• Texas Southern returns to action on Saturday as they'll host Alabama A&M for its 2025 season finale inside Shell Energy Stadium.
• Saturday's contest will feature live audio on KTSU 90.9 FM and will be shown live on HBCUGO.
• Texas Southern will honor 13 seniors prior to the contest in #0 Chaunzavia Lewis, #1 Trenton Leary, #3 Da'Veon Ford, #4 Kerien Charlo, #6 Edric Whitley, #7 Jalen Williams, #9 Michael Akins, #14 Charles George Jr., #26 Jonathan Lewis, #38 Josiah Hardman, #44 Alex Bouldin, #73 Calvin Lester III and #90 Victory Vaka.
• Texas Southern ended its two-game slide last weekend with a comeback win over Southern in Baton Rouge. At stake is an opportunity to close the season with a winning record for the first time since 2000.Â
• Texas Southern and Alabama A&M will meet for the first time since 2022. AAMU has a five-game winning streak over TSU dating back to 2017. The last three meetings have been decided by 14 points. Ironically, the last time both teams met, TSU had a chance at a winning season and a share of the SWAC West title before losing a heartbreaker in Huntsville.
• AAMU and TSU have similar offensive numbers as AAMU ranks eighth (351.6) followed by TSU (346.1) in ninth. AAMU does rank third in passing offense (226.5) while TSU ranks third in pass defense (193.5). TSU has the fifth-ranked defense in the SWAC (360.5) while AAMU enters ranked 11th (427.2).
• The kick return game has been a bright spot for TSU as they rank first in the SWAC with 26.5 yards per return. Chaunzavia Lewis ranks fourth in the SWAC with 30.4 yards per kick return while Kerien Charlo ranks sixth in the SWAC with 24.8 yards per return.
• TSU has three players (Isaiah Bogerty, Matthew Cooks and Charles George) rank amongst the top 10 in the SWAC in tackles per game. Bogerty ranks second in the league with 72 (8.0) total followed by Cooks with 71 (7.1) and George with 64 (6.4).
• TSU had three players earn preseason All-SWAC Second Team honors in Trent Leary (WR), Damarcus Thompson (DE) and Jeremy Ramirez (P).
• Running back Athean Renfro is the SWAC's third-leading rusher with 835 yards (83.5 ypg). He needs 165 yards to eclipse the 1,000-yard mark as it would mark the second time in three years a TSU running back has surpassed that mark. Renfro started as a longsnapper at TSU before asserting himself into the running back rotation last year en route to a breakout season.Â
• After several years of offseason changes to the coaching staff, the Tigers finally had stability this offseason with no changes.
• TSU was picked to finish fourth in the SWAC during the annual SWAC Preseason Poll. TSU returns four offensive starters and two on defense.
• Injuries took a major toll for TSU last year as several key players return after season-ending injuries suffered during the Labor Day Classic in linebacker Jacob Williams and quarterback KJ Cooper. Two years ago, Williams was TSU's first 100-plus tackler since 2004 while Cooper led TSU to a Labor Day Classic win in 2024.
• Both Cris Dishman and AAMU's Sam Shade are former NFL defensive backs. Both played for the Washington Redskins at one time in their careers.
• Cris Dishman is the 18th head coach in the history of Texas Southern Football. Dishman inherits a tough task as the program has only had 28 winning seasons in 78 years of existence and hasn't recorded a winning season since 2000.
