Aug. 17, 2005

Winston-Salem, NC - Winston-Salem State University Department of Athletics Officials confirmed on Wednesday that the Rams' second game of the 2005 season, a contest versus the Bison of Howard University, to take place in Washington, DC on September 3rd, 2005, has been changed by the Howard University Department of Athletics from its originally scheduled start time to a 1:00 pm kick-off.

The Rams, who will face the Bison for the first time since 1993, a contest in which Howard emerged victorious by the score of 31-10, look to even the all-time series record to 2-2 with a win on September 3rd, 2005.

The Bison, who will be the first Division I-AA opponent that the Rams have faced since the 2000 season, look to extend their win streak over WSSU to three games with a win.

The game, originally scheduled for a 6:00 pm kick-off, was changed to a more fan-friendly 1:00 pm start time when Howard University Athletic Officials amended the original game contract.

WSSU Director of Athletics, Dr. Chico Caldwell, when reached for comment on the game time change, issued the following statement:

"This game time change is something that we had no control over, as Howard, being the host institution, has the authority to change the time if they see fit. When Howard made us aware that they were changing the game time, we had to modify some of our travel plans and make sure that we had our student-athletes prepared for the change in the best ways possible. There are some advantages to this change however, as it allows us to travel back to Winston-Salem, NC after the game at an earlier time, and gets our student-athletes back to campus earlier on Saturday evening so as to allow for them to get settled and prepare for Monday classes. It also saves us some travel revenue which is always a good thing from a budgetary standpoint. We are aware that there are several WSSU alumni associations and many Rams fans that are planning to make the bus trip to Howard, and we wanted to make it one of our primary areas of focus to make sure that they were aware of the time change so as to allow for them to modify their travel plans and ensure that our fans and alumni can still support us at the game."

For additional information on WSSU football or other WSSU Athletic teams, contact the WSSU Office of Sports Information at (336) 750-2143 or log on to the Official Website of WSSU Athletics at www.wssurams.com