Savannah State Releases 2026 Spring Football Schedule, Orange and Blue Game April 12

Savannah State's 2026 spring football schedule is set, with head coach Thomas Howard's program mapping out a 15-practice window that ends with the Orange & Blue Spring Football Game on Sunday, April 12 at 3:00 p.m. inside Theodore A. "Ted" Wright Stadium. The schedule was released March 9.

The spring game caps what will be a program's first extended look at its roster ahead of a fall slate that opens with a tough road assignment. South Carolina State announced it has added Savannah State to its 2026 schedule, placing the Tigers in a Week Zero matchup on Saturday, Aug. 29 at Oliver C. Dawson Stadium in Orangeburg, S.C. That game will be the 22nd meeting between the programs, and the history is lopsided: South Carolina State leads the all-time series 20-2 after routing the Tigers 49-6 in their most recent meeting in Orangeburg during the 2025 season.

Context matters here. Savannah State competes in the Division II Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC) and finished the 2025 campaign 4-6 overall and 3-5 in league play, placing seventh. That record makes the spring window more than a formality. Fifteen practices represent meaningful time to develop depth and establish competition at key positions before a Week Zero game against an FCS program that has outscored the Tigers by a combined margin that reflects two decades of dominance.

For South Carolina State, the scheduling addition completes six of its seven possible non-conference spots for 2026. After the Week Zero opener against Savannah State, the Bulldogs face a demanding non-conference stretch: Florida A&M on Sept. 6 in the Orange Blossom Classic at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Virginia State at home on Sept. 12, Furman on the road Sept. 19, The Citadel at home Oct. 3, and Charleston Southern away on Oct. 10. The Bulldogs' full MEAC schedule has not been released, though a road trip to Morgan State on Oct. 31 is confirmed, along with home conference games against Norfolk State, North Carolina Central, and Delaware State and a road game at Howard.

The April 12 Orange & Blue game at Ted Wright Stadium gives Savannah State fans their first live look at Howard's 2026 roster before training camp opens in the summer.