The defending Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC) Football Champions are set to open the 2018 season Saturday evening at Alabama State University inside ASU Stadium for the Labor Day Classic.  Fans can get live audio coverage by listening to the Tuskegee Digital Network at 4:50 p.m. The Hornets Sports Network will also carry a live video stream that gets underway at 5 p.m.

Slater in season openers
As Willie Slater starts his 13th season as head coach, the seven-time SIAC Champion is 9-3 in season openers
 
Tuskegee undefeated in ASU Stadium
In 2012, Tuskegee handed Alabama State a 27-25 defeat in its all new stadium. After a five-year hiatus in and TU's decision to partake in the NCAA Playoffs, the two teams reunited in 2017 resulting in a 13-7 victory in favor of the Golden Tigers. That win created an even further gap in the overall series record which is now 62-33-4 in favor of the Tuskegee 
 
2018 Black College Hall of Fame Watchlist
A trio of Tuskegee University football players have been named to the 2018 Watch List for the Black College Football Player of the Year Award. Quarterback Jamarcus Ezell, Wide Receiver Javarrius Cheatham and Linebacker Davoris Thomas have joined a list composed of 52 players from 25 different HBCUs. The award is presented annually to the most outstanding college football HBCU player in the country. The BCFHOF made the announcement Wednesday morning with following players per conference breakdown: MEAC (18), SWAC (15), CIAA (10), SIAC (8) and Independent (1).

Golden Tigers on ESPN
The defending Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC) Champions is set to be featured in three of the five games games slated to appear on one of the ESPN family networks.  ESPN3 will serve as the exclusive carrier of the league's package for the second straight season. This year's slate will feature two classics: White Water Classic and the 83rd Annual Tuskegee-Morehouse Classic, two Saturday night games, and the most-anticipated match-up between the East and West Division at the SIAC Football Championship.

Right City/Wrong School
Alabama State receivers Coach Chad Lucas is actually a Tuskegee native that attended Booker T. Washington High School. He went on to have a succesful college career at ASU and a stint with the Tampa Bay Bucs and Green Bay Packers
Tuskegee leads SIAC, ranked second in NCAA Football attendance *For the fourth consecutive year, and the eighth time in school history, Tuskegee University football finished second in attendance in NCAA Division II according to the numbers released by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). The Golden Tigersfinished first among schools in the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. 
 
First ever meeting with Alabama State
95 years ago, Tuskegee defeated Alabama State 28-7. The 1924 game was the first in the series and it is considered the first black college football classic

Slater against Alabama State
Head coach Willie Slater has faced Alabama State eight times and he is 6-2 in those meetings. 11 years ago, his team scored 64 points against the Hornets, which marked the most points ever scored in the series by a TU squad

NCAA DIvision II Playoffs
Tuskegee earned its first win ever in the playoffs in 2015 against Catawba. That same season, they also defeated North Alabama on the road to get to the Super Region 2 championship game (NCAA Division II quarterfinals) before falling to West Georgia.

Chasing Cleve
Slater's 111 wins are second-most in school history behind Cleve Abbott's 202 wins from 1923-54.

Tuskegee Digital Network
Frank Lee and Ken Woodard will provided commentary for the 2018 football season. Lee returns to booth after providing play-by-play duties for the Golden Tigers for over 25 years. Woodard will provide color analysis for the network. The former TU great played linebacker with Denver Broncos, San Diego Chargers and the Pittsburgh Steelers. He is also known as the first Tuskegee player to compete in a Super Bowl during the 1986-87 season.