THE KELTON FILE
Aaron Kelton enters his third year as head coach of the Tigers. The Boston native has made his rounds on the collegiate level with coaching stops at Massachusetts Institute of Technology,  Clarion, Concord, Virginia State, Columbia, Williams, Shorter, Morgan State and Howard.
 
LONG TRIP
The Tigers trip to Baton Rouge, Louisiana will be their longest of the season. The distance from Savannah, Georgia to Baton Rouge covers 698.5 miles. A drive will take you ten hours and 38 minutes.
 
SCOUTING THE JAGUARS
Southern has a game under their belt as they opened their season on August 31 with a 21-7 loss to McNeese State. The Jaguars led 7-0 at the half but gave up 21 points in the fourth quarter. One of those touchdowns scored by the Cowboys was by Savannah State alum D'Angelo Durham who scored on a two-yard run with just over five minutes left in the contest. Southern's offense is led by quarterback Noah Bodden who passed for 118 yards. Kobe Dillion gained 51 yards on 14 carries for SU while Jermaine Minor had a pair of receptions for 37 yards. Defensively, Jamarius Brown was in on seven tackles and had one tackle for loss and one sack. Ckelby Givins had six tackles and a sack while Derrick Williams and William Miles had five tackles each.

A MEETING OF FRIENDS
Although this the first meeting on the gridiron between Savannah State and Southern, the friendship between the head coaches dates back to 2003 when both were defensive coordinators in the state of Virginia. SSU's Kelton was at Virginia State while Southern's Terrance Graves was at Norfolk State.
 
TEAMMATE REUNION
Today's game will be a reunion of SSU wide receiver Jalen Leonard and SU running back CJ Russell who were teammates at Grambling State in 2022; SSU defensive lineman Jamar Walker and Southern tight end Dupree Fuller were teammates at Los Angeles Valley Community College
 
LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION-The SSU roster is made up of players from eleven states (Georgia, Florida, South Carolina, Kentucky, New York, Texas, California, Alabama, Massachusetts, North Carolina and Maryland) as well as the District of Columbia
 
WELCOME TO THE MARSH
Former North Carolina wide receiver Steven Jerry has joined the Tiger coaching staff and will be overseeing the wide receivers. Jerry's collegiate coaching resume list Central Florida, William & Mary, East Tennessee State, Virginia State, Florida A&M, Benedict and New Mexico Highlands, before coming to SSU.
 
REFURBISHED TURF
SSU is among four HBCUs in Georgia and Alabama who will debut a refurbished football field this fall thanks to grants totaling more than $6.5 million from the Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation. The work at T.A. Wright Stadium included the installation of a new turf and upgrades to the drainage system to improve field quality, safety and accessibility to community groups.
 
TRANSFER U
Savannah State has a roster that has transferred to the program from the FBS, FCS, Division II, Division III, NAIA and the junior college level. Five come from the FBS level (Pittsburgh, Georgia Southern, Louisville and Florida) while four list FCS schools as their former home (Mercer, Morgan State, South Carolina State and Grambling State).
 
HOME GROWN- SSU has ten players in its roster from eight different of the local high schools (Islands, Beach, Savannah High, Bethesda, Johnson, Windsor Forest, St. Andrews and Jenkins.
 
THE SIZE OF IT- Punter Lexington Matthews the tallest player on the team at 6-foot-5 but Offensive lineman Amez Jones is the biggest at 360-pounds. Running back AJ Brown is the shortest player on the roster at 5-foot-7 while wide receiver Jalen Leonard is the lightest at 150 pounds.
 
POLL WATCHERS
Savannah State has been ranked No. 20 in the Dr. Cavil's 2024 preseason HBCU Mid-Major Division Football Poll Rankings for Division II and NAIA teams. The Tigers received 16 votes and one first place vote in the preseason BOXTOROW HBCU D2 Coaches Poll.
 
PRESEASON HONORS
Eight Tigers were selected to the preseason All-SIAC team. Deandre Creary was named to the First Team Defense while Ahlik Booker and Nathaniel Chisholm were named to the Second Team Defense. Jadon Adams, Da'Shun Mitchell and Shamarcus Poole were named to the Second Team Offense while AJ Brown and Joseph Hampton were named as Second Team Return Specialists.

FOR YOUR VIEWING PLEASURE
SSU will appear on the HBCU Go platform on September 7 at 7 p.m. with their game with Southern. The contest will appear on The Grio. Savannah State will also appear on ESPN+ three times during the 2024 season. The Tigers will play Central State on September 14 at Theodore A. Wright Stadium at 6 p.m. and will host Fort Valley State on October 12 at 2 p.m. The 2024 SSU Homecoming match-up with Lane on October 26 will also appear on ESPN+ with a 3 p.m. kickoff.

NIL PARTNERSHIP
The Savannah State University Department of Athletics and Influxer have formed a partnership which will help SSU student-athletes with Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) merchandising opportunities. Influxer, an approved licensed NIL vendor, will house a complete NIL merchandise store for all Tiger student-athletes who choose to participate, featuring officially licensed apparel with their names and jersey numbers.
 
LOOKING BACK
25 years ago, SSU opened the 1995 season with a 50-12 victory over Elizabeth City State under the direction of head coach Steve Wilks.