For the first time ever, Wofford gears up for a spring, all-conference football season

For the first time since its construction, Gibbs Stadium was left unfilled and silent this fall due to safety concerns regarding the coronavirus.

Despite this reality, Wofford’s players and coaches continued to practice and work toward a hopeful delayed season. This hope was finally fulfilled when, on Oct. 21, the Southern Conference released each team’s slate of conference games to begin being played in late February.

There are 8 scheduled regular-season games for the Terriers:

Mercer, February 20 (Home) 
Chattanooga, February 27 (Away)
ETSU, March 6 (Home) 
Samford, March 13 (Away)
The Citadel, March 20 (Home) 
VMI, April 3 (Home)
Western Carolina, April 10 (Away) 
Furman, April 17 (Away)

“Our best alternative to have a season was to move to the spring with the hopes of it being a better environment,” said Southern Conference Commissioner Jim Schaus. Schaus also stated that the biggest obstacles in getting the schedules finalized were deciding the number of games to be played, as well as the dates.

Now that the Spring schedule is official, a couple Wofford football players have voiced their excitement for finally having a chance to play.

Jim Welsh ‘21, a fifth year senior wide receiver, said, “It feels good knowing the work is finally going to pay off. You come back because you want a chance to win another SOCON championship and play one more year with your brothers. With Covid and not knowing what was going to happen there is always that uneasy feeling, but in these types of instances [you] just gotta keep faith and trust God and his plan. Now our prayers have been answered. We all feel good knowing there is a set schedule in place.”

Offensive lineman Tayvian Gass ‘23 also stated his anticipation for the spring games, as well as the current spirit of the team:“Coach Conklin harps on getting 3% better everyday, so that not only my goal but the whole as well. My morale was already on a high, but it has grown tremendously since going back to practice. I just enjoy the game and playing it with my brothers. “

The Terriers will be looking to repeat as Southern Conference champions this Spring coming out of an 8-4 season in 2019, beginning with a home opener in Gibbs Stadium vs. Mercer on Feb. 20.