The Terriers are ready to run for the gold in the new season. Photo courtesy of Wofford College athletics.
Except for… No other words better describe how close Wofford College football came in 2025 to a landmark season.
Except for a late missed field game in the away opener at S.C. State in which Wofford was otherwise completely outplayed all day. A 4-point loss to Richmond in which the Terrier offense mustered no scores. An early goal-line fumble, two late fumbles, and no scoring in the fourth quarter to fall again by 1 point to Mercer. A scoreless second half in a 2-point mid-season loss to Western Carolina – and another scoreless fourth quarter in another 4-point mid-season loss at East Tennessee State.
And still yet the Terriers came back after dropping their first five games to muster a final record of 6-6 – and spent the off-season pondering how a few plays here and there could have given them a chance at a championship run.
Now, heading into their 2026 opener this Saturday at home against The Citadel, fourth-year head coach Shawn Watson is making sure that all of these except-fors are constantly pushing his players toward a second run at that chance.
“We have things to clean up, but I’m encouraged with the way they’re playing,” Watson said. “We know we’ve got the talent.”
This talent includes 13 returning starters such as offensive linemen Clayton Hixon, Reggie Houston, and Dillon Porter.
Moving the ball will be led by veteran quarterback J.T. Fayard and pass receivers Ivory Aikens, Terrance Honeywood, Isaiah Scott, and Matt Flanders.
And kicker Sam Spence is preparing every day for clutch kicks in close games.
“We are looking to carry over the momentum from last season, when we won six of our last seven games,” said associate athletics director Brent Williamson. “The early part of the 2026 season will be key.”
After hosting both The Citadel and Gardner-Webb early, the Terriers will travel to Ohio to play FBS Div. 1 school Kent State. This will be the first of seven road games that will take the team to Elon, Samford, Western Carolina, FBS Div. 1 power Ole Miss, and perennial Southern Conference rival Furman.
“Our conference is always tough, but Furman, Western Carolina, Chattanooga, and ETSU were ranked the highest in the preseason polls,” Williamson said. “Ending the season at Ole Miss, who reached the semifinals of the football playoffs last season, will be a challenge.”
But by the time the team reaches Mississippi on Nov. 21, Williamson and Watson are hoping that the Ole Miss game will simply serve as a warm-up for the Terriers’ own run at a championship – which hasn’t happened often.
The memory of the 1949 Wofford team, for instance, going 11-1 before losing on New Year’s Day to Florida State in Tampa, Fla., is almost as forgotten as the Cigar Bowl in which they played.
And longtime fans can likely recall 2003 when the team finished 13-2 after losing 24-9 on the road to No. 3 Delaware in the NCAA Division I-AA Semifinal.
Which means that after last year’s miscues, disruptions from the early-decade COVID pandemic, and all the other ‘except fors’ that have been nagging the team for too long, Watson and his Terriers are howling for their first winning season since 2019.
“I like where we’re headed – We spend a lot of time talking about developing that chemistry that it takes to be a champion,” he said. “We’ve just got to hold each other accountable to it.”
