SoCon Football Weekly Update (Week 2 Notebook)

SoConJohn22
Sep 8, 2018 · 7 min read
Two SoCon games highlight week two

East Tenneessee State (1–0, 0–0 SoCon) at Tennessee(0–1, 0–0 SEC) — 4 p.m.

Notes:

— ETSU will be making its first-ever trip to Neyland Stadium Saturday when it faces the University of Tennessee, which obviously means it will be the first-ever meeting between the Bucs and Vols.

— Randy Sanders, who will be coaching his second game for the Bucs, was the quarterbacks coach for Tennessee when it won the 1998 national title by defeating Florida State.

— ETSU was a 28–7 winner over Mars Hill in its season opener, while Tennessee opened its 2018 campaign with a 40–14 loss to #17/20 West Virginia in Charlotte at Bank of America Stadium.

— A win for ETSU would mark the Bucs’ first over an FBS foe since knocking off North Carolina State, 29–14, on Nov. 7, 1987.

— A win by Tennessee in its home opener would give Jeremy Pruitt his first win as the Vols head coach. The Vols are 47–4–2 all-time against current members of the Southern Conference, with the most-recent meeting against a SoCon being a 55–10 win over Western Carolina in 2015.

— Former legendary Tennessee head coach and current Tennessee Director of Athletics Phillip Fulmer helped bring ETSU football back, hiring Carl Torbush in 2013, and also hiring current Tennessee head coach Jeremy Pruitt after becoming the leader of the Vols athletic department last year.

#25/21 Furman (0–1, 0–0 SoCon) at #15/15 Elon (0–1, 0–0 CAA) — 6 p.m.

Notes:

— Furman and Elon will be meeting for the 20th time, but third time in the past two seasons. The Phoenix and Paladins split their meetings last season, with Elon claiming the regular-season meeting, 34–31, in Greenville, while Furman ended Elon’s season last fall, with a narrow 28–27 win at Rhodes Stadium last November. The Paladins hold a 12–7 all-time series edge, however, the Phoenix have won six of the past eight meetings between the two.

— Elon vs. Furman will mark one of two games between ranked FCS foes this Saturday, with the only other one being the clash between #6 Eastern Washington and #18 Northern Arizona, who will meet in Flagstaff, AZ, in a non-conference matchup.

— Elon was a Southern Conference member from 2003–13, and Furman was the Phoenix first opponent as a SoCon member, which occurred in the season-opener of the 2003 season, with the Paladins claiming a late-August (Aug. 30) 24–7 win over the Al Seagraves-led Phoenix.

— In 2013 and 2017, Furman started the season 0–2 before rebounding to make the playoffs in each of those campaigns, including sharing the Southern Conference title in 2013 by claiming the league’s automatic bid. Last season, Furman started 0–3 before reeling off seven-straight wins — its longest winning-streak since 1999 — and making the playoffs and winning a first-round win over the Phoenix. Furman also claimed a 30–20 opening round win at South Carolina State in 2013.

— Furman opened the season with a 48–7 loss at FBS-second-ranked Clemson last week, while Elon dropped a 34–14 decision at FBS foe South Florida.

— Furman will utilize two freshmen quarterbacks in Saturday’s contest at Elon, with redshirt freshman JeMar Lincoln and true freshman Darren Grainger both expected to see action under center. Elon starter Davis Cheek was the 2017 CAA Rookie of the Year.

Jacksonville (1–0, 0–0 PFL) at Mercer (0–1, 0–0 SoCon) — 6 p.m.

— A win by Mercer on Saturday would give Bears head coach Bobby Lamb his 100th win as a head football coach. Now in his 15th season overall as a head coach, including his sixth at Mercer, Lamb sports a 99–66 record as the Mercer head coach.

— This will mark just the third all-time meeting between the Bears and Dolphins, with Mercer owners of a 2–0 all-time series edge, including a 48–7 Bears victory when the two met last season.

— Mercer opened the season with a 66–14 loss at Memphis last Saturday, while Pioneer Football League member started off the 2018 season on the right foot, with a 63–14 win over Saint Augustine’s.

— Jacksonville has not defeated an FCS scholarship program since Sept. 4, 2014, as the Dolphins beat CAA member Delaware on the road.

— Mercer is 22–9 all-time in Five Star Stadium, which opened in 2014

Chattanooga (1–0, 0–0 SoCon) at The Citadel (0–1, 0–1 SoCon) — 6 p.m.

— One of two Southern Conference games on the week, The Citadel and Chattanooga could go a long way in deciding the fate for each program moving forward in the 2018 season. The game is especially important for the Bulldogs, who started the season with a 28–21 SoCon loss last week at #7/8 Wofford. Chattanooga opened the 2018 season with a 34–10 win over Tennessee Tech last Thursday night at Finley Stadium

— Chattanooga sophomore wide receiver Bryce Nunnelly was named Southern Conference Offensive Player of the Week this past Monday for his performance in the win over the Golden Eagles. He hauled in seven passes for 161 yards and a score in the win over Tennessee Tech.

— The Citadel senior linebacker Noah Dawkins was named SoCon Defensive Player of the Week following a two interception, one touchdown performance against Wofford in the season-opening SoCon loss last Saturday night.

— In last year’s meeting in Chattanooga, the Mocs held a 14–7 lead at the half only to see the Bulldogs come back for the upset, 21–14, win at Finley Stadium. Two years ago, this game was pivotal in the Southern Conference title race, as the eighth-ranked Bulldogs posted a 22–14 win over Chattanooga en route to going on and claiming an outright Southern Conference title in 2016. Chattanooga and The Citadel ended up being two of the four teams that represented the SoCon in the FCS playoffs in 2016. The four playoff participants was a conference record two years ago.

— It will mark the 52nd all-time meeting between the two programs, with the Mocs holding a 30–19–2 all-time series edge.The Citadel has won the last two, and the series at Johnson-Hagood Stadium in Charleston stands at 12–12–1.

VMI (0–1, 0–0 SoCon) at #7/8Wofford (1–0, 1–0 SoCon) — 6 p.m.

— For the second-straight season, Wofford opens the season with back-to-back Southern Conference games, opening the 2017 season with wins over Furman (24–23) and Mercer (28–27), and the 2–0 start would help propel the Terriers to a Southern Conference title and a second-straight 10-win season and trip to the FCS quarterfinals.

— VMI would be looking to put an end to a 16-game losing streak, dating back to October of 2016 when it travels to Wofford this evening. The Keydets, who were 0–11 last season, opened the campaign with a 66–3 loss at Toledo last week. Wofford opened the season with a 28–21 win over The Citadel at Gibbs Stadium last Saturday night.

— In 2002, VMI helped spoil Wofford’s FCS playoff hopes by posting one of the biggest upsets in SoCon football in recent memory, posting a 27–16 over Wofford, which was not only VMI’s last win over the Terriers, but it also marked the last win over a ranked foe for the Keydets. Wofford holds an 11–10 lead in the all-time series, and are 6–0 vs. VMI at Gibbs Stadium.

— VMI is 4–26 in Southern Conference play since returning to the league in 2014, with the Keydets last win over a SoCon foe coming being a 37–7 win over ETSU on Oct. 8, 2016. The Keydets have lost 14-straight to SoCon foes.

#9/9 Samford (1–0, 0–0 SoCon)at Florida State (0–1, 0–1 ACC) — 7:20 EST

— Samford and Florida State have a lot of history intertwined with one another. Former head coaches Jimbo Fisher (2010–17 at FSU; current head coach at Texas A&M) and legendary head coach Bobby Bowden both have ties to Samford. Fisher, who was inducted into the Samford athletics Hall-of-Fame just this past February, and was the 1987 Division III National Player of the Year as a senior at Samford. He served as a grad assistant on the Samford staff from 1988–90, and was the offensive coordinator for the 1991 and ’92 seasons. Legendary head coach Bobby Bowden, who is also a member of the Samford Athletic Hall of Fame, also started his career at Samford, which was then known as Howard College, in 1954 and went on to coach one more season at Samford. Bowden also played quarterback and running back for Howard College from 1949–52. Bowden has the second-most wins in college football history, with 377.

— Samford started the season with a 66–9 win over Shorter, while Florida State opened the campaign Monday night with a 24–3 loss to Virginia Tech in an ACC before a national audience.

— The Bulldogs, who were picked to win the SoCon for the first time since joining the league in 2008, are 3–16 all-time vs. teams from the Atlantic Coast Conference and 17–15–2 all-time against teams from the state of Florida.

— Tonight’s clash between the Samford and Florida State will mark just the third all-time meeting between the two, with Florida State owning a 2–0 series edge. The Seminoles won a 56–9 decision in Jimbo Fisher’s debut as FSU head coach in 2010, while FSU also earned a 20–6 win over the Bulldogs in 1950.

— A win by Florida State would give Seminoles head coach Willie Taggert, who was once a standout at former FCS (formerly Division I-AA) power Western Kentucky, his first win as the head coach at FSU.

— Samford senior signal-caller Devlin Hodges is chasing history, looking to become the SoCon’s all-time leading passer. He has 10,631 passing yards and needs 2,634 passing yards to surpass Elon’s Scott Riddle and become the program’s all-time record holder.

Stay tuned for recaps, power rankings and players of the week for week two coming soon.

SoConJohn22

Written by

I love college athletics...In particular, college football and college basketball...Oh yeah, and I love SoCon football and basketball

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