Furman added to Auburn’s 2009 football schedule

Auburn’s 2009 schedule will include an opponent from the Football Championship Subdivision, continuing the school’s recent habit of scheduling a lower-division opponent each season.

Furman athletic director Gary Clark told the Associated Press that the FCS school would play at Jordan-Hare Stadium on Nov. 7, 2009. Furman hasn’t played a Southeastern Conference opponent since 2002, when it lost 49-14 at Vanderbilt.

The FCS — formerly known as Division I-AA — consists mostly of smaller Division I schools. FCS members are restricted to a maximum of 63 scholarships, 22 fewer than in the Football Bowl Subdivision, which includes Auburn.

Three-time defending FCS national champion Appalachian State made history last season when the Mountaineers upset Michigan, 34-32, in the season opener for both teams. It was the first ever win for an FCS team over a ranked FBS opponent.

Auburn has played at least one FCS school in five of the last six years. That includes last year’s 35-3 homecoming win against Tennessee Tech. The lone exception came in 2006, when Auburn’s non-conference games were against Bowl Championship Subdivision schools Washington State, Buffalo, Tulane and Arkansas State.

This season, the Tigers play FCS member Tennessee-Martin on Nov. 8.

Auburn’s 2009 schedule also currently includes a non-conference home game against West Virginia, as well as SEC home games against Alabama, Ole Miss, Mississippi State and Kentucky and SEC road games at Arkansas, LSU, Tennessee and Georgia.

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