Football | 11/16/2018 5:08:00 PM

GAME CENTRAL

Savannah State Tigers I Game Notes: Click Here
(2-7, 1-5 MEAC)
vs.
South Carolina State Bulldogs I Game Notes: Click Here
(4-5, 3-2 MEAC)

November 17, 2018
Oliver C. Dawson Bulldog Stadium
(Orangeburg, S.C., 1:30 p.m.)

Savannah, Ga. -- SSU will face South Carolina State in its season finale on Saturday, November 17 at 1:30 p.m. in Orangeburg, S.C.

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The Series: S.C. State leads, 18-2.

Tiger Bites

- Eighteen SSU seniors will play their last game in a Savannah State uniform. This will also be the final SSU football game as members of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference.

- The Tigers are Top 10 nationally in two statistical categories: SSU is 7th nationally and second in the MEAC in punt return average (16.8), and 6th nationally and 2nd in the conference in passing yards allowed (150.6).
 
SSU/SC STATE CONNECTION
Savannah State cross country and track coach Theodore Whitaker is a 1965 alumnus of South Carolina State.
 
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.
 
COMMON OPPONENTS
Savannah State and South Carolina State have six common opponents: Norfolk State, North Carolina A&T, Morgan State, Bethune-Cookman, Delaware State and Florida A&M
 
STREAK SNAPPED
SSU's nine game interception streak was snapped last week against North Carolina A&T. Before that, dating back to the 2017 season, SSU had intercepted at least one pass in nine consecutive games.
 
GETTING DEFENSIVE- For the past four games, freshman linebacker Walter Yates has had double digit tackles. Yates had 10 against Morgan State, 10 against Norfolk State, 13 against Delaware State and 11 against North Carolina A&T.
 
REUNION- This game will be a reunion of several players who were high school teammates. D'Vonn Gibbons (SSU) and Dewann Ford (SCSU) went to Stephenson HS; Jeremiah Bundrage (SSU) and Tayshawn Baines (SCSU) went to Newton HS; KJ Singleton (SSU) and Brandon Oglesby (SCSU) went to Loganville HS; and Vashonn Bledsoe (SSU) and Donya Williams (SCSU) went to Banneker HS.
 
BIRTHDAY WISHES- defensive lineman Aaron Robinson was born Nov. 12.
 
LAST GAME
This is the last game in a SSU uniform for 18 Tiger seniors.
 
SAYING GOODBYE
SSU offensive coordinator/offensive line coach Bill Rychel will be leaving after the season. Rychel has been hired as the head coach at St. Thomas in Miami Gardens, Florida.
 
CANCELLED
The Savannah State vs. Howard football game, a non-conference game which was originally postponed on Sept. 15 due to Hurricane Florence, will not be rescheduled.
 
DID YOU KNOW
William "Bill" Davis is the winningest football coach at Savannah State with 51 victories in nine seasons. Davis also served as the head football coach at South Carolina State for seven years, compiling 53 wins.
 
SO LONG MEAC
This is the final football game that SSU will play as a member of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference
 
CATCHING ON
Czar Beneby had a career-high four receptions against North Carolina A&T.
 
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.