BUIES CREEK — Campbell opens the 2018 season Thursday night, hosting Chowan at Barker-Lane Stadium. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.
The Camels will open the year under the lights on a Thursday night for the sixth time in seven seasons. CU has won its season opener in each of the last three years, including a 70-0 victory over Methodist in 2017.
Single game tickets for the entire 2018 season are available for purchase online at GoCamels.com.
ESPN Plus, ESPN’s new streaming platform, is the new home for live Big South Network productions. Campbell will be featured at least 10 times on ESPN platforms during the 2018 football season, including a minimum of six broadcasts on ESPN Plus.
One of the best game day atmospheres in the Football Championship Subdivision will get even better with the addition of a marching band, as the Sound of the Sandhills breaks new ground.
A Campbell tradition will continue Thursday with the Camel Run. All 2018-19 Campbell freshmen are welcome to participate in the run, leading the Fighting Camels onto the field and helping kick off the 2018 football season.
The first 2,500 fans through the gates will receive rally towels featuring Barker-Lane Stadium’s new North Carolina-themed field design.
With 10 seasons in the books, Campbell football takes another step forward in 2018, making its premiere in Football Championship Subdivision scholarship status and the Big South Conference.
The Camels enter their second decade following their second winning campaign, matching school records for overall (6) and conference wins (5).
Offensively, Campbell also set school records for passing touchdowns (21) and passing yards per game (207.8) a year ago, while hitting the 50 touchdown mark for the second time in the program’s 10 seasons.
The Fighting Camel defense further established itself in 2017, ranking among the nation’s leaders (10th) in takeaways (27), aided by a school record 19 interceptions.
The Camels return 44 letterwinners, including 18 starters (eight offense, seven defense, three special teams), from their 2017 squad.
For the second straight season and the fifth time in the last six years, Barker-Lane Stadium welcomed record crowds in 2017. Campbell set records for overall home (33,276) and average (5,546) attendance in its 10th season of football.
The Camels played in front of a pair of 6,000-plus fan games in the 5,500-seat Barker-Lane Stadium last season (which has hosted nine crowds of 6,000 or more since 2013).
In Campbell’s homecoming game against Jacksonville, an overtime thriller, Barker-Lane hosted its largest crowd ever, bringing 6,691 through the gates. CU also welcomed its sixth-largest crowd all time, 6,387, in its PFL home opener, a 38-0 shutout win over Morehead State.
Campbell is one of three programs in the NCAA FCS to average a home sellout in each of the last two seasons. Only Montana State and Mercer can make that claim, along with the Camels.
Entering its first season of Big South football, Campbell has been selected fifth in the league’s preseason poll. Additionally, CU redshirt senior linebacker Jack Ryan was named preseason All-Big South, while redshirt senior wide receiver Aaron Blockmon and redshirt junior Jaquan Brooks, as punt return specialist, took honorable mention nods.
Kennesaw State was predicted to repeat as Big South Champions, followed by Monmouth. Charleston Southern and Gardner-Webb were slotted third and fourth, respectively, while newcomer Campbell and Presbyterian rounded out the poll.
Chowan is coming off a 4-6 overall and a 4-3 CIAA campaign in 2017. The Hawks are picked to finish seventh overall in the NCAA Division II CIAA and fourth in the Northern Division.
Wide receiver Torry Baker, one of three preseason All-CIAA picks for the Hawks, including offensive lineman Donald Boone and defensive lineman Tyler Bembry, leads the way for Chowan on the offensive side, hauling in 46 receptions for 626 yards and seven touchdowns in 2017. Bembry, meanwhile, posting 56 total tackles, including 10.5 stops for loss a season ago.
The Camels and Hawks will be meeting for the third time in program history, all since 2015. Campbell leads the series 2-0, including a 35-3 victory in Buies Creek in 2015 and a 47-14 win in Murfreesboro in 2016.
Campbell heads to Georgetown for its first road test on September 8, and travels to Football Bowl Subdivision member Coastal Carolina on September 15. The Camels return home on September 22, hosting Shaw at 6 p.m.
(Campbell media services provided the basis for this report)
