BATON ROUGE, La. – Bethune-Cookman will hit the road for one final time in 2026 as they take on the Southern Jaguars at A.W. Mumford Stadium.

Coming off a loss, the Wildcats now sit second in the SWAC East at 3-2, and will look to remain in contention for the top spot with just three games remaining.

Kickoff on Saturday is scheduled for 3 p.m. EST, and the game will be streamed live on SWAC TV.



Saturday, November 7th
Opponent: Southern (La.) (4-5, 2-3 SWAC)
Time: 3 p.m. EST
Location: Baton Rouge, La. | A.W. Mumford Stadium
Watch: https://tv.swac.org
Listen: https://wele1380thecat.com/ / Youtube.com/CatEyeNetwork / BCUAthletics.com/Radio
Live Stats: https://gojagssports.com/sidearmstats/football/summary
Tickets: https://www.ticketmaster.com/southern-university-football-baton-rouge-louisiana-11-07-2026/event/1B0064EDD8E9B656

Arkansas - Pine Bluff got off to a hot start and never looked back, defeating Bethune-Cookman 63-21 at Simmons Bank Field.

UAPB continuously capitalized on B-CU mistakes, which included a season-high five interceptions, to build a massive lead that the Wildcats were unable to overcome.
 

The Jaguars are 2-3 in SWAC play and currently sit just a game out of first in the competitive SWAC West Division. They are coming off a blowout win over Florida A&M in Tallahassee.

Southern is about average statistically on both sides of the ball, ranking seventh in the league in yards per game and sixth in yards allowed per game.

Offensively, they prefer to run the football, sitting second in rushing attempts. Trey Holly is the SWAC's leading rusher with 1078 rushing yards and nine touchdowns. He is coming off his best outing of the season against the Rattlers, with 204 yards and four total touchdowns.

Threw the air, the Jaguars do an excellent job of avoiding the big mistake, as their quarterbacks have thrown just three interceptions all year. Junior Christian Johnson was extremely efficient against FAMU, going 7-for-9 with 112 yards and a touchdown.

On defense, Southern has struggled against the run this season, allowing over 200 rushing yards per game and over five yards per carry. Tayton James leads the team with 60 tackles and has also recorded four sacks, and an interception.

The Jaguars are also very disciplined, averaging the least penalty yards per game in the SWAC.




SCOREBOARD WATCHING
It's the latest in any season since joining the SWAC that the Wildcats find themselves in the SWAC Championship Game
conversation, with B-CU currently sitting a game back in the SWAC East standings with Alabama A&M 
at 3-1 in conference play. After the 55-17 drubbing of the Wildcats in Huntsville, the Bulldogs control the head
to-head, but, should the Wildcats win out, a Bulldog loss down the stretch (which includes a tough matchup like 
Prairie View A&M) would place the Cats in position (pending three-way tiebreakers with Jackson State, AAMU)  to 
represent the SWAC East in the game.

ROAD WOES
B-CU has struggled mightily on the road since joining the SWAC in 2021. The Wildcats have won only four road 
games in that span, with three of the four coming at the home of Mississippi Valley State. The only other road win 
for B-CU in that span came all the way back in 2021, when B-CU defeated Grambling State, 31-14 in "The Hole" 
for their second win of the season at the time. The Wildcats have never beaten the Jaguars away from Daytona 
Stadium.

GROUNDED
Bethune-Cookman's offense has excelled on the ground, averaging 214.8 yards per game rushing. That number ranks 
eighth nationally at the FCS level. They have done so on the back of Rashon Brown, who has already reached nine rush
ing scores on the year (1st SWAC, 15th FCS). The aerial attack has not enjoyed the same success, with B-CU sitting in the 
bottom-10 nationally in passing offense, passes had intercepted, completion percentage, passing yards per completion, 
and passing efficiency. 

WATCH THIS
CB Naim Lassiter, who was named to the Aeneas Williams Award Preseason Watch List, was named a semifinalist for the award this week.
The honor recognizes the best defensive back in HBCU DI Football based on play, athletic ability, and character. It is the second straight season B-CU has
had a defensive back named a semifinalist for the award.

NO RECEPTION
Dating back to last season, the Wild cats have not had a 100+ yard receiver in 17 consecutive games.

HIT THE SACK
Bethune-Cookman's success on the season has largely correlated with it's front 7's ability to rush the quarter back. B-CU is undefeated with on the year (5-0) when recording three or more sacks as a team.
The team is also 5-0 when DB Isaiah Washburn records at least one sack. The Cats rank 10th in the country in sacks per game as a team (2.67)

FOR THE BRAND
Punter Isaac Gallagher-Cheetham ranks third in the FCS in puts (56) and seventh in total punting yards (2196).

FOR STARTERS
Bethune-Cookman has run the ball 111 times on first down this season. That is 26 more times than the next closest SWAC team on the year.

POUND THE ROCK
In 2024, the Bethune-Cookman rushing attack topped 100 yards in five of twelve games on the year. In 28 games since over the 2025 and 2026 season,
B-CU has topped the century mark 25 times, including in all nine games to start this season. Only twice this season - against JSU and UCF - B-CU did not record a rushing score.

KICKIN' IT
Since the Wildcats made the switch at kicker from Ryder Goodwin to Aiden Lanier at placekicker, the unit has yet to miss a kick. Lanier has been a perfect 5-5 on field goals
with a long of 33. He has also made all nine extra point attempts. Only Southern (4) has made fewer field goals in the SWAC than B-CU (6)



Bethune-Cookman picked up its first win against the Jaguars last season after starting the all-time series 0-7.


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