SAVANNAH, Ga. – Erik Raeburn is certain that his approach to his first football game as Savannah State University's head coach Saturday will be the same as it has been before every game he has coached throughout his career.

"My pep talk has pretty much been the same: I throw up before every game," the 45-year-old Raeburn said, laughing. "Yeah, there's not much pep talk. I go find a bathroom and do what I have to do, and then typically I can relax a little bit and focus in on the game."

Raeburn has been focused on SSU's season-opener against Georgia Southern ever since he was hired in March as the Tigers' 25^th head coach. Kickoff is at 6 p.m. at Paulson Stadium in Statesboro. The game will be radio-broadcast by WHCJ 90.3 FM and it will be carried by ESPN3.

"Every year as a coach, you can't wait for the season to start and when the first game actually gets here you feel like you need two more weeks to prepare," Raeburn said. "I certainly feel that way this year but I'm anxious to get out there and kind of see where we're at, and see what we need to work on. I'm sure there will be some things there but I've been really happy with the effort and attitude of our players."

Raeburn came to SSU from Wabash College in Crawfordsville, Ind., where he compiled a 78-13 record from 2008-15 and earned five trips to the NCAA Division III playoffs. His 2015 team advanced to the quarterfinals and finished 12-1. From 2000-07, Raeburn was the head coach at Coe College in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, where he posted a 51-26 record. He was an assistant coach at Division III power Mount Union College (his alma mater) from 1994-99, and won three national championships from 1996-98.

Raeburn's goal is to lead SSU to similar success. He is confident it will happen, but he knows building a winning program is akin to running a marathon, not a sprint.

"Never with any of my teams have we said, 'We need to win X number of games and that will be a success, and anything less than that, we'll be a failure.'" Raeburn said. "I've never evaluated any of my teams that way and I'm not going to start now. For me, the way I'll measure our success is by how hard we play."
SSU returns eight starters on offense and eight on defense.

QUARTERBACKS
SSU has five quarterbacks in Leon Prunty, David Handler, Giovanni Lugo, Blake Dever and T.J. Bell. Prunty, a 6-foot-4, 220-pound senior from Ellenwood, Ga., likely will start for the Tigers.

"Leon Prunty is a fifth-year guy and has a lot of experience," Raeburn said. "He's been a starter here and played in a lot of games. David Handler, although you wouldn't consider him a veteran guy, he's still relatively a young guy, but he had a couple of starts last year and played in some games so he has game experience."

Prunty has played in 24 games and has 1,704 yards passing. Handler, a 6-foot-5, 240-pound sophomore from Culver City, Calif., started at quarterback against Akron last season. He has played in four games, throwing for 169 yards.

"Gio doesn't have much experience here at Savannah State. He transferred in," Raeburn said of the 6-foot, 190-pound Belle Glade, Fla., native. "But he has game experience, college experience. He's not fresh out of high school.

"And Blake and T.J., they're both freshmen but they're both really talented freshmen. I've been really happy with how quickly the two of those guys have progressed. Certainly, with what they've shown, it gives us optimism for the future of the program for sure."

RECEIVERS
Jeremiah Harris is SSU's leading returning receiver. The 6-foot-5, 200-pound senior from Lawrenceville, Ga., made 19 catches for a team-high 212 yards last season. Other receivers to watch are Arshon Spaulding, Dereon London, Cantrell Frazier and Derek Kirkland.

"I do feel like we have some talent there," Raeburn said. "Last year, they had some injuries at quarterback and they had to kind of go to kind of like a Wildcat-type of system, and move one of the receivers to quarterback."

Spaulding, a 5-foot-11, 195-pound senior from Brunswick's Glynn Academy, has moved back to receiver this season. He led the Tigers with 1,081 yards of total offense last season.

"We have these guys returning at receiver but we never really got a chance to see them run routes and catch a bunch of passes because of the situation at quarterback last year," Raeburn said. "So it's a little hard to evaluate where they're at but I think just by the fact that we're healthy at quarterback, I think and I hope that we'll play better at that position. And that will give the opportunity for some of those receivers that we think are talented to really show what they're capable of doing on the field."

Tight ends Tyler Hagan, Christopher Johnson and Paris Baker also will be counted on as playmakers.

RUNNING BACKS
Rashad Saxton, Keynnard Campbell and Nicholas Bentley will power SSU's running game this season. Saxton, a 5-foot-8, 170-pound sophomore from Jacksonville, Fla., ran for 99 yards and a touchdown on 13 carries last season. Campbell is a 5-foot-10, 220-pound junior from Savannah's Bible Baptist. Bentley, a 5-foot-10, 250-pound junior from Decatur, Ga., ran for 105 yards and a pair of touchdowns on 32 carries last season.

"They weren't the featured runner (last season)," Raeburn said. "They weren't the guy who got the most carries but they all saw action. I think they're all a little bit different but they've all shown some good things in camp, things that we're excited about. We're hoping that between the three of them they can combine to help give our rushing attack a little shot in the arm."

SSU's leading rusher last season was Spaulding, who had 555 yards and four touchdowns on 97 carries. The Tigers are without Richard Williams, who had 375 yards and two touchdowns on 90 carries last season.

OFFENSIVE LINE
SSU is without Sean Fogarty, a graduate of Savannah's Benedictine Military School who transferred to play for the University of Georgia. Also gone are Devon Stainrod and Joey Maddox.

"That's definitely a position that we have to improve at," Raeburn said. "From a scholarship standpoint, we don't have enough guys on scholarship at that position. We don't have enough bodies. We don't have the kind of depth that you need so that will be a challenge."

Returning starters on the offensive line are Afolabi Ayangbayi and James Livingston. Ayangbayi is a 6-foot-4, 290-pound senior from Union, N.J., and Livingston is a 6-foot-2, 283-pound sophomore from Tallahassee, Fla. Rohan Francis, a 6-foot-4, 306-pound junior from College Park, Ga., also is expected to be a key contributor.

"We're going to be really young at that spot," Raeburn said. "We will have a couple of guys that have game experience. Afolabi, I think he started most every game last year. Rohan Francis got to play. I think he got some starts. He didn't start every game. But he saw significant playing time. Livingston got to play some last year. We do have three guys that played a fair amount of snaps last year but we're pretty young and inexperienced, and that's definitely a position that we have to really work hard to improve at."

DEFENSIVE LINE
The Tigers' top returning starter on defense is Marquis Smith, a 6-foot-3, 235-pound senior from Prince Georges County, Md. Smith has moved from linebacker, where he was named Preseason All-Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Third Team, to defensive end.

"Marquis Smith is our top returner on defense. He's our rush end. He's had a great camp," Raeburn said. "Just an incredible work ethic and very talented."
SSU is without defensive linemen Connor Christian and William Broadbent. SSU used a 3-4 defense last season but switched to a 4-3 this season, moving Smith from linebacker to the line.

"(Smith) probably rushed the passer at least half of the snaps so he's used to coming off the edge," Raeburn said. "In the film I watched, I just thought he was naturally good at that. And with some of the guys we lost up front we thought that for us to be good on defense we're probably going to have to switch to a 4-3 and we're probably going to need him to be an edge rusher.

"His attitude has been fantastic. He has been just incredible in terms of his attitude. He has totally bought into everything that we've asked of him. Never blinked an eye. When we said, 'Hey, we'd like to talk to you about switching positions. We think it would be better for the team,' he said, 'Tell me what you need. I'll play anywhere.' He has been terrific and really has been a great leader for our team."

Raeburn said he also expects a major contribution from Stefen Banks, a 6-foot-3, 265-pound sophomore from Columbus, Ohio.

"Stefen Banks is another guy who got to play last year as a freshman," Raeburn said. "I feel like he's had a great offseason, a great summer. Came back in great shape and he has had a really exceptional camp. We feel like those two guys are kind of the leaders up front for us."

LINEBACKERS
With Smith (second-leading tackler with 57 tackles) moving to the defensive line, and SSU without both leading tackler Leonardo Myers (74 tackles) and third-leading tackler Trevion Ashford (55 tackles), the Tigers' linebacking corps will rely heavily on Marcus Lee, a 6-foot-1, 225-pound senior from Atlanta.
Mulik Simmons, a 6-foot, 225-pound junior from Savannah's Bible Baptist, and Johvonte Singleton, a 5-foot-11, 200-pound junior from Savannah's Memorial Day School, also are being counted on.

"The two guys inside, Mulik Simmons and Marcus Lee, both of those guys have seen playing time," Raeburn said. "I think Marcus probably saw a little more than Mulik did. They're learning a new system but they got to play in college football games. We feel like they've had a good camp.

"Jevonte Singleton plays like our strong safety/outside linebacker position. He has really improved from the start of camp until now. I think he's really starting to play faster now that he feels more comfortable in our system."

SECONDARY
One of SSU's strengths is its secondary, where John Wilson, Gerald Robinson, Isaiah Bennett and Juwuan Tolbert all return after starting last season.

"At the corners, we feel like we have some talent there," Raeburn said. "John Wilson played last year so he has game experience. Gerald Robinson also played last year. They're both, technically, sophomores so they're young guys but they're not young in terms of game snaps. They have played in a lot of games.

"And Vanquez Bonner, David Crowley, Brandon Bailey, those three guys when they've gotten in there they've done a good job, too. We feel pretty good about the corners. That might be the position where we have our best depth."

SPECIAL TEAMS
Kicker John Barron, a 5-foot-11, 180-pound senior from Marietta, Ga., was named to the Preseason All-MEAC Third Team. Barron made 11 of 13 extra-point attempts last season and he was 11-of-17 on field-goal attempts. He kicked a career-long 44-yard field goal against Colorado State.
Barron also handled kickoffs, and had 36 for 2,012 yards for a 55.9-yard average. Ten of his kickoffs were touchbacks. For his career, Barron has made 35 of 40 extra-point attempts and 19 of 38 field-goal attempts.

"No matter what, the first game of the year, that is always scary for everybody," Raeburn said. "I'm sure the Georgia Southern coaches feel the same way. I don't care who you're talking about, everyone is nervous about special teams in that first game. The fact that we return John Barron, he handled basically all of the kicking duties and the punting duties last year, helps. He's a veteran guy, a senior. He was picked third-team preseason all-conference so even the other coaches and sports information directors in the league recognize that he is a bright spot in the program. We're hoping that he builds on what was a good year last year and has a great year this year. That would help us immensely."

SEASON OUTLOOK
Raeburn said he and his coaching staff have been impressed with the work ethic of SSU's players.

"From a strength standpoint, I'd say it's our attitude," Raeburn said. "Our guys are excited to have a fresh start if you will. Obviously, they're disappointed with how the season turned out last year (1-9 overall, 1-7 MEAC). But the great thing about football is every season you get a clean slate and you start from scratch.

"An obvious weakness is none of our players have any experience in our system. You always have that with the freshmen. And you can always kind of lean on the returning starters, the older guys. They know your system. They've been in big games. They know how to react. But for us, everybody is kind of like a freshman heading into this first game. That's certainly our biggest weakness."

Raeburn is excited about opening the season against Georgia Southern, which finished last season with a record of 9-4 overall, 6-2 in the Sun Belt Conference, and won the GoDaddy Bowl.

"They have an incredible program," Raeburn said. "Their program's at the level that we aspire to get to. I think it is a great opportunity for us to get to play them and for our players to see what it takes to be one of the top-tier Division I programs. Obviously, with their location being close, it makes it a lot better for our fans. It's easier for them to travel to see us. It's a short road trip as opposed to some of the longer ones we have to take in our conference."

SSU's second game will be against Southern Mississippi in Hattiesburg, Miss., on Sept. 10. The Tigers will open MEAC play at home Sept. 24 against Bethune-Cookman at T.A. Wright Stadium.

"I've been very impressed with the conference from what I've watched on film," Raeburn said. "Obviously, you and most everybody else around here has a better feel for who are going to be the top teams in the conference, and who is going to be battling it out. At the conference meetings they did a preseason poll and North Carolina A&T ended up on top just barely above Bethune-Cookman, who was just barely ahead of North Carolina Central, who was just barely ahead of South Carolina State so, from listening to all of the other coaches and the media, those four schools have kind of separated themselves from the rest of the schools and they've been more consistent maybe and played at a higher level for a long time. Those are the top four schools that you'd have to contend with if you want a chance to win a championship.

"Obviously, with our situation, everybody is a challenge and an opportunity for us to try and prove ourselves. We got picked to finish last. We got picked 11^th out of 11 teams so, hopefully, our guys will take that as a challenge and find a way to play hard for a full 60 minutes and be competitive. Put yourself in a position in the fourth quarter to have a chance to win. And then once you learn how to do that, you've got to learn how to finish the games off and get a win. Hopefully, our guys can learn that quickly."