SAVANNAH, Ga. – Savannah State's football team has played two home games this season and both have been victories against Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference opponents.

Why stop there? The Tigers want a third win. They'll have their chance at 5 p.m. Saturday when SSU (2-4 overall, 2-2 MEAC) plays host to Norfolk State (2-6, 1-4) at T.A. Wright Stadium. The game will be radio-broadcast by WHCJ 90.3 FM and it will be live web-streamed on SSUAthletics.com.

"Any really good program, they know how to win on the road but they're almost unbeatable at home," SSU head coach Erik Raeburn said. "If you want to be one of the top programs, the first step is you've got to learn how to win at home, defend your turf at home, and then figure out a way to get a win on the road.

"We've played two home games so it's not like we're 4-0 or 5-0 at home," Raeburn continued. "We've only played two of them. But I am happy that we were able to find a way to win those two games."

SSU is coming off a 31-27 against Howard University last Saturday. SSU quarterback T.J. Bell's 6-yard touchdown pass to Derek Kirkland with 19 seconds to play, and John Barron's kick for the extra point, gave the Tigers a memorable Homecoming. SSU, which beat visiting Bethune-Cookman, 16-10, on Sept. 24, has beaten multiple MEAC teams in the same season for the first time since joining the MEAC in 2011.

"It was maybe a little more special because of the way it unfolded," Raeburn said of SSU's victory over Howard. "We had some opportunities to put the game away in that third quarter, particularly, but just couldn't quite do it, and we kind of let them gain some momentum late in the third and early in that fourth quarter. It was great to see us, when our back was against the wall and things were looking bleak, it was encouraging to see us still play hard and scratch and claw and find a way to get a win when most people were counting us out."

Norfolk State is coming off a 27-14 victory over Morgan State last Saturday in Norfolk, Va. The Spartans' other victory was a 20-12 decision against Elizabeth City State in their season opener.

Norfolk State is 8-1 in the series against SSU (two wins were vacated by the Norfolk State). The Spartans beat the Tigers, 20-17 in overtime, last season.

MEAC HONORS SMITH AND BELL
SSU defensive end Marquis Smith was named MEAC Defensive Player of the Week and Bell was chosen MEAC Rookie of the Week for their performances against Howard.

Smith, a senior who moved from linebacker to defensive end to start this season, made a game-high 13 tackles (11 solo), including five tackles for a loss of 30 yards. The Prince Georges County, Md., native also had two sacks for a loss of 14 yards and forced a fumble.

"He's played fantastic in every game," Raeburn said. "Saturday, even if you weren't at the game, you look at the statistics and you think, 'Holy cow!' Eleven solo tackles. Five tackles for loss. That's insane! He's played great every game but Saturday was even more impressive than all the other weeks. I've been impressed every week. If we had 11 of him, holy cow, man."

Bell, a freshman from Louisville, Ga., was 16-of-31 passing for a career-high 241 yards, including the game-winning touchdown.

"He got off to a little slow start but he is a competitive guy and he's kind of a flat-liner," Raeburn. "He doesn't get too high or low. He just stays even keel. He was able to keep his composure on that last drive and not get caught up in all the excitement, and execute his assignments, so I'm real happy about the way he played."

BUSY BARRON
SSU senior John Barron kicked a 36-yard field goal and he was 4-of-4 on extra-point attempts against Howard. The Marietta, Ga., native had five punts for 247 yards (49.4-yard average), including a long of 61 yards. Two punts were downed inside Howard's 20-yard line and another was a touchback. He also had six kickoffs for 320 yards (53.3-yard average), including a touchback.

Barron's only setback was a missed 40-yard field goal attempt with 7:53 to play in the game.

"I thought he had a great day," Raeburn said. "We would've loved for him to make that field goal but he's doing everything: kicking, punting, place-kicking. You miss a field goal by six inches when you handle all the special teams duties, that's a pretty good day still. He had a couple of incredible punts that flipped the field position and did a great job."

TIGERS' DEFENSE FACED 53 PASSES
Howard attempted an astounding 53 passes against SSU, the most the Tigers have faced from an opponent this season.

"Marquis (Smith) and (Stefen) Banks, every week they're just playing fantastic," Raeburn said of SSU's defensive ends after the game. "Our front four, they were tired. I didn't look at the final statistics yet but they had to drop back to pass 55 times it felt like. That takes a lot out of you as a D-lineman to rush the passer that many times.

"But those two just kept bringing it and bringing it," Raeburn continued. "We weren't able to get a lot of pressure but we drew some holding penalties and got some hits on the quarterback. It made a big difference."

SSU INJURIES
SSU started Bell at quarterback but freshman Blake Dever came in at quarterback during the Tigers' third series. Dever suffered an injury to his left arm midway through the first quarter and did not return.

"It's his (left) non-throwing shoulder, which is good news," Raeburn said of Dever following the Tigers' practice Tuesday. "He has another doctor's appointment (Wednesday) and they'll reevaluate it. Basically, as soon as he gets his range of motion back, they'll clear him, since it's not his throwing arm. He's still in doubt for Saturday."

Wide receiver Tino Smith suffered a knee injury against Howard. The junior from Carmel, Ind., sprained his medial collateral ligament on a play before SSU's first touchdown with 7:15 left in the first quarter. Raeburn said Tino Smith is questionable for Saturday's game against Norfolk State.

"He played the whole game (against Howard) but it was bugging him and bugging him so after the game he went and got checked out," Raeburn said. "He has a sprained MCL. It's not torn. He has a brace on to help him. … He tried to practice (Monday) and you could see it was bothering him. He started practicing today and he didn't last very long. The trainers had to yank him out. It's not torn or anything like that. It's possible that he'll be fine but he would be questionable.

NFL POSSIBLE FOR SSU'S MARQUIS SMITH
SSU's Marquis Smith has worked out for one NFL scout. Raeburn said he believes more are on the way.

"He has been dominant," Raeburn said of the 6-foot-3, 235-pound Smith. "We had one NFL scout come and work him out. One scout came and worked him out in the spring, and came to some of our practices this fall. After the type of season he's had, hopefully, we'll be able to get everybody to send a scout here and have every NFL team have a representative come take a look at him. Hopefully, somebody will give him a chance to come into camp."

Raeburn said Smith likely would play at outside linebacker in the NFL.

"For the NFL level, he would be considered a 'tweener, between an outside linebacker and a D-end," Raeburn said. "He's not 6-5, 275, so he's not like a no-brainer. I would imagine most teams that would be interested in him are probably 3-4 teams, and they'd kind of use him as that outside linebacker/rush end-type guy. But you never know.

"I lived by Indianapolis for eight year and I went to a lot of (Colts) practices, and he's bigger than Robert Mathis," Raeburn continued. "That guy, you want to talk about a motor. He just played so freaking hard. But Marquis is bigger than he is. And he's had a great NFL career. Possibly a Hall of Fame NFL career."

NORFOLK STATE OUTLOOK
Norfolk State quarterback Greg Hankerson is 115-of-214 passing for 1,285 yards, eight touchdowns and four interceptions through eight games. The 6-foot, 190-pound senior from Lauderdale Lakes, Fla., also is the Spartans' leading rusher with 362 yards and five touchdowns on 118 carries.

"I'm real impressed with their quarterback," Raeburn said. "He's a good player. Good passer. But he can hurt you with his feet, too. He's a really good runner. He's not a guy who is just constantly looking to run. He's more of a passer first. But when he has to, he can pull it down and hurt you with his feet. He's a dual-threat guy, which all defenses hate to play against. He's got some offensive weapons as well."

Running back Gerard Johnson, a 5-foot-9, 205-pound senior from Richmond, Va., has 223 yards on 63 carries. Running back Quintreil Chung, a 6-foot-1, 220-pound sophomore from Midlothian, Va., has 195 yards and two touchdowns on 60 carries.

Wide receiver Marcus Taylor, a 5-foot-8, 160-pound sophomore from Highland Springs, Va., leads the Spartans with 31 catches for 344 yards and two touchdowns.

Linebacker T.C. Livingston, a 6-foot-3, 200-pound redshirt junior from Suffolk, Va., has registered a team-leading 64 tackles in seven games. Linebacker Kyle Archie, a 6-foot, 220-pound junior from Virginia Beach, Va., has made 63 tackles through eight games.

"Defensively, I'm really impressed with their secondary," Raeburn said. "Three of their four starters are seniors. I think that's a real good group for them. I think they're good up front as well. They've got a good group and I think they're playing their best football right now. They played North Carolina Central really, really well. Played them to the wire (before losing, 34-31). Obviously, we know (NCCU is) a very good football team. And then they beat Morgan State last week. I've been impressed with them."