Note: The following was written by Scott Keeler, who worked as a reporter at the Greenville News for more than 25 years. “Keeler’s Corner” will also appear throughout the season.
Keeler can be found on Twitter @Scott_Keeler

Welcome to the in-season portion of “Keeler’s Corner.” Month by month of the football season, I’ll recap the efforts of each Southern Conference team – in order of the current SoCon standings – and look ahead to what’s on the horizon.

It should be an exciting final month of the regular season in the SoCon as six teams are within a game of first place.

WOFFORD (5-2, 4-1)
Wofford got things turned around at the end of September and that carried on through October. The Terriers are the hottest team in the SoCon as they enter November on a five-game winning streak. That has vaulted them back into the FCS polls at No. 20 (Coaches) and No. 23 (STATS), respectively.
The latest victory in that streak came in thrilling fashion last Saturday. Chattanooga scored a pair of fourth-quarter touchdowns to take a 28-21 lead at Wofford with 2:08 to play. The Terriers were able to drive 65 yards on 13 plays in just 1:49 as they scored the game-tying touchdown with 19 seconds left. Wofford scored first in overtime, then held for a 35-34 win when the Mocs missed a two-point conversion.
Quarterback Joe Newman leads an offense that averages a SoCon-best 467 total yards per game. Wofford ranks second in the FCS in rushing (361.7 yards per game), yards per carry (6.63) and rushing touchdowns (28). Freshman Jacquez Allen is averaging 12.7 yards per carry and has run it 30 times.
Out of 382 rushing attempts this season, the Terriers have lost only one fumble. Out of 90 pass plays, they’ve only allowed one sack. No other team in the country has allowed less than four sacks.
Meanwhile, Wofford’s defense leads the SoCon in total defense (318.1 yards allowed per game) and rushing defense (104). Jireh Wilson and Michael Mason have 4.5 and 4.0 sacks, respectively, to lead the Terriers up front, while George Gbesee has a SoCon-best seven pass breakups.
November game to watch: vs. Furman, Nov. 16. Wofford will hit the road for three of its last four games of the regular season, beginning this Saturday at Clemson. The lone contest at Gibbs Stadium could have SoCon championship and FCS playoff implications.
MVP: Quarterback Joe Newman. Newman leads the team in rushing with 760 yards this season, and his 8.3 yards-per-carry average ranks No. 2 in the FCS. After a rough outing when he threw three interceptions in Wofford’s season-opening loss, he’s had only one turnover (an interception) since. During the five-game winning streak, Newman’s completed 32-of-53 (60.3 percent) passes for 554 yards and five touchdowns and rushed 67 times for 607 yards and all 11 of his rushing touchdowns this season.

FURMAN (5-3, 4-1 SoCon)
Furman responded to a pair of one-score losses at FBS opponents by roaring into SoCon play this season. After a blowout win over Mercer and a gritty, seven-point win over ETSU, the Paladins opened October with a 58-14 victory at Samford. But coming off their bye week that followed, the Paladins’ eight-game winning streak against FCS foes was snapped in a 27-10 home loss to rival The Citadel.
Furman bounced back last Saturday with a 28-7 win at Western Carolina and moved back up to No. 13 in each FCS poll this week. A defense that leads the SoCon in scoring (19.4 points allowed per game) led the way Saturday.
In conference play, the Paladins have allowed just eight touchdowns and two of those came on The Citadel possessions that started at the Furman 31- and 12-yard lines, respectively. A total of 23 different Paladins have registered in the tackle-for-loss column this season.
Furman’s offense features a rushing attack that ranks fifth in the FCS at 282 yards per game. Devin Wynn leads the way as he’s rushed for 807 yards and eight touchdowns. His 7.5 yards-per-carry average ranks fifth in the FCS. Senior receiver Thomas Gordon is second in the SoCon with 503 yards receiving and five touchdowns.
In red zone offense, the Paladins are No. 1 nationally, having scored 23 touchdowns and two field goals in their 26 trips (96.2 percent). The only time Furman didn’t score in the red zone came when it was running out the clock in the final minutes of a 45-10 win over Mercer.
November game to watch: at Chattanooga, Oct. 2. While a potential huge showdown at Wofford looms two weeks later, that game won’t mean nearly as much if Furman doesn’t take care of business before then. That begins with the other team with only one SoCon loss besides Furman and Wofford in Chattanooga. The Paladins will be going for their third straight win in the series after dropping each of the previous five meetings.
MVP: Kicker/punter Grayson Atkins. While Atkins’ consecutive made field-goal streak ended at 18 Saturday, the 18th earlier that day tied Jon Croft Hollingsworth’s school record for longest at 55 yards. Atkins ranks second in the country in net punting at 42.5 yards per punt. Of his 27 punts, 16 have gone inside the 20-yard line and seven have been returned for a total of minus-2 yards. Atkins is sixth in the FCS with 30 touchbacks on 46 kickoffs.

CHATTANOOGA (4-4, 3-1)
A tough early season schedule left Chattanooga with a 1-3 record entering SoCon play, but the Mocs responded by winning each of their first three conference games. Chattanooga was the only team without a SoCon loss before last Saturday’s heartbreaking 35-34 overtime loss at Wofford.
Saturday in Spartanburg, Chattanooga rallied to take a 28-21 lead with 2:08 to play before Wofford came back to force overtime on a touchdown with 19 seconds left. After the Terriers scored to open overtime, the Mocs answered and went for a game-winning two-point conversion. Nick Tiano’s two-point pass was dropped in the end zone and Wofford escaped to leave three teams with one league loss.
In a league full of different styles of offense, Chattanooga’s is the most balanced with 1,516 yards rushing and 1,448 passing. It’s been led by phenomenal freshman running back Ailym Ford, who’s averaging 161.8 yards rushing and 30.5 carries per game in SoCon play.
Tiano, a fifth-year senior, ranks in the top 10 in school history in passing yards and touchdowns despite beginning his career at Mississippi State. Junior receiver Bryce Nunnelly is third in the SoCon with 477 yards receiving and four touchdowns.
Ty Boeck and Marshall Cooper are fourth and fifth in the SoCon in tackles with 64 and 61, respectively.
November game to watch: vs. Furman, Oct. 2. Chattanooga doesn’t have time to mourn its setback at Wofford with Furman coming to town this week. The Mocs were in contention at 4-2 in SoCon play entering last November before a 16-10 loss at Furman began a season-ending three-game losing skid.
MVP: Running back Ailym Ford. After bursting onto the scene in SoCon play, Ford ranks seventh in the FCS with 893 yards rushing this season to go along with nine touchdowns. The 5-foot-9, 205-pound Ford has rushed for 199 more yards than the next freshman on the national rushing leaders list.

THE CITADEL (5-4, 3-2)
After ending September with a heartbreaking four-overtime loss at Samford, the Bulldogs opened October with more heartbreak. After possessing the coveted Silver Shako for the past 12 seasons, The Citadel dropped it in a 34-21 home loss to rival VMI.
Since then though, the Bulldogs have gone on a three-game winning streak highlighted by a 27-10 victory at rival Furman, which was ranked No. 8 nationally at the time. In last Saturday’s 35-24 win over Mercer, The Citadel rushed for a season-high 378 yards and Brandon Rainey ran for a touchdown and threw for another. That gave him a school-record 23 touchdowns (14 rushing, nine passing) this season.
With 571 attempts this season, The Citadel has run the ball 101 more times than any other team in the country and is averaging 269.6 yards per game on the ground. After netting just 78 yards rushing against VMI, the Bulldogs have rushed for 339, 360 and 378, respectively, since.
Raleigh Webb has provided a threat when The Citadel passes, as he’s caught 21 for 411 yards and eight touchdowns.
Willie Eubanks III ranks second in the SoCon with 81 tackles to lead a defense that leads the league with 22 sacks. The most surprising aspect of that is how little the Bulldogs’ defense is on the field. The offense leads the country in time of possession at 36:11 per game.
Special teams have also been a plus for The Citadel. Jacob Godek ranks fifth in the FCS with 32 touchbacks on 45 kickoffs, while Matt Campbell and Gage Russell are each averaging more than 44 yards per punt. That would rank in the top 10 nationally if either had enough punts to qualify.
November game to watch: vs. Wofford, Nov. 23. If the Bulldogs can keep their streak going with road tests at ETSU this Saturday and Chattanooga on Nov. 16, the regular-season finale against the Terriers could have all SoCon eyes focused on Charleston.
MVP: Quarterback Brandon Rainey. The Citadel is simply a different team with a completely healthy Rainey at quarterback and that’s what he’s appeared to be the past few weeks. He’s fifth in the SoCon in rushing with 718 yards. He’s completed 42-of-73 passes for 688 yards with nine touchdowns and three interceptions for an efficiency rating of 169.2.

SAMFORD (4-4, 3-2)
Coming off a season in which it beat all three teams that shared the SoCon championship yet finished fourth in the standings, Samford is going through another roller coaster year. After starting 0-2, the Bulldogs popped off three consecutive wins to end September. Two of those were SoCon wins, including a victory at preseason favorite Wofford.
That streak came to a halt when Samford allowed the most points it ever has in an FCS game in a 58-14 home loss to then-No. 14 Furman. The next week, the Bulldogs endured their third overtime game this season in a 48-41 loss at VMI. After a bye week, Samford bounced back with a win over ETSU last Saturday.
While it may be a bit skewed by the overtimes, Samford ranks first in the SoCon in scoring offense (37 points per game) and last in scoring defense (39.6 allowed per game). Oddly enough, two of the Bulldogs’ conference wins have been by the tame scores of 21-14 at Wofford and 24-17 against ETSU. In Saturday’s win, Jocquet Jiles’ 1-yard touchdown run snapped a 17-17 tie with 6:22 left. Jaleel Laguins’ fumble recovery with 1:01 left sealed the win.
Junior linebacker John Staton leads the SoCon with 89 tackles this season.
November game to watch: vs. Chattanooga, Oct. 9. Of the three SoCon games left on Samford’s schedule, this is the only one against a team currently ahead of the Bulldogs in the standings. Samford will try to snap Chattanooga’s five-game winning streak in the series. The Mocs have won nine of the last 10 meetings.
MVP: Quarterback Chris Oladokun. The South Florida transfer ranks second in the SoCon with 1,719 yards passing this season. He’s completed 63.6 percent of his passes and has a league-best 16 touchdowns and six interceptions. Oladokun is also second on the team in rushing with 393 yards and six touchdowns.

VMI (4-4, 3-2)
Backed by its record-setting quarterback and running back, VMI is enjoying one of its best football seasons in years. While it’s coming off a 34-27 loss at Mercer two weeks ago, VMI started October by taking the Silver Shako away from rival The Citadel for the first time since 2002. The Keydets followed that by rallying from a 10-point fourth-quarter deficit to defeat Samford 48-41 in overtime.
In the win over Samford, Grant Clemons’ 56-yard field goal as time expired forced overtime and Alex Ramsey’s school-record sixth touchdown run of the day proved to be the game-winner. That gave VMI four wins, matching its highest win total since 2008. The Keydets’ three SoCon wins are their most since 2002.
At Mercer, VMI trailed 27-6 entering the fourth quarter but its bid for another comeback win fell a touchdown short. In that game, quarterback Reece Udinski completed 26-of-46 passes for 263 yards with a touchdown and no interceptions. That performance helped him break the FCS record for consecutive passes without an interception, a mark that had stood since 1999. Udinski has completed 218-of-344 passes this season for a SoCon-best 2,314 yards with 14 touchdowns and no interceptions. Sophomore Jakob Herres leads the SoCon with 648 yards receiving and four touchdowns.
November game to watch: at Furman, Oct. 9. Not many would have highlighted this as a game to watch in the league standings entering this season, but if VMI can knock off Western Carolina this Saturday, that’s exactly what it will be. Furman has won 25 of the last 26 meetings in the series.
MVP: Running back Alex Ramsey. So how does one take MVP honors over a quarterback who’s shattered a national record this season? Well, leading the country in touchdowns helps. In addition to his FCS-best and school-record-tying 17 rushing touchdowns this season, Ramsey is No. 3 nationally with 935 yards rushing. He also has 273 yards receiving to rank among the national leaders in all-purpose yards with an average of 151 per game.

MERCER (3-5, 2-3)
Another month, another huge loss to injury for Mercer. While standout receiver David Durden was able to return to action from a back injury much sooner than first anticipated last week, he was catching passes from a new quarterback.
For the second year in a row, starter Robert Riddle has been lost for the season due to injury. After breaking his collarbone early in the 2018 season, Riddle suffered a leg injury in Mercer’s 34-27 win over VMI on Oct. 19. Players from both teams huddled around Riddle as he was taken off the field in an ambulance to the hospital for surgery.
Kaelan Riley, the 2017 SoCon Freshman of the Year, stepped in and completed 9-of-15 passes for 127 yards and a touchdown to help the Bears gain the victory. Riley threw for 244 yards and two scores last Saturday at The Citadel, but the Bulldogs scored two touchdowns in the fourth quarter to rally for a 35-24 win.
Running backs Tyray Devezin – who’s fought through an ankle injury suffered earlier this season – and Deondre Johnson rank sixth and ninth in the SoCon in rushing at 78.1 and 65.6 yards per game, respectively.
Kicker Caleb Dowden leads the FCS in field-goal percentage as the freshman has connected on 10-of-11 (90.9 percent) this season.
November game to watch: vs. Wofford, Oct. 9. Since restarting football a few years ago, the only SoCon team Mercer hasn’t beaten is Wofford. The Bears’ last win over the Terriers came in 1941. On its last two trips to Macon, Wofford left with a 34-33 overtime win in 2015 and a 28-27 win in 2017.
MVP: Quarterback Robert Riddle. Prior to his injury, Riddle had completed 121-of-211 passes for 1,453 yards (207.6 per game) with 15 touchdowns. He also had 124 yards rushing and booted a 43-yard punt this season. His 225.3 total offense per game average ranks third best in the SoCon.

ETSU (2-6, 0-5)
Last season, ETSU posted six conference wins, all by three points or fewer, to win a share of its first SoCon championship. This season, close conference losses have sent the Buccaneers to the opposite end of the standings.
Four of ETSU’s five conference losses have been decided by seven points or fewer. The Bucs were either tied or led in the fourth quarter in each of those losses.
A lack of offensive consistency has doomed ETSU this season. The Bucs are next-to-last in the SoCon in total offense (338.2 yards per game) and scoring offense (19.5 points per game). Quay Holmes and Jacob Saylors have rushed for 592 and 437 yards, respectively, to lead ETSU. Holmes also has 450 yards on kickoff returns and 118 yards receiving to average 145 all-purpose yards per game.
On the other side of the ball, the Bucs rank second in the SoCon in total defense, allowing 357.9 yards per game, and No. 1 in pass efficiency defense at 113.4. Preseason SoCon Defensive Player of the Year Nasir Player has 33 tackles, nine for loss, 3.5 sacks and eight quarterback hurries.
November game to watch: vs. The Citadel, Oct. 2. ETSU is in the spoiler role this season and it could spoil the Bulldogs’ hopes of increasing their push towards the top of the standings on Saturday. Last season in Charleston, the Bucs held on for a 26-23 win.
MVP: Strong safety Artevius Smith. Smith has a team-high 58 tackles and a SoCon-high four interceptions this season. He also has eight passes defended, four break-ups and a forced fumble.

WESTERN CAROLINA (1-7, 0-5)
After a tough September, things didn’t go much better in October for Western Carolina. The Catamounts were in a position to get their first Division I win to open the month, but Gardner-Webb kicked a field goal as time expired to leave Cullowhee with a 24-21 win.
WCU returned to league play for the rest of the month and lost each of those to run its SoCon losing streak to 12 consecutive games dating back to a 52-50 win over VMI last September. The Catamounts’ closest league game this year was a 35-17 loss at The Citadel.
Injuries and a suspension have hampered preseason SoCon Offensive Player of the Year Tyrie Adams’ senior year. Getting vertical seems to be the specific problem for WCU’s offense. Adams and backup Will Jones have combined to complete 153-of-226 passes (67.7 percent) but have only thrown for 1,340 yards and seven touchdowns. That 8.76 yards per completion average ranks next-to-last in the FCS.
While it’s coming off its best performance in league play in limiting then-No. 14 Furman to 28 points this past Saturday, WCU has also struggled defensively. The Catamounts are allowing 39.1 points and 444.6 total yards per game.
November game to watch: vs. ETSU, Oct. 9. By the look of the standings, this could be Western Carolina’s best shot for a Division I win the rest of the way. Last year in Johnson City, the Catamounts fell in triple overtime, 45-43.
MVP: Quarterback Tyrie Adams. While Adams hasn’t put up the astronomical numbers he has in the past, he’s still fifth in the league in total offense at 200.2 total yards per game, including 149.5 passing yards per game. He’s thrown for six touchdowns and run for five.