TSU, Prairie View success elevates Labor Day Classic

PRAIRIE VIEW – For decades now, the Labor Day Kickoff Classic that pits Prairie View and Texas Southern has been almost everything a good rivalry should be.

• Highly competitive games that came down to the final play
• Spirited play on the field
• Smack talk
• A healthy dislike for each other
• A game that divided families, households, and friendships

The only shortcoming is that sometimes, both programs weren’t very good with respect to the SWAC West Division. But in the past couple of years, that has changed with programs showing a resurgence at the same time, which has amplified this rivalry that renews Sunday morning at 11 a.m. in Prairie View in front of a national ESPN2 audience.

“I think it’s really good,” second-year Prairie View coach Tremaine Jackson, who has been on both sides of this rivalry as a head coach, and as a player and assistant coach at TSU. “I think it’s good for the SWAC, I think it’s good for FCS football in the state of Texas. We’ve got a lot of FCS football around us, so everybody being good helps us all. So we want to make sure that we are doing our part.”

The feeling now is that the SWAC West really runs through Houston, and that seems more than rhetoric after Prairie View won last season’s opener against TSU on a run-off touchdown. The Panthers went on to win the division and the SWAC Championship, and represented the conference in the Black college football national championship game.  

TSU, meanwhile, finished second in the division just two games behind Prairie View while posting the program’s first NCAA-recognized winning season in 25 years. Were it not for one busted play in the end zone as time expired last season, the Tigers might have experienced the success the Panthers enjoyed.

“Obviously, this game has already been important to the city; the alums, the greater Houston community,” said Prairie View athletic director Anton Goff, who is heading into his fourth Labor Day Classic. “I think now it’s becoming really, really important to the SWAC.

“Last year, the winner of this game really was for the West championship. We look at it similarly. Both of these programs are really good. We have always talked about how the West should come through Texas, and in order for that to be true, we both have to be really good. Right now, it looks like two great programs.”

The strong standings of both teams now have some saying the game should be moved back to later in the season because of the West Division implications. Part of the reason the game was moved earlier in the season was to capitalize on fan interest before it became obvious that neither program was good.

Jackson has been outspoken about shifting the game back to the end of the other season, while Dishman has been less vocal. But both athletic directors have heard the calls.

“I think it’s going to be a push,” said new TSU Vice President for Athletics Ashley Robinson, who came over from Jackson State but has also been on the other side of the Labor Day Classic rivalry as the Prairie View athletic director.  “We listen to our coaches as far as something they are going to put on us, especially being so big now. Just like the Jackson State-Alcorn games, the Florida A&M-Bethune game. All those games being played at the end make it big.

“But I do think you have the advantage of having it at the beginning, without the crowd and everything we are doing. So I think it’s good to have it at the beginning because nobody knows what’s going on. So it’s an advantage to having it, but I do think it’s going to be some conversation about pushing it to the end.”

For TSU coach Cris Dishman and Jackson as the game nears, it’s less about the implications for the season or even the rivalry. It’s about both getting a win and starting out conference play 1-0.

In the SWAC Preseason Predictions, Prairie View was picked to repeat as SWAC West champs, while the Tigers are predicted to finish fourth in the division. In this week’s Black College Football Top 10 Poll, Prairie View is ranked fifth in the nation, and TSU ranks 6th.

“For me, it’s for the West,” said Dishman, who is 1-1 in the Labor Day Classic going into his third season. “The winner of this game will be the winner of the West. That’s what we are trying to do, is win the West.

“They did a great job last year of coming in and beating us at Shell Energy Stadium, and then went on to win the West. That’s what we are trying to do.”

Jackson also downplayed the significance of this game, even though both programs are on the uptick.

“I don’t know what it means for a rivalry,” said Jackson, whose team opened last week with a 49-30 loss on the road at FCS Top 10 Tarleton State.  “I know we get an opportunity to play football on a Sunday at 11 o’clock. All of our guys say they want to play on Sunday. Here is your chance. This is about a realistic chance to play on Sunday that you have in front of you right now.”

“It’s going to be 11 am, it’s going to be blazing hot. It’s an opportunity to see where we are as a program against a good football team.”

Both programs got a chance to find out a little about themselves during last weekend’s opener, with TSU coming away feeling pretty good after defeating North Carolina Central 42-30 at home in a classic SWAC-MEAC showdown. Jackson isn’t happy about his team’s 19-point loss in the non-conference matchup, but he understands what’s most important for his program is how it navigates the SWAC season.

“We make no qualms about it,” Jackson said. “We don’t have to talk about those things that we have already talked about. We came here to win. We want to win every game. We wanted to win last week.”

To show how far this game has come now that both programs are good and viable in the SWAC race, Goff hammered out a deal that gives the Labor Day Classic stand-alone status on ESPN2. The game had to be moved to early Sunday morning, but for a couple of hours, the weekend before the NFL fully kicks off, the only football action will be Panthers vs. Tigers.

While the exposure is top-tier for both schools and programs, and for SWAC and HBCU football in general, shifting the game to Sunday morning has not sat well with some, especially TSU fans. But Goff makes no apologies.

“They approached me, and I was like, I’m not sure if I want to change the game, but when I started thinking about it, I was like, this is going to be an opportunity for both of our programs to be showcased,” Goff said. “HBCU football showcase, the SWAC football showcase. Nobody else is playing; 12 o’clock on the East Coast, 11 o’clock Central. If you want to watch some football, the only game on is Texas Southern and Prairie View.

“I felt like our kids deserved that attention, deserved that exposure.”

Jackson is good with the time slot, but he has a message for fans of both programs who might prefer to watch from the comfort of home after the church service instead of packing Panther Stadium, as both coaches hope.

“I don’t care where the game is. You need to come to the game,” Jackson said. “I’m a little concerned. Everybody wants to go to hear the sermon on Sunday when they’ve missed (last Sunday). But this coming Sunday, they’ve got to go to this service.

“So I’ve sent some emails to the church, and I told my pastor just to say a prayer and then on to the stadium. God is going to be there. I promise that my God is going to be at the game.

“We will say a prayer or two, sing a gospel song, and get everybody fired up. But don’t let it being on national TV stop the people in the surrounding areas from coming to the game. The players deserve it. The universities deserve it. Make sure you show up at the game.”