Football | 10/4/2018 5:14:00 PM

GAME CENTRAL

Savannah State Tigers I Game Notes: Click Here
(0-4, 0-2 MEAC)
vs.
Charleston Southern Buccaneers I Game Notes: Click Here
(1-2, 0-0 Big South)

October 6, 2018
Theodore A. Wright Stadium
(Savannah, Ga. 6 p.m.)

Savannah, Ga. -- The Tigers take on Charleston Southern in Savannah, Ga. for the 1st time in 10 years on Saturday in Theodore A. Wright Stadium. The last time the Buccaneers played SSU in Savannah was in 2008. Charleston Southern defeated the Tigers, 29-20, on Oct. 11th.

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TV: ESPN3
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The Series:  Charleston Southern leads, 7-0.

Tiger Bites

- SSU is 0-2 so far in nonconference games this season. The Tigers have losses to Alabama Birmingham and Miami. SSU's nonconference matchup against Howard was postponed due to Hurricane Florence. A makeup date is TBD.

- The Tigers look to get their first win of the series against Charleston Southern. SSU is 0-7 all time against the Buccaneers.
 
CSU CONNECTION
SSU defensive coordinator/linebacker coach Shawn Quinn spent the 2012 season at Charleston Southern where his defensive unit led the Big South Conference in pass defense and ranking third in scoring and total defense.
 
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, but bounced back to go 12-1 in his fourth season and earned another trip to the Division III playoffs. SSU went 3-7 in Raeburn's first season with the Tigers and 3-8 a year ago so there is optimism in the air on the marsh.
 
FIRST SCORE
Wide receiver James Kicklighter caught the first touchdown pass of his collegiate career against Bethune-Cookman last week.
 
SSU-CSU CONNECTION
SSU safeties coach Paul Humphries and CSU head coach Marker Tucker both coached at East Tennessee State.
 
MR. ALL PURPOSE
JaMichael Baldwin leads SSU with 477 all-purpose yards. He has four rushing yards, 18 receiving yards, 121 punt return yards and 334 kick return yards.
 
BIRTHDAY WISHES
Quarterback TJ Bell was born October 5.
 
TOPS IN RETURNS
SSU leads the MEAC in punt returns. The Tigers have returned four punts for 121 yards which averages out to 30.2 yards per return.
 
THIRD QUARTER BLUES
SSU has been out-scored 59-0 in the third quarter this season.
 
PICK 'EM
Dating back to last season, SSU defenders have intercepted at least one pass in the past five games.
 
200 CLUB
Stefen Banks needs 10 tackles to reach 200 for his career.
 
PRO TIES
Defensive line coach Tom Sims, safeties coach Paul Humphries and corner back coach Glenn Davis all played professional football. Sims played defensive line in the NFL with the Kansas City Chiefs, Indianapolis Colts and Minnesota Vikings. Humphries played for a pair of seasons in 1997 and 1999 in the Canadian Football League for the British Columbia Lions and Toronto Argonauts. 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- Seven members of the team hail from Savannah and come from six different of the local high schools (New Hampstead, Islands, Bible Baptist, Johnson, Windsor Forest and Jenkins .
 
THE SIZE OF IT- Sophomore 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 tight end Steve Hagan are both listed  at 6-foot-7.

MILITARY MAN
SSU defensive back Terrance McCray is a military veteran. The junior from Charlotte served in the Marines.
 
DID YOU KNOW
Former SSU head football coach Theodore "Ted" Wright was also the head football coach at FAMU. At SSU, Wright is known more for his days as a head basketball coach.
 
ABOUT THE MEAC
The Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference, a NCAA Division I Conference, is in its 45th year of operation heading into the 2015-16 academic school year. The MEAC is made up of 12 outstanding, historically black institutions across the Atlantic coastline: Bethune-Cookman University, Coppin State University, Delaware State University, Florida A&M University, Howard University, University of Maryland Eastern Shore, Morgan State University, Norfolk State University, North Carolina A&T State University, North Carolina Central University, Savannah State University, and South Carolina State University.
 
WATCH LIST
Senior defensive lineman Stefen Banks has been named to the Black College Hall of Fame 2018 Black College Player of the Year Watch List.
 
LOOKING BACK
The 1988 Savannah State football team finished their season with a 7-3 record. The Tigers posted wins over Albany State, Clark Atlanta, Fort Valley State, Morehouse, Tuskegee, Fayetteville State and Johnson C. Smith.
 
MOVING BACK TO D-II
In April 2017, the Savannah State administration made the decision to move SSU athletics from Division I to Division II. SSU began the three-year transitional period in July of 2018. This is the final season the Tigers will play as members of the MEAC.