UNA to take on Samford in 2026 opening game at Wicks Family Field<\/p>\n
Press conference to announce UNA-Samford football game at Joe Davis Stadium in Huntsville, Alabama<\/p>\n
(L-R) Joel Lamp, Huntsville\/Madison Co. Convention & Visitors Bureau; Chad Emerson, HCFC; Martin Looney, Samford; Huntsville Mayor Tommy Battle; Dr. Josh Looney, UNA; Mark Russell, Huntsville Sports Commission \u00b7 GlobeNewswire Inc. <\/p>\n
UNA versus Samford August 29, 2026 in Huntsville, Alabama<\/p>\n
The season kickoff game is set for Joe Davis Stadium \u00b7 GlobeNewswire Inc. <\/p>\n
Huntsville, AL, Jan. 23, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — For the first time in its renewed configuration, Division I college football will be played at Joe Davis Stadium.<\/p>\n
The 2026 college football season will start on August 29 on Wicks Family Field with the renewal of an in-state rivalry as the University of North Alabama will take on Samford, with kickoff set for 6 p.m.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen we renovated Joe Davis Stadium, we focused on making it a multi-purpose venue that could host professional soccer as well as other sporting and entertainment events. We are excited to welcome our friends at UNA and Samford and are honored they chose Huntsville to kick off their football season,\u201d said Huntsville Mayor Tommy Battle.<\/p>\n
For UNA, this is the second time in four years that the Lions have faced an in-state opponent in the Rocket City, having hosted Jax State at Toyota Field in 2022.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are thrilled to team up with Huntsville\u2019s leadership to bring marquee neutral\u2011site events to one of the fastest\u2011growing markets in the Southeast,\u201d said UNA Director of Athletics Dr. Josh Looney. \u201cHuntsville is home to an incredible base of UNA alumni, Lion supporters, and future students, and opening the 2026 season here as the home team gives us a powerful stage to energize North Alabama. With this matchup, we\u2019ll deliver seven football games across our region next fall, making 2026 one of the most exciting football schedules in recent UNA history.\u201d<\/p>\n
Samford is starting a new era on the gridiron after hiring John Grass as its new head coach in December.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are excited about the opportunity to open the 2026 season and the John Grass era at this great venue in Huntsville,\u201d said Samford Vice President for Intercollegiate Athletics Martin Newton. \u201cTaking on a quality in-state opponent at a neutral site is a great way to kick off the season, and we are thankful to the city of Huntsville and the Huntsville Sports Commission for this opportunity. We look forward to a great experience at Joe Davis Stadium on August 29th.\u201d <\/p>\n
Tickets will go on sale in February with several fan-friendly experiences planned inside and outside the stadium.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe appreciate our friends at UNA and Samford working with us to start the 2026 season in Huntsville and bring college football to Joe Davis Stadium,\u201d said Mark Russell, Executive Director of the Huntsville Sports Commission. \u00a0\u201cThis is more than a game \u2013 it\u2019s going to be an event to celebrate the start of college football season, and we will deliver a first-class experience for everyone.\u201d<\/p>\n
The matchup continues the momentum for Huntsville as a sports destination and will be part of a busy fall that includes the UCI Paracycling World Championship, AVCA Beach National Pairs Championships, as well as the NJCAA Cross Country and Men\u2019s and Women\u2019s Soccer National Championships.<\/p>\n
\u201cBringing college football to the stadium has been one of our goals, and this is a tremendous matchup to start the 2026 season here in Huntsville,\u201d said Joel Lamp, Sports Development Manager for the Huntsville\/Madison County Convention & Visitors Bureau. \u201cIt takes a tremendous amount of teamwork to make these events happen. \u00a0Aligning with two great brands like UNA and Samford to kick off the season allows us to showcase our city in a different light, make an economic impact, and give our community a new event to enjoy.\u201d<\/p>\n
Attachments<\/p>\n
CONTACT: Joel Lamp, Sports Development Manager Huntsville\/Madison County Convention & Visitors Bureau 2565512334 jlamp@huntsville.org<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"UNA to take on Samford in 2026 opening game at Wicks Family Field Press conference to announce UNA-Samford…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":699637,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2026],"tags":[52,331,7,7989,21283,101989,101991,90798,70928,101990,101992,69899],"class_list":["post-699636","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-football","tag-alabama","tag-college-football","tag-football","tag-football-games","tag-huntsville","tag-joe-davis-stadium","tag-joel-lamp","tag-john-grass","tag-mark-russell","tag-martin-looney","tag-tommy-battle","tag-una"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/115946104318142912","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/699636","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=699636"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/699636\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/699637"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=699636"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=699636"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=699636"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}