Football | 9/5/2018 7:52:00 PM

GAME CENTRAL

GAME CENTRAL

Savannah State Tigers I Game Notes: Click Here
(0-1, 0-0 MEAC)
at
University of Miami I Game Notes: Click Here
(0-1, 0-0 ACC)

Hard Rock Stadium
(Miami, Fla. 6 p.m.)

Savannah, Ga. -- The Savannah State football team travels to Miami, Fla. to face the University of Miami. This will be the  final FBS opponent for the Tigers in 2018. 

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TV: ACC Network Extra 
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The Series:  Miami leads the series,1-0

Tiger Bites

- SSU travels to Miami, Fla. to face the University of Miami for the second time in school history. SSU's first trip to face the Hurricanes in 2013 ended in a 77-7 loss.

- The Tigers are currently ranked 4th in the MEAC in rushing offense and kickoff returns. SSU put up 155 total rushing yards and averaged 23.5 yards per kickoff return in the Tigers' season opener against UAB.

- Miami will be the last FBS opponent the Tigers will face in 2018. SSU has two nonconference games remaining — against Howard University (who is a MEAC member school, but the game is not counted as a conference game) and Charleston Southern.
 
REUNION
Today's game will be a reunion for several players on both side who attended the same high school such as Jacksonville's Sandalwood and Trinity HS, Apopka HS, Stockbridge HS and Brunswick's Glynn Academy.
 
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.
 
HOMECOMING
This game is a homecoming for SSU freshman linebacker Chris Smith who is from Miami and played at Norland HS
 
200 CLUB
Stefen Banks needs 20 tackles to reach 200 for his career.
 
MEAC CONNECTION
This game has a MEAC connection. SSU is a member of the MEAC and Miami assistant strength coach Victor Ismael is a graduate of MEAC member South Carolina State.
 
FIRST PICK
John Wilson intercepted his first collegiate pass last week against UAB.
 
SUNSHINE BOYS
Thirty members on the SSU roster are Florida natives
 
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.
 
ROAD TRIPS
The football team plays in five different states this season plus a trip to the District of Columbia. In addition to playing in Georgia, SSU will also have road games in Alabama, Florida, Delaware and South Carolina.
 
BROTHERLY LOVE
Randy and Randall Moss are the only set of brothers affiliated with the team. The Jacksonville, Florida natives are twins and serve as team managers/student coaches.
 
WHERE'S THE BEEF
Eight members of the SSU team weigh at least 300 pounds.
 
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.
 
MILITARY MAN
SSU defensive back Terrance McCray is a military veteran. The junior from Charlotte served in the Marines.
 
DID YOU KNOW
The last time a SSU football team had a winning season was in 1998. The defensive coordinator of that squad was Steve Wilks, who is in his first year as head coach of the NFL's Arizona Cardinals.
 
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.