THE GAME
In this week's game, we find two teams trying to break their losing skids. Savannah State (2-4, 1-3 SIAC) will be trying to stop their three-game slide while Central State (1-5, 0-4 SIAC) will be looking to halt their five game losing streak as they celebrate Homecoming in McPherson Stadium.
 
This will be the second match-up between the schools. Their first meeting took place in 2005 in Savannah, Georgia with the Marauders winning 28-27.
 
LAST YEAR
The teams did not meet last year. In fact, their first and only meeting took place October 29, 2005 at Theodore A. Wright Stadium during SSU's annual Homecoming game. Central State upset SSU 28-27. The Tigers led 21-14 at the half and both squads scored touchdowns in the third quarter. SSU led 27-20 entering the final quarter of play but Central State scored a touchdown in the fourth quarter and got the two-point conversion to spoil Savannah State's Homecoming. SSU quarterback Garrett Williams completed 22 of 31 passes for 238 yards, three touchdowns and a interception. Running back Chad Cone ran the ball 34 times for 190 yards and a touchdown and Clyde Tullis caught five passes for 74 yards and two touchdowns.

COACHES QUOTE
SSU head coasch Aaron Kelton says "We have to keep working. It has been a tough stretch and though we have been close we haven't finished games. Winning is hard and we need to keep pushing to get a win. We are confident and will keep working to reach our goal of being 1-0 each week."

LAST WEEK
Fort Valley State rallied from a double-digit deficit to defeat Savannah State 38-24 at Wildcat Stadium in Fort Valley, Georgia. The Tigers led 17-3 in the second quarter and held a 17-10 advantage at intermission. FVSU outscored SSU 28-7 in the second half. Jadon Adams threw a touchdown and ran for another for the Tigers while Gary Davis had eight tackles and a interception for the defense.
 
TOP OFFENSIVE PLAYERS
Quarterback Jadon Adams is the top offensive threat for Savannah State. So far, the junior signal caller has completed 50 percent (88 of 176) of his passes for 1,067 yards with seven touchdowns and two interceptions. He has also ran for three touchdowns and 206 yards.

Tailback Shamarcus Poole leads the team in rushing with  210 yards and two touchdowns this season.

Wide receiver Da'Shun Mitchell is the top pass catcher with 24 receptions for 345 yards while Brent Carr has 18 catches for 355 yards and six touchdowns.
 
TOP DEFENSIVE PLAYERS
Savannah State's defense is led by linebackers Gary Davis who has 41 tackles and Tavare Brewton who has contributed 39 tackles. 

Defensive linemen Ameer Phillips and Nathaniel Chisholm leads the unit with five tackles for loss each. Phillips has two sacks while Chisholm has three.
Roaming the secondary is Kirk Smith and Deandre Creary. Both have two interceptions to their credit.
 
SPECIAL TEAMS
After missing the 2022 season while recovering from an injury, Kenneth Lockhart is back. In six games, he has punted 30 times and is averaging 39.1 yards per punt with a long of 59 yards. Eight have landed inside the opponents 20. He has made 6 of 8 field goal attempts and has a long of 37 yards

Joseph Hampton has 14 kick returns and is averaging 18.4 yards a return and Randy Scott has four kick returns and is averaging 26 yards a return.
 
SCOUTING THE MARAUDERS
Kevin Porter is in his second year as the head coach of Central State. Prior to coming to CSU, Porter had head coaching stints at Fort Valley State University, Avila University and Point University.

The Marauders enter the contest riding a five game losing streak.Central State opened the season with a 24-21 win over Mississippi Valley State but since then, things have gone downhill with consecutive setbacks to Dayton (62-24), Tuskegee (27-21), Allen (34-28), Miles (40-7) and Albany State (48-0).

CSU is near the bottom of the SIAC statistics and is averaging 17.3 points and 305 yards a game while giving up 38.7 points and 424.3 yards a night.
Quarterback Alec Lewis has thrown for 1,079 yards and 7 touchdowns. He has also thrown nine interceptions.

Lewis will often throw to Brandon Brock who has 29 receptions for 290 yards and 2 touchdowns.
Dina Kaz is the top ground gainer with 310 yards and one touchdown.

The  defense will be anchored by Jalil Lenore who is second in the SIAC in tackles with 59. Carlos Carter has 7.5 tackles for loss.
 
THE SKINNY
Savannah State and Central State both appear to be in rebuilding molds. The Tigers were 5-5 in 2022 and need to win the remaining four games to have a winning season. Central State was  a NAIA powerhouse in the 1980s and 90s. However, the Marauders have not had a winning season since winning the NAIA National Championship in 1995.
 
SAVANNAH STATE/CENTRAL STATE CONNECTION
Savannah State defensive line coach Keon Cezar and Central State defensive back coach Colby Brown both worked together at South Carolina State during the 2021 season helping the Bulldogs win the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Championship.
 
STATISTICALLY SPEAKING
Wide receiver Brent Carr leads the SIAC in receiving touchdowns with six and is ranked #13 in Division II. Defensive back Dreshawn Dawkins is tied for the lead with two others in the SIAC for the most forced fumbles with two and is ranked #5 in Div. II.
 
THE LEMON EFFECT
Theo Lemon served as the head football coach at Savannah State and Central State. Lemon was the Tigers head coach for the 2006-07 seasons and before that spent the 2005 season as the head coach at CSU.
 
COMMON OPPONENTS
Savannah State and Central State have four common opponents: Tuskegee, Albany State,  Lane and Clark Atlanta.
 
CLOSE BUT NO CIGAR
Two of Savannah State's four losses were by a total of 4 points. The Tigers lost to Albany State by 3 and to Edward Waters by 1.
 
SSU/OHIO CONNECTION
Former Savannah State defensive back Chris Gilliam is a native of Cincinnati,Ohio. He played for the Tigers for two seasons (1996-97) and made the All-SIAC team during the 1997 season where he led the team in interceptions with 8.  Four of those interceptions came during the Kentucky State game. He returned one of those for a 76-yard touchdown.
 
CHASING 2000
Quarterback Jadon Adams has thrown for 1,067 yards so far. He needs 933 more to reach 2,000 for the season.
 
CHASING 100
Sophomore linebacker Tavare Brewton has recorded 39 tackles so far. He needs 61 more to reach 100 for the season
 
LONG TRIP
The trip to Wilberforce, Ohio will be the Tigers longest road trip of the season. The 688 mile trip is expected to take almost 11 hours to make.

CLOSE TO HOME
Five SSU Tigers will be playing close to home when the team visits Fort Valley State. Running back Shamarcus Poole is from Sandersville, wide receiver Brent Carr is from Warner Robins, running back Jatavion Williams is from Macon, running back Evan Guyton is from Dublin and tight end Isaiah Austin is from Dublin.

LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION
The SSU roster is made up of players from eight states (Georgia, Florida, South Carolina, Connecticut, New York, California, Tennessee and Alabama) as well as the District of Columbia
 
THE LEGACY CONTINUES
SSU defensive back Dwayne Ruff is the son of Savannah State alum Dwayne Ruff. The younger Ruff played three seasons at East Tennessee State. He earned his degree at ETSU and decided to play his final season of eligibility at SSU as a grad transfer. The elder Ruff was a two-sport student-athlete at SSU, playing football and basketball from 1986-89. He was a member of the 1989 team that included NFL Hall of Famer Shannon Sharpe that posted a 8-1 record.
 
WELCOME TO THE MARSH
SSU head football coach Aaron Kelton welcomes two new coaches to his staff. Marking their first season at Savannah State are A.J. Walsh (offensive line) and Keon Cezar (defensive line).
 
IN MEMORY
SSU mourns  the loss of former Tigers head football coach Dr. Leo Richardson. He led the Tigers to a 6-2-1 record in 1967 which was good enough to win the Southeastern Athletic conference championship. That same year Richardson was named the SEAC Coach of the Year. In addition to coaching football at SSU, Richardson also served as the head men's basketball coach and a biology professor. He was inducted into the SSU Athletics Hall of Fame in 2010. Richardson died on July 23, 2023.
 
TRANSFER U
SSU has 15 players on the roster that have transferred from other schools. The programs, which range from FBS to junior college, include East Tennessee State, Bryant University, Pittsburgh, North Carolina Central, Glennville State, Point University, Georgia Southern, Lane College, Grambling State, Albany State, Louisburg College, Hobart College, American River College, Los Angeles Valley Community College and Hutchinson Community College.
 
SURVIVOR
SSU signee Kyle Frazier is a cancer survivor. Frazier was diagnosed with Hodgkin's Lymphoma in April 2019 but after chemotherapy treatments, he was declared cancer free in August 2019. The Augusta, Georgia native enrolled at SSU in January 2020 and joined the football team in 2021.He has made the all conference team his freshman and sophomore years.

FOR YOUR VIEWING PLEASURE
Savannah State will appear on ESPN+ twice during the season.The Tigers will play Clark Atlanta on September 16 at Theodore A. Wright Stadium at 6 p.m. The 2023 SSU Homecoming match-up with Tuskegee University on October 21 will also appear on ESPN+ with a 3 p.m. kickoff.

HOME GROWN
SU has 14 players in its roster from ten different of the local high schools (Islands, Savannah High, Johnson, Windsor Forest, Memorial, Beach, Bethesda, New Hampstead, Calvary and Jenkins.
 
THE SIZE OF IT
Freshmen linemen Kamrem Bing and Derrick Clark are the biggest players on the team. Bing, a offensive lineman weighs 340-pounds while Clark, a defensive lineman stands 6-foot-5. Freshman wide receiver Jason Cobb is the smallest player on the roster at 5-foot-7 and 150 pounds.
 
GETTING THE MILES IN
SSU has six road games on the schedule with an average of 355 miles for each game. Tiger fans will travel to Lakeland, Florida (335 miles), Daytona Beach, Fla. (234 miles), Brunswick, Georgia (79 miles), Fort Valley, Ga. (175 miles), Wilberforce, Ohio (689 miles) and Jackson, Tennessee (620 miles).
 
PRESEASON HONORS
During the SIAC Football Media Day in July, four SSU football players were named to the preseason all conference team. Offensive linemen Kyle Frazier and Riyon Adams and running back Shamarcus Poole were named to the First Team while punter/kicker Kenneth Lockhart was picked for the Second Team.
 
WHAT'S IN A NAME
There are ten sets of players on the SSU roster that share the same last name. The team has three players with the last name of Williams, Brown and Johnson and seven sets with the last name of Roberts, Leonard, Adams, Bell, Davis, Hampton and Jones. Additionally there are players with the last name that is pronounced the same but spelled differently as in Brown/Browne and Clark/Clarke.