COLUMBIA, S.C. – The Benedict College Tigers return to a newly renovated Charlie W. Johnson Stadium for their first home game of the season on Saturday, hosting the Golden Bulls of Johnson C. Smith in the Carolinas Classic.

Kickoff is 6 p.m. The game is available to watch on FloSports (monthly subscription required).

The Tigers (0-1) are coming off a tough 35-21 season-opening loss at Fayetteville State last week, when special team mistakes proved costly. Benedict gave up one touchdown and two safeties after poor long snapper to punter exchanges. The Tigers also lost three fumbles and were held to 69 yards of total offense.

"We have no choice but to bounce back," Benedict head coach Mike White said. "We have a good team, and we can still have a good year, even though we got off to a slow start. We are trying to clean up some of our mistakes and looking to have a good game this Saturday."

The Tigers will unveil a new multi-million dollar renovation project at the 13-year-old football stadium. Benedict installed a new Shaw Momentum artificial turf field by Medallion Athletic Products. The 25-feet by 43-feet digital scoreboard installed by Formetco of Atlanta will be the largest in the SIAC. Other improvements include a new roof on the fieldhouse, landscaping inside and outside the stadium, pressure washing and paint, and new concrete in the concourse. While the stadium improvements have been underway, the team has been practicing in the grass practice field in front of the stadium. Saturday will be their first foray on the new turf.

"We're excited to play at home and get started," White said. "It has probably not sunk in completely. But I think we'll be excited on Saturday when we get out there and start running around on it."

White wants the team to look good on the new turf, and that means playing better all the way around from last week.

"I felt we were a little relaxed on a couple of runs there, defensively, and the big pass we allowed," White said. "That's something we don't want to give up. Offensively, it was the whole run and pass. We've got to execute better than that. Even though we're young up front, we still can't allow mistakes. It has nothing to do with effort, you've got to give the effort, but you've got to take care of the little things."

Senior quarterback Phillip Brown completed 9-of-19 passes for 70 yards and two touchdowns, but also threw an interception and was sacked five times. Freshman Eric Phoenix saw some action in the fourth quarter.

"I hope Phil gets off to a good start, but I still think you're going to see the young quarterback play," White said. We're still not as consistent as we'd like at our quarterback position."

The Golden Bulls are coming off a 42-6 loss to Wingate last Thursday. The Golden Bulls rushed for 194 yards, including a 90-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter. Benedict defeated Johnson C. Smith 42-14 last year in Charlotte, but White is expecting a tough fight from the Golden Bulls.

"Johnson C. Smith will give us some different looks, and we're going to have to take care of that and execute this Saturday," White said. "On the film, we see some similarities to last year, even though we see some new personnel. We think we're going to get some similar offensive plays from them. Defensively, they're going to try and attack us, and we have to be able to handle them trying to put pressure on us and do a better job of trying to run inside against them. They do a lot of movement, so we're going to have to take care of our gaps and do a better job of running the football."