The Citadel opens its home football schedule Saturday against crosstown Charleston Southern, a 6:00 p.m. kickoff at Johnson Hagood Stadium that Charleston Southern’s 2026 schedule bills as the Lowcountry Boil Bowl.
Both Charleston-area programs arrive off dramatically different Sept. 5 results. The Bulldogs pulled out a 43-41 triple-overtime win at Charlotte to close a two-game season-opening road trip, their first victory of the year after an Aug. 29 loss at Wofford. Charleston Southern is still looking for its first win, dropping a 20-17 opener at Lindenwood on Aug. 27 and getting shut out 31-0 at Georgia Southern on Sept. 5.
Head coach Maurice Drayton has leaned into the local flavor of his roster in the buildup. Team materials tied to the Charlotte trip highlight 14 Bulldogs from the greater Charleston area — players from Charleston, North Charleston, Moncks Corner, Summerville and Mount Pleasant — and note that Pennsylvania-born running back Gavin Garcia was drawn to The Citadel as much by Charleston and its beaches as by the football program.
Both athletic departments carry the Sept. 12 game at 6:00 p.m. on their published schedules, and Charleston Southern lists it as the season’s Lowcountry Boil Bowl date. The Citadel’s remaining home slate keeps Johnson Hagood Stadium busy through the fall, with Chattanooga on Sept. 26 for Hall of Fame Weekend, ETSU on Oct. 10, Tennessee Tech on Oct. 24 and Furman on Nov. 7. Saturday’s Charleston Southern game is Military Appreciation, with Army ROTC recognized.
Charleston Southern’s next home game follows one week later, when the Buccaneers open their own Buccaneer Field stretch against Point on Sept. 19 at 6:00 p.m. for Summerville Appreciation Day, part of a home schedule that later features Gardner-Webb on Oct. 3, South Carolina State on Oct. 10, Western Illinois on Oct. 31 for North Charleston Appreciation, UT Martin on Nov. 7 for Moncks Corner Appreciation Day, and Southeast Missouri State on Nov. 14 for Goose Creek Appreciation.
Saturday’s game will be one of the first in-town measuring sticks of the fall for the two Charleston-area football programs, both trying to steady early seasons in front of home crowds a week apart.
