Football | 9/7/2017 1:53:00 PM

GAME CENTRAL

GAME CENTRAL

Savannah State Tigers I Game Notes: Click Here
(0-0, 0-0 MEAC)
Vs.
Appalachian State I Game Notes: Click Here
(0-1, 0-0 Sun Belt)

Kidd Brewer Stadium
(Boone, N.C., 3:30 p.m.)

Savannah, Ga. -- SSU will play its season opener against Appalachian State on Saturday, Sept. 9 at 3:30 p.m.  

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The Series: Appalachian State leads the series, 1-0.

Tiger Bites

- SSU will begin its second season of the Erik Raeburn era in football when the Tigers take on Appalachian State Saturday in Boone, N.C. Raeburn became the Tigers 25th head coach in March of 2016.

- Coach Raeburn is 15-2 in season debuts during his 17-year coaching career. He won 14 consecutive season openers from 2001 to 2015.

- SSU is 2-13 in season openers since entering Division I in 2002 and 0-6 in openers since entering the MEAC in 2011.

-  This is the second consecutive season the Tigers will face a member of the Sun Belt in its season opener. SSU loss, 54-0, to Ga. Southern last season.
 
SSU/APP STATE TIES
Former SSU head coach Steve Wilkes is a former player at App State. Wilkes is currently the defensive coordinator with the Carolina Panthers.
 
THE RAEBURN FILE
SSU head coach Erik Raeburn is known as a rebuilder. In his first head coaching job at Coe, he had back-to-back 6-4 seasons. In his third season, his team went 10-2 and made the Division III playoffs. At Wabash, he made the Division III playoffs his first two years. He went 8-2 in his third year, then went 12-1 in his fourth season and earned another trip to the Division III playoffs. SSU went 3-7 last year in Raeburn's first season with the Tigers so there is optimism in the air on the marsh.
 
PRO TIES
Defensive coordinator Chad Williams, safety coach Paris Johnson and corner back coach Glenn Davis all played professional football. Williams played in the NFL with the Baltimore Ravens, San Francisco 49ers and Kansas City Chiefs while Johnson played in the NFL with the Arizona Cardinals, Miami Dolphins, Carolina Panthers and Dallas Cowboys. Davis played with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers of the CFL and three years of arena football with the Orlando Predators, the Carolina Cobras and the Wilkes-Barre Pioneers.
 
HOME GROWN
16 members of the team hail from Savannah and come from nine different of the local high schools (Calvary, Memorial, Bible Baptist, Benedictine, Windsor Forest, Savannah, Betesda and Jenkins .

THE SIZE OF IT
Freshman offensive lineman Michael Johnson is the largest player on the squad at 330 pounds while wide receiver Monroe Thorton is the smallest at 5-foot-6 and 140 pounds. Johnson along with wide receivers Steve Hagan and Deric Wright are all listed  at 6-foot-7.

NEW LOOK
The football team will wear new NIKE uniforms this season. The home jerseys will be royal blue jerseys with orange numbers outlined in white. The road jerseys will be white with blue numbers outlined in orange.  The team will wear orange pants. SSU will break away from wearing the traditional orange helmets and instead will wear a  helmet which contains blue and some white coloring. The helmet will have the SSU athletic logo.
 
IN DAD'S FOOTSTEPS
Senior defensive back Kalin Lovett is the son of Neely Lovett, a former SSU defensive back who played for the Tigers from 1991-94.
 
WELCOME TO THE MARSH
Glenn Davis joins the coaching staff this season and will be in charge of the corner backs. Davis comes to SSU from Northern Michigan where he coached the defensive backs.

BROTHERLY LOVE
Keynnard and William Campbell are the only set of brothers on the team. Keynnard is a senior running back while William is a junior defensive back.
 
WHERE'S THE BEEF
SSU recruited six offensive linemen during the off season. The newcomers average 6-foot-4 and 298 pounds.
 
MOVING BACK DOWN
In April 2017, the Savannah State administration made the decision to move SSU athletics from Division I to Division II. The move will become effective following the 2018-19 season.
 
BIRTHDAY WISHES
Sophomore defensive back Roddree Hardwick celebrated his birthday on September 5

LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION
The SSU roster is made up of players from 12 states (Georgia, Florida, Colorado, Indiana, California, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, New Jersey, Texas, Ohio, Maryland and Connecticut.
 
PRESEASON HONORS
Two SSU players received preseason honors from the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference. Linebacker Mulik Simmons and lineman Stefan Banks were both named to the third team defense.
 
OPPOSITE SIDES
SSU's Ellison Burns III and App State's Gage Blackston both played at Benedictine Military School; SSU's D'Vonn Gibbons and ASU's Shaun Jolly played at Stephenson HS; SSU's Devin Waters and Christian Pennington and ASU's Devonte Harrison played at Sandalwood HS; SSU's Geonte Smith and ASU's Shemar Jean-Charles played at Miramar HS.