Football | 11/9/2018 6:45:00 PM

GAME CENTRAL

Savannah State Tigers I Game Notes: Click Here
(2-6, 1-4 MEAC)
vs.
N.C. A&T Aggies I Game Notes: Click Here
(7-2, 4-1 MEAC)

November 10, 2018
Theodore A. Wright Stadium
(Savannah, Ga. 1 p.m.)

Savannah, Ga. -- SSU will face North Carolina A&T in its final home game of the 2018 season on Saturday, Nov. 10 at 1 p.m. in Theodore A. Wright Stadium.


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The Series:  North Carolina A&T leads, 3-0.

Tiger Bites

- Seventeen SSU seniors will play their last game in Savannah State's Theodore A. Wright Stadium. It will also be the last home MEAC football game for the Tigers as SSU will be in Division II and members of the SIAC in 2019.

- The Tigers are Top 10 nationally in two statistical categories: SSU is third nationally and second in the MEAC in punt return average (20.9), and 8th nationally and 2nd in the conference in passing yards allowed (162.8).

BALL HAWKS
Dating back to last season, SSU defenders have intercepted at least one pass in the past eight games.
 
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
SSU and A&T have 6 common opponents (Morgan State, South Carolina State, Delaware State, Florida A&M, Bethune-Cookman and Norfolk State).
 
PICK SIX
Cam Brown's 30 yard interception return for a touchdown against Delaware State was his first in his collegiate career
 
SAYING GOODBYE
This will be the final home game for 17 SSU senior football players
 
CAREER DAY
Freshman linebacker Walter Yates had a career-day against Delaware State, making 13 tackles
 
DUAL THREAT
Sophomore quarterback D'Vonn Gibbons leads the team in rushing (411 yards) and passing (569 yards)
 
GETTING DEFENSIVE
The SSU defensive is second in the MEAC in pass defense (162.8 yards) and third in total defense (340.2 yards)
 
REUNION
SSU's JaMichael Baldwin and A&T's Julian McKnight played together at Rockdale Co. HS.

DID YOU KNOW
Former SSU interim athletics director Hornsby Howell played football at North Carolina A&T and also served as an Aggies Assistant Athletic Director for five years.  He previously held the head football coaching position at A&T and was chosen three times as the conference Coach of the Year.  Howell graduated from A&T in 1950 after which he held numerous positions with the Aggie staff. He was a very successful football coach at A&T, winning conference Coach of the Year honors three times (1968, '73 and '75) and was named 1968 National Coach of the Year by the 100 Percent Wrong Club of Atlanta. His 1968 team posted a 9-1 record and he followed with marks of 8-2 in 1973 and 9-2 in 1975. Howell, who died on October 3, 2017, worked at SSU from 1996-98.
 
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.
 
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.