WEST LONG BRANCH, NJ- Monmouth University's football team will play a four-game regular season beginning in March of 2021. The Hawks will face the four other Big South teams that are playing in the Spring after the cancellation of the fall conference season.
 
Despite only having four conference teams participating in the anomalous spring season, the winner of the Big South will earn the conference's automatic qualifier in the NCAA Playoffs.
 
Monmouth, the defending Big South Champions, went 6-0 last season en route to an 11-3 finish which saw the Hawks win their first Big South title and playoff game. Monmouth returns 17 of 22 starters on both sides of the ball from last year's team, including nine on defense.
 
"We are looking forward to competing again in the Big South. It's been a long time since we played, and the team is excited about the opportunity to get back on the field," said Monmouth Head Coach Kevin Callahan.
 
On March 13 the Hawks will head to a familiar foe in Robert Morris who announced in June they were joining the Big South after spending 26 seasons as a member of the Northeast Conference. The Hawks and Colonials played each other a total of 20 times when both were NEC members, with each team winning 10 contests. The two teams combined for 11 NEC titles while Monmouth has won the last three games including a 51-20 affair at Robert Morris in 2014.
 
Monmouth continues on the road the following Saturday for a game at Gardner-Webb on March 20. Winners of three straight in the series, the Hawks own a 5-1 record against the Runnin' Bulldogs. Last year MU downed GWU 49-28 at Kessler Stadium and has scored an averaged of 48.6 points over the three-game winning streak.
 
The Hawks will host their first of two home games on March 27 when Charleston Southern visits. The Hawks and Bucs are tied up at 3-3 in the series history but Monmouth has won three in a row. Last season Monmouth defeated CSU in Charleston by a 35-13 margin.
 
The regular season culminates in a showdown with Kennesaw State on April 10 after a bye week for the Hawks. KSU leads the all-time series 4-1, however Monmouth earned 45-21 win over the fourth-ranked Owls in 2019. The victory gave the Blue & White their first win over a top-10 team and set the Hawks on a collision course with their first Big South Championship.
 
Big South members Hampton, Campbell and North Alabama have declined to play in the spring season, with the latter two playing a spattering of games in the fall of 2020.
 
The Hawks are currently in the midst of their 15 allowable non-competition season practices.