Fordham University has fielded a football team for 126 seasons but the 2021 fall season will feature something the Rams have never done before. Play a game at the University of Nebraska. The Rams will open the 2021 fall season on Saturday, September 4, as they travel to Lincoln to face the Cornhuskers for the first time.
“This will be a tremendous opportunity for the team,” said Fordham head coach Joe Conlin. “Playing a game at an FBS power five school, especially one as steeped in tradition as Nebraska, will be an experience that the team will remember for years.”
“It’s a great honor for our program to open the 2021 season competing against a high-quality opponent in Nebraska,” said Fordham Director of Athletics Ed Kull. “Kicking off the season in Lincoln will give our fans a new experience in a city and stadium with a rich football history and tradition. After a successful spring season, I know our coaches and players will be thrilled to compete in this type of environment. We are looking forward to elevating the national brand and identity of Fordham Football with this prestigious match-up.”
Besides being the first game played against Nebraska, it will be Fordham’s first game played in the Cornhusker State and the first against a Big 10 school since 1941.
The Rams have played five schools currently in the Big 10 Conference, amassing an 11-14-2 mark against those schools, but only two of those programs were in the conference at the time of the game. The Rams played Purdue eight times from 1932-1941, compiling a 5-2-1 record against the Boilermakers, and Indiana once, a 13-0 Fordham win at the Polo Grounds in 1929.
Fordham has also played current Big 10 members Rutgers 14 times with a 5-8-1 record versus the Scarlet Knights; Penn State three times (1946, 1947, and 1953), with the Nittany Lions taking all three meetings; and Michigan State, a 19-13 loss at the Polo Grounds in 1932.
It will be the tenth time over the past eleven years that Fordham will face an NCAA FCS school (a 2020 game at Hawaii was canceled due to COVID), with the Rams winning two of the games, a 30-29 win at Temple in 2013 and a 37-35 victory at Army West Point in 2015.
The Rams are scheduled to play another FBS school in 2021 as they travel to Florida Atlantic on September 18.
For more information on the Fordham University Athletics Department fans are encouraged to click on the link seen here:
Fordham University Athletics – Official Athletics Website (fordhamsports.com)