Rams football 2014 schedule

Winston-Salem State football coaches, players and fans couldn't wait for the 2014 schedule to be released, and it's finally here.

The University's Department of Athletics released the schedule Jan. 27. The Rams finished the 2013 season with a 10-2 record and made their third consecutive trip to the NCAA DII playoffs.

If they plan on making another appearance in the playoffs, they're going to have their work cut out for them.

WSSU will play two schools that made the playoffs in 2013, UNC Pembroke Sept. 6 to open the season and Tuskegee Sept. 20 in the third game of the year. Both of these matchups will be non-conference home games. The Rams' only other non-conference game will be on the road against Valdosta State Sept. 13 at Cantrell Stadium in Powder Springs, Ga.

The remaining seven games on the schedule will be CIAA matchups.

WSSU hasn't had any trouble winning in the CIAA recently. The Rams went 29-2 in CIAA games and won three consecutive conference championships in four seasons under now former Head Coach Connell Maynor, who accepted the head coaching job at Hampton University Dec. 17. Maynor finished with a 45-6 overall record at WSSU.

New head coach Kienus Boulware will look to continue those winning ways. WSSU hired Boulware, Maynor's defensive coordinator for the past several seasons, as its new head coach. Boulware's unit was the top-ranked defense in DII football last season.

He's already familiar with the University and the players, which gives him an advantage over any other coach WSSU could have brought in. Maynor will be missed, but the Rams shouldn't take much of a step back from 2013 to 2014.