Football | 11/1/2018 8:15:00 PM

GAME CENTRAL

Savannah State Tigers I Game Notes: Click Here
(2-5, 1-3 MEAC)
at
Delaware State Hornets I Game Notes: Click Here
(1-7, 1-4 MEAC)

Alumni Stadium
(Dover, Del., 2 p.m.)

Savannah, Ga. -- SSU travels to Dover, Del. in search of its first conference  road win of the season when the Tigers face Delaware State on Saturday at 2 p.m.

Listen Live Radio: 90.3 FM Savannah Click Here
Live Stats Link:
TV: ESPN3
Tigers on Twitter (Follow for live updates): Click Here
Tigers on Instagram (Follow for game photos): Click Here
Purchase Tickets Online: Click Here

The Series:  Delaware St. leads the series,4-1

Tiger Bites

- The Tigers have not played a road game since it's game against Florida A&M in Tallahassee, Fla. on Sept. 22nd.

- Dating back to last season, SSU defenders have intercepted at least one pass in the past eight games.

- SSU leads the MEAC in punt return average (20.9), is second in pass defense (176.9), Mulik Simmons is third in forced fumbles (2), SSU is fourth in total defense (346.4) and fifth in rush defense (169.6).

2000 CLUB
D'Vonn Gibbons passed for 1,259 yards last season and has 514 so far this year. He needs 227 yards to reach 2,000 for his career.
 
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
SSU sophomore wide receiver D'Andre Snead caught his first collegiate touchdown against Norfolk State; hauling in a four yard reception from D'Vonn Gibbons.
 
LONGEST TRIP
Savannah State will take its longest road trip of the season when they travel to Dover, Delaware. The distance from Savannah to Dover is 580 miles, according to timeanddate.com
 
COMMON OPPONENTS
SSU and Delaware State share four common opponents in South Carolina State, Norfolk State, Morgan State and Howard.
 
MR. ALL PURPOSE
JaMichael Baldwin leads SSU with 596 all-purpose yards. He has seven rushing yards, 63 receiving yards, 146 punt return yards and 380 kick return yards.
 
GETTING DEFENSIVE
For the second time in the past three games, the SSU defense held an opponent without a touchdown.
 
BIRTHDAY WISHES
Running back Cedric Cole and offensive lineman David Cooper were born Nov. 1.
 
GETTING OFFENSIVE
SSU's offense produced a season best 372 yards in their last game against Norfolk State. The Tigers had 79 passing yards and a season-high 293 yards on the ground.
 
WEEKLY HONOR
Senior linebacker Mulik Simmons was named MEAC Defensive Player of the Week for his performance against Norfolk State. The Savannah native had 6 tackles, 2 interceptions and 1 tackle for loss in the Tigers victory.
 
PICK 'EM
Dating back to last season, SSU defenders have intercepted at least one pass in the past eight games.
 
CAREER-HIGH
Freshman linebacker Walter Yates had10 tackles against Norfolk State which tied his career-high of 10 tackles against Morgan State on Oct. 13, 2018 against Morgan State.
 
JUST FOR KICKS
With four seconds left before halftime, Giovanni Lugo kicked a career-long 44 yard field goal to send the Tigers into the half with a 17-3 lead over Norfolk State.
 
RUSH JOB
Senior running back Rashad Saxton ran for a career-high 118 yards against Norfolk State. His previous career-high was 104 yards against Bethune-Cookman in 2017.
 
REUNION
SSU quarterback D'Vonn Gibbons and DSU defensive end Christian Johnson both went to Stephenson HS in Stone Mountain, Ga.
 
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.

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.
 
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.