Football Southern Conference

Two SoCon Football Games to Air Saturday Afternoon

SoCon fans will have two opportunities to catch key conference matchups on TV this Saturday afternoon, as The Citadel plays hosts to longtime rivals Furman at 3:30 on CSS and perennial powers Georgia Southern and Appalachian State battle it out in Boone at 4:00, live in Fox Sports Net South and Fox Sports Net Digital.

CSS (Comcast/Charter Sports Southeast) will televise the Citadel/Furman game at 3:30 p.m. with Chuck Hussion and former Paladin great Will Bouton calling the action from Johnson Hagood Stadium in Charleston.

This Palmetto State rivalry is one of the most fierce in all of the Southern Conference. The Bulldogs and Paladins have faced off 82 times since 1913, the most-played rivalry for either school. Furman holds a 51-28-3 all-time advantage, and the Paladins have also dominated the series of late, winning seven of the last eight contests, including four straight wins at Johnson Hagood Stadium.

The 13th-ranked Paladins (4-2, 2-1) are looking to rebound from a 13-10 home loss to Appalachian State last week. The Paladins are led offensively by tailback Hindley Brigham and receiver Brian Bratton. Brigham has rushed for 541 yards and three touchdowns on the season, while the versatile Bratton has caught 24 passes for 310 yards and three touchdowns along with rushing for 149 yards and two scores. Furman leads the SoCon in scoring defense (13.0 ppg) and total defense (268.2 ypg).

The Citadel (3-3, 2-1) is riding a two-game winning streak into Saturday's contest, hoping to win their third straight for the first time since 1997. The Bulldogs have out rushed their opponents this season, led tailbacks Nehemiah Broughton (373 yards, 6 TDs) and Ern Mills (350 yards, 2 TDs). Scooter Johnson, The Citadel's standout wide receiver, has caught 21 passes for 437 yards and five touchdowns.

Comcast Sports Southeast/Charter Sports Southeast (CSS), a partnership between Comcast Corporation and Charter Communications is a 24-hour regional sports network. Currently, CSS has approximately four million subscribers across 11 Southeastern states including Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee.

Saturday's second matchup pits Appalachian State against 10th-ranked Georgia Southern. Fox Sports Net South will have the broadcast live at 4:00 with Bob Rathbun and Dave Archer provided the commentary.

In this relatively young but intense rivalry, the Eagles own a slight 9-8-1 edge, but Appalachian has won four of the last six games played in Boone. Georgia Southern currently owns a four-game winning streak in this series, including last season's 36-20 triumph in Statesboro. However, no team has ever won five consecutive games in this series.

Appalachian State (3-3, 2-1), led by the SoCon's all-time winningest coach, Jerry Moore, looks to continue the momentum from last week's 13-10 upset at then 5th-ranked Furman. Richie Williams rushed for a touchdown and Erik Rockhold booted two field goals to provide the winning margin. DE K.T. Stovall led the defensive charge with nine tackles and a career-high three sacks en route to earning SoCon Defensive Player of the Week honors.

Georgia Southern (4-2, 2-1) is riding a three-game winning streak into Saturday's contest. Quarterback Trey Hunter, filling in the injured Chaz Williams, has led the Eagles' charge by throwing for three touchdowns and rushing for six more scores. GSU fullback Jermaine Austin currently leads the SoCon in rushing with 807 yards.

Fox Sports Net South has 10.5 million subscribers, cable and DBS, in seven Southeastern states including Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee. The game will also be available on Fox Sports Digital Net (FSDN). Digital cable subscribers nationwide who have access through their cable company to FSDN will see the game as well.