SAVANNAH, Ga. - Numbers never lie. Read these final scores from Savannah State University's last three football games, all Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference contests:
Delaware State 24, SSU 22.
Norfolk State 26, SSU 24.
Florida A&M 27, SSU 14.
 
Now compare those results with the final scores from the previous times SSU played those opponents:
Delaware State 49, SSU 9 (in 2002).
Norfolk State 33, SSU 21 (in 2012).
Florida A&M 44, SSU 3 (in 2012).
 
Is SSU, which beat NCAA Division II member Fort Valley State on Sept. 14, fielding a better team this season?
 
"We're a lot better," said SSU first-year head coach Earnest Wilson III, whose Tigers (1-6 overall, 0-3 MEAC) will play Bethune-Cookman (5-1, 2-0) at 4 p.m. Saturday in the Third Annual Biker Classic at Municipal Stadium in Daytona Beach, Fla. The game will be radio-broadcast on WHCJ 90.3 FM.
 
"We could easily have been 3-3 going into the (FAMU) game," Wilson continued, "with an opportunity to finish 4-3, because if you had reversed a couple of those numbers, the final score probably would have been 21-20. But we have improved. I think that these young men don't really know their full potential. I think these young men are great young men. When they realize their full potential, Savannah State is going to be real dangerous."
 
SSU will face a Bethune-Cookman team that is 35-8-2 in the series. The Wildcats beat the Tigers, 49-7, last season at T.A. Wright Stadium.
 
"They're the 14^th-ranked team in the country for a reason," Wilson said of the Wildcats, who are No. 14 in the Football Championship Subdivision Coaches' poll and No. 17 in The Sports Network poll.
 
Bethune-Cookman has a 15-game MEAC winning streak and is coming off a 27-6 victory over Howard University last Saturday in Washington, D.C. In addition to beating Howard, B-CU has victories over Tennessee State University, Virginia Union, Florida International University (a Football Bowl Subdivision member) and Delaware State University. The Wildcats' only loss was to Florida State University.
 
BOSTICK TO START AT QB
SSU senior Antonio Bostick, who cut his left (non-throwing) hand and required stitches against FAMU, will start at quarterback, Wilson said. Wilson added that redshirt freshman Leon Prunty also will play in order to groom him for the future starting job.
"Both of them are capable," Wilson said. "We're trying to develop Prunty a little bit, knowing that Bostick will be gone (next season). For three straight games, Bostick has completed over 60 percent of his passes. Hopefully, he can step it up and get the ball a little bit more downfield and get more touchdowns on the scoreboard."
 
MORE JEREMY MOORE
Wilson said he believes SSU needs to get wide receiver Jeremy Moore, a former starter at Georgia Tech, more involved in the offense.
 
Moore made two catches for a team-high 46 yards against FAMU, including a spectacular grab of Bostick's pass for a 31-yard gain (SSU's longest completion of the game) despite tight coverage.
 
"Actually, the guy grabbed him but he still caught it," Wilson said. "Moore is beginning to come around."
 
Moore, a 6-foot-3, 190-pound senior from Austin, Texas, has 15 catches for 202 yards and a touchdown this season. He is third on the team in receptions behind senior Simon Heyward (24 catches, 294 yards, 1TD) and sophomore Cantrell Frazier (22 catches, 304 yards, 1 TD).
 
Moore skipped his senior season at Georgia Tech to "concentrate on academics and pursue personal matters," according to Georgia Tech's official athletics website (ramblinwreck.com). He redshirted in 2009, missed the 2010 season because of a knee injury and played in three games as a backup in 2011. In 2012, his junior season, Moore started in six of the 11 games in which he played. He ranked fourth on the team in receptions (10) for 194 yards without a touchdown.
 
"I'm actually the one that brought him here," said Wilson, who was hired June 7 from Hampton (Va.) University, where he was the Pirates' offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach. "He was going to come to Hampton but, at the last second, I called him and told him I was coming down here and he said, 'Well, I guess I'm going to Savannah then.'"
 
RECRUITING LOCALLY
SSU is aggressively recruiting football players from throughout the Coastal Empire and Lowcountry.
 
"We've been offering (scholarships to) a lot of local kids throughout the area," Wilson said. "We've offered 16 (scholarships). Recruiting has been strong. We're concentrating on the local area."
 
KICKER STILL OUT
SSU kicker John Barron will not play against Bethune-Cookman because of a "strained thigh muscle," Wilson said.
 
Junior Preston McCarthy will fill in for Barron for a second consecutive game.
 
BETHUNE-COOKMAN OUTLOOK
A key for SSU will be its defense's ability to limit Bethune-Cookman's option attack, which is spearheaded by two quarterbacks.
 
"You've got to be well-disciplined in playing your keys and reading certain people in the option," Wilson said.
 
Quentin Williams, a 6-foot, 190-pound redshirt junior from Tampa, Fla., is 26-of-40 passing (65 percent) for 371 yards and two touchdowns. He has been intercepted four times. Jackie Wilson, a 6-foot, 210-pound senior from Fort Lauderdale, Fla., is 34-of-55 passing (61.8 percent) for 331 yards and two touchdowns. He has thrown two interceptions.
 
Running back Anthony Jordan, a 6-foot, 220-pound junior from Atlanta, has 392 yards and five touchdowns on 76 carries. Running back Cary White, a 5-foot-10, 210-pound junior from Tampa, Fla., has 234 yards and four touchdowns on 41 carries.
 
Running back Isidore Jackson, a 5-foot-10, 205-pound senior from Mossy Head, Fla., has 220 yards and a touchdown on 38 carries. He was a MEAC Co-Offensive Player of the Year last season with Florida A&M quarterback Damien Fleming. Jackson is the MEAC's Preseason Offensive Player of the Year.
 
"They're a big team, very physical. They run the ball well," Wilson said of the Wildcats, who average 231 yards rushing per game. "They have the No. 1 offense in the MEAC, running-wise."
 
Wide receiver Eddie Poole, a 6-foot-4, 195-pound graduate student from Belle Glade, Fla., leads the Wildcats' receivers with 16 catches for 290 yards and a touchdown.
Bethune-Cookman's defense, which is No. 2 out of 122 teams in the FCS in total defense, allows 260 yards of total offense per game.
 
"Defensively, they run a 4-3," Wilson said. "They're well-coached and they're very athletic. They depend a lot on their defensive linemen."
 
Linebacker Jarkevis Fields, a 6-foot, 230-pound senior from Sanford, Fla., is the MEAC's Preseason Defensive Player of the Year. He has a team-high 39 tackles, including 1.5 sacks.
 
Safety Nick Addison, a 6-foot-2, 180-pound junior from Tampa, Fla., is second on the team in tackles with 27. He has intercepted two passes.