THE GAME
Savannah State returns to Theodore A. Wright Stadium to host Kentucky State in a key SIAC match-up. Both teams have one conference loss and another loss will hurt their chances of being in the hunt for the SIAC championship game. Both teams also enter the game coming off impressive road wins with SSU beating Miles 49-19 and KSU beating Morehouse 35-17. It will be their first meeting since October 2, 2022 when the Thorobreds won 28-13 in Savannah. In that game, Kentucky State had 394 yards of offense while their defense limited the Tigers to -12 yards rushing and had 7 sacks. Jadon Adams saw action at quarterback in that game and completed 4 of 8 passes for 31 yards and a touchdown while Kirk Smith had 6 tackles. Savannah State and Kentucky State have been playing each other since 1949. Saturday will be the 13th meeting of the programs. The overall series is tied at 6-6.

GAME INFORMATION
Kentucky State (2-2, 2-1 SIAC) vs. Savannah State (2-1, 1-1 SIAC)
Date: Saturday, September 27th
Location: Theodore A. "Ted" Wright Stadium | Savannah, Georgia
Time: 6:00pm

THEME INFORMATION:
Saturday's matchup will be our Military Appreciation/Cancer Awareness game, where military member and cancer warriors will be honored. Active and Retired Military members with valid military ID will receive free entrance into the game.

GAME PROGRAM:
Get all of the extra information on the contest with our official gameday program which you can find HERE

STADIUM INFORMATION:
Theodore A. "Ted" Wright Stadium is a smoke-free facility. Additionally, Umbrellas are not permitted inside of the stadium. 

CLEAR BAG POLICY:
In An Effort To Create And Maintain A Safe And Enjoyable Gameday Environment, Savannah State University Athletics Is Adhering To A Clear Bag Policy.

TICKET INFORMATION:
Tickets Must Be Purchased Online At http://SSUAthletics.com/Tickets

COACHES
Savannah State: Aaron Kelton, 4th Season (Record At SSU: 14-19)
Kentucky State: Felton Huggins, Jr., 3rd Season (Record At KYSU: 10-15)

WEATHER REPORT
The weather report for the Coastal Empire area does show a 48% chance of thundershowers for Saturday. It is expected to be a high of 83° and a low of 71° with winds blowing Southwest at 6 mph.

FOR YOUR VIEWING PLEASURE:
Savannah State will be featured five times on ESPN Platforms.
SSU's season opener against rival Edward Waters opened conference's broadcast slate on August 30th, followed by the Tigers' first road contest of the season at defending SIAC Champion, Miles on September 20th, The Tigers' next ESPN+ broadcast will be on Saturday, September 27th in a home match-up against Kentucky State, then the inaugural Good Trouble Heritage Classic vs. Fort Valley State on October 18th in Augusta, Ga. Savannah State's final regular season ESPN+ broadcast will be on November 1st as the Tigers will travel to face Albany State.

BROADCAST INFORMATION: 
Channel: ESPN+
Broadcasters: Todd Corder/J. J. Jurjevic
Broadcast Link: https://www.espn.com/watch/player?id=319ac8a3-f57c-4f7c-ae42-0234e5669889
Live Stats Link: https://milesgoldenbears.com/sidearmstats/football/summary

KELTON'S QUOTE
"We are excited to be back home playing a very good Kentucky State team. It will be a good physical game. We need to control the explosive plays and find different ways to put the football in the box. We are starting to develop as a team and this will be a really good test for us."

LAST WEEK
In his first start of the season, Fabian Walker led the Tigers to a 45-19 road win over Miles, throwing for 204 yards and 3 touchdowns. Cinsere Clark caught two touchdown passes and Joseph Hampton ran for 51 yards. Darrian Bell and Xavier Esquillen both had six tackles for the SSU defense held Miles to 59 yards on the ground while sacking the quarterback four times. It was a team effort with SSU getting points from their offense, defense and special teams. 

SAVANNAH STATE/KENTUCKY STATE CONNECTIONS
Dr. John Wolfe served as president at Kentucky State (1990-91) and Savannah State (1993-97); Dr. George W. Reid served as vice president of academic affairs at Savannah State and was the president of Kentucky State from 1998-2002; George Small was the Savannah State defensive coordinator from 1990-91 and was the Kentucky State head coach from 1995-2000.

COMMON OPPONENTS
Savannah State and Kentucky State have four common opponents: Albany State, Edward Waters, Miles and Morehouse.

PRESEASON HONORS:
Four Tigers were selected to the preseason All-SIAC team.
Defensive lineman Xavier Esquillen and linebacker Gary Davis, Jr. were both named to the First Team Defense while offensive linemen Keshawn Palmore and Khalifa Sene were both named to the Second Team Offense. Esquillen and Davis were also named to the HBCU Sports Division II Football Preseason All-American Team and Esquillen was named as an Honorable Mention HBCU College Football Preseason All-American from BOXTOROW.

POLL WATCHING
Savannah State is ranked #7 in the latest HBCU Division II Coaches Poll  is administered by BOXTOROW. The poll is voted on by the HBCU NCAA Division II coaches.

HOME GROWN TALENT:
SSU has 12 players in its roster from eight different of the local high schools (Islands, Beach, New Hampstead, Calvary Day, Johnson, Life of Christ Academy, St. Andrews and Jenkins

TRANSFER U
Savannah State has a roster that has players that have transferred into the program from the FBS, FCS, Division II, Division III, NAIA and the junior college level.  Ten come from the FBS/FCS level (South Carolina State, Bethune Cookman, Yale, Middle Tennessee, St. Francis (Pa), East Tennessee State, Tennessee Chattanooga, Nebraska, Georgia Southern, Louisville and Valparaiso).

STRONG FINISH
Savannah State has only given up three points in the third quarter and only 12 points in the second half this season.

STATISTICALLY SPEAKING
According to the lastest NCAA Division II statistics, John "Wesley" Bentley is ranked #1 in fumble recoveries (2), Darrian Bell is #3 in forced fumbles (0.67), Xavier Esquillen is #12 in sacks (3), Joseph Hampton is #12 in combined kick returns (266) and #18 in all-purpose yards (150.67), Christopher Murray is #13 in passes defended (1.67) and Cinsere Clark is #22 in receiving touchdowns (3). As a team, the Tigers are #2 in fumble recoveries (7), #4 in rush defense (52.3), #8 in total defense (243.7), #17 in time of possession (33:22) and #19 in sacks per game (3.0).

TIGER LEADERS
Darrian Bell leads the team in defense with 21 tackles, 4 tackles for loss, 1 sack, 2 forced fumble and 1 fumble recovery. Tavare Brewton has 16 tackles, 1 forced fumble and 1 fumble recovery while Xavier Esquillen has 11 tackles, 3.5 tackles for loss and 3.5 sacks. On offense, Christian Burks has completed 27 of 50 passes for 320 yards and 1 touchdown while Fabian Walker has completed 19 of 31 passes for 209 yards and 3 touchdowns. Joseph Hampton (165 yards, 1 TD) and David Gardner, Jr. (115 yards, 2 TD) anchor the running game while Cinsere Clark (15 rec., 186 yards, 3 TD), Arik Gilbert (11 rec., 145 yards, 1 TD) and Jadon Adams (6 rec, 83 yards) are the leading pass catchers.

TRACKING THE THOROBREDS
Kentucky State's offense is averaging 30.25 points a game and is led by quarterback Torrence Bardell who has thrown for 658 yards and 6 touchdowns with only 1 interception. When throwing the ball, Bardell will look for Darius Cyprian (16 catches for 350 yards) and Jon McCall (19 catches for 195 yards) who have three touchdowns each. Chad Elzy is the leading rusher with 252 yards and 3 touchdowns and Jaylen Middleton has 169 yards and one score. Defensively, the Thorobreds give up 31.75 points a game. Lawrence McConnell has 28 tackles and 1 interception while Roman Hernandez and Mataye Youman both have 25 tackles. Defensive end Jordan Thompson has 6 tackles for loss and 4 sacks. KSU has 16 players on their roster from the state of Georgia and one is from neighboring St. Mary's.

Stay Connected
For complete coverage of Savannah State University Athletics, follow the Tigers on social media @SavStateTigers on Facebook, Instagram, and X (Formerly Known As Twitter), or visit the official online home of SSU Athletics at http://ssuathletics.com.