Football | 9/20/2018 12:00:00 PM

GAME CENTRAL

Savannah State Tigers I Game Notes: Click Here
(0-2, 0-0 MEAC)
at
Florida A&M University Rattlers I Game Notes: Click Here
(1-2, 0-0 MEAC)

Bragg Memorial Stadium
(Tallahassee, Fla. 6 p.m.)

Savannah, Ga. -- After a week layoff due Hurricane Florence, the Tigers travel to Tallahassee, FL for their conference opener against the Florida A&M Rattlers. This is the second consecutive year the Tigers will face the Rattlers in the MEAC Opener.

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The Series:  FAMU leads the series,9-1

Tiger Bites

- SSU is 2-5 in conference openers since joining the MEAC in 2011. The Tigers defeated NCCU (33-30) in their inaugural MEAC season and Bethune-Cookman in the 2016 MEAC opener.

- Florida A&M leads the all-time series over SSU, 9-1. The Tigers' lone win came in 2015 when SSU defeated the Rattlers, 37-27, at home in Savannah's Theodore Wright Stadium.
 
COMMON OPPONENTS
SSU and FAMU have six common opponents: Norfolk State, North Carolina A&T, South Carolina State, Morgan State, Howard and Bethune-Cookman
 
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.

HURRICANE FACTOR
SSU went up against Hurricanes two weeks in a row. The Tigers played the Miami Hurricanes on Sept 8 and their road game against Howard on Sept. 15 was postponed because of travel concerns related to Hurricane Florence.
 
TALLAHASSEE TIES
SSU offensive lineman James Livingston is a native of Tallahassee, Florida.
 
BIRTHDAY WISHES
Running back Jaylen McCloud and wide receiver Jamichael Baldwin were born on Sept. 18, defensive back William Campbell, tight end Jontae Baker and offensive lineman Maurice Jones were born on Sept. 20.
 
A CAREER DAY
Against Miami, Giovanni Lugo had a 66 yard punt which matched his career-high that was set last year against Montana.
 
SACK 'EM
Defensive lineman KJ Singleton got the first sack of his collegiate career against Miami.
 
SUNSHINE BOYS
Thirty members on the SSU roster are Florida natives.
 
FIRST PICK
Linebacker Desmond Young intercepted his first collegiate pass two weeks ago against Miami.
 
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.
 
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.
 
MOVE TO DIVISION 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.