The 2020 contest was shifted to the spring of 2021 due to COVID as the night was clear but cold due to playing in late February.
• Linebacker Jacob Williams is coming off a career season with 106 tackles and eight sacks. TSU has not had back-to-back 100-plus tacklers since linebacker Kevin Harris from 1988-90. Williams was TSU's first 100-plus tackler since 2004.
• Cris Dishman is the 18th head coach in the history of Texas Southern Football. Dishman inherits a tough task as the program has only had 28 winning seasons in 77 years of existence and hasn't recorded a winning season since 2000.
• The winner of the TSU-Prairie View A&M contest receives the traveling Nicks-Durley Trophy. Named after legendary head coaches at both schools, the trophy has remained on the PVAMU campus since 2015. TSU holds a 20-18 margin in the classic series (dating back to 1985) while Prairie View has won the past nine games. TSU's last win came in 2014.
Source: https://tsusports.com/news/2024/8/3...ks-off-tonight-in-39th-labor-day-classic.aspx