Oct. 16 (Saturday)	Series	TV/Digital	Time
#10/10 ETSU at #RV/-- Chattanooga*	Chattanooga leads 23-19-1	Nexstar/ESPN+	1:30 p.m.
Samford at Wofford*	Samford leads 13-5	ESPN+	1:30 p.m.
#RV/RV VMI at #RV/RV Mercer*	Mercer leads 5-2	ESPN+	4 p.m.
The Citadel at Furman*	Furman leads 60-37-3	ESPN3	6 p.m.

Nexstar affiliates for the Oct. 16 Ingles SoCon Game of the Week
ETSU at Chattanooga, 1:30 p.m.
ECBD/The Lowcountry’s CW (Charleston)
WHDF/North Alabama’s CW (Huntsville/Florence)
WMUB (Macon)
WMYT/My 12 (Charlotte)
WWCW/The CW Virginia (Lynchburg/Roanoke)
WYCW/The CW62 (Greenville/Spartanburg/Asheville)

Play-by-play: Pete Yanity
Analyst: Jared Singleton

Notes
• Tenth-ranked and unbeaten ETSU visits Chattanooga on Saturday in the Ingles Southern Conference Game of the Week on select Nexstar affiliates.

• Mercer also puts it perfect SoCon start on the line when it hosts VMI on Saturday, while Wofford hosts Samford and Furman welcomes The Citadel.

• ETSU moved to No. 10 in both the AFCA FCS Coaches’ Top 25 and the Stats Perform FCS Top 25 after its 48-21 win over The Citadel on Oct. 9. The Bucs, who are 6-0 for the third time in program history and first time since 1969, got 182 all-purpose yards and two rushing touchdowns from Quay Holmes, who finished the game No. 9 in SoCon history with 5,393 career all-purpose yards.

• Chattanooga dropped a 37-34 decision in overtime at VMI last time out. The Mocs got 16 tackles each from Ty Boeck and Kam Jones and saw Tyrell Price (122) and Ailym Ford (118) each rush for more than 100 yards and  two touchdowns.

• Mercer, the first team out of both national polls, is 3-0 in SoCon play for the first time in program history. The Bears downed Western Carolina 34-24 last Saturday, with sophomore safety Lance Wise forcing a fumble and intercepting a pass en route to being named the SoCon Defensive Player of the Week presented by GEICO. Devin Fosler hit a pair of long field goals, tying the school record with a 50-yard make in the third quarter and breaking the mark with a 51-yarder fourth.

• VMI upset then-No. 19 Chattanooga behind five field goals from Jerry Rice, including a 49-yarder in the final minute of regulation and a 37-yard game-winner in overtime. Korey Bridy ran for 165 yards and Seth Morgan threw for 306 yards and three touchdowns, with Michael Jackson catching six passes for 140 yards and two scores.

• Idle since a 45-42 loss to Mercer on Oct. 2, Samford is fifth in the FCS in total offense (500.4) and scoring offense (42.2) but is allowing 36.8 points per game and and 45.7 in league games. QB Liam Welch leads the FCS with 33.8 completions per game and is fourth in total offense (405.8) and passing yards per game (366.6).

• Wofford has dropped four straight since opening the season with a win at Elon. Irvin Mulligan paces the Terriers with 86.4 rushing yards per game and ranks seventh nationally with 6.86 yards per carry.

• Samford has won six straight against Wofford and leads the series 13-5.

• Furman snapped a two-game slide with its 42-20 win over rival Wofford last weekend, with Devin Wynn accounting for 247 all-purpose yards and three touchdowns and quarterback Jace Wilson throwing for 189 yards and a score in his starting debut.

• The Citadel fell 48-21 at ETSU last Saturday, with QB Jaylan Adams rushing for 102 yards and a score and throwing for 54 yards and a TD. Matt Campbell unleashed a school-record 84-yard punt on the afternoon, the longest in the FCS this season.

• The Bulldogs topped Furman 26-7 last season in the 100th all-time meeting between the squads. The Paladins lead the series 60-37-3.

• Four SoCon players are in the top 10 in the FCS in all-purpose yards per game this season. Samford’s Montrell Washington leads at 183.2, followed by ETSU’s Quay Holmes in second at 152.33 per game. VMI’s Korey Bridy is fourth at 144.17 and ETSU’s Jacob Saylors is sixth at 140.17.

• ETSU is one of eight remaining undefeated FCS teams and one of just two with six wins so far, joining Eastern Washington at 6-0.

SoCon Points of Pride
• The 2021 season is the 100th of Southern Conference football. The SoCon is the fifth-oldest NCAA Division I college athletic association.

• Since it began competing in FCS, the SoCon has amassed the second-most national championships with eight. Also boasting another eight national championship runner-up finishes, the league has 16 title-game appearances, the most among FCS conferences.

• The SoCon prides itself on quality and depth.
    • Eight of the nine current SoCon football members have participated in the FCS Playoffs with seven different schools receiving bids since 2016.
    • Overall, current SoCon football members have combined for 46 total FCS playoffs appearances.
    • Six of the nine SoCon teams appeared in an FCS top-25 national poll in the 2020-21 season.

• The SoCon has had seven Walter Payton Award winners, two Buck Buchanan Award winners and five Eddie Robinson Award winners. VMI Coach Scott Wachenheim won the Eddie Robinson Award (FCS National Coach of the Year) in 2020.

• Sixty-one former SoCon players and coaches have been enshrined in the College Football Hall of Fame.

• The SoCon had 12 FCS All-America selections in 2020-21.

• The SoCon broadcasts all of its home games on ESPN+ and has an over-the-air television network that will air eight games in five southern states in 2021.

• Sixteen former SoCon players were on active NFL rosters last season and five more were on practice squads. Former Citadel wide receiver Andre Roberts, former Samford defensive back James Bradberry and former Georgia Southern kicker Younghoe Koo, who played in the SoCon as a freshman, were Pro Bowlers. Fourteen former SoCon players are on NFL rosters entering this season, with seven more on practice squads.

• The SoCon has been playing Division I FCS football since the 1982 season. The NCAA created two subdivisions for Division I football beginning in 1978 with the creation of I-A (now FBS) and I-AA (now FCS). The SoCon was shifted from I-A to I-AA along with the Ivy League and Southland Conference following the 1981 season, joining the Mid-Continent, Big Sky, MEAC, SWAC, OVC, and Yankee conferences, along with a number of independents, as I-AA participants.

• The SoCon is celebrating its 100th anniversary in 2021. The league contested the first-ever collegiate conference basketball tournament in 1921, tackled freshman eligibility in 1922, became the first conference to adopt the 3-point field goal in basketball in 1980 and developed women’s championships in 1984.

Recent news
SoCon Goes Pro: NFL Week 5 (10/14)
SoCon names football players of the week (10/11)
Saturday's football roundup (10/9/21)
Keeler's Corner: First in-season update (10/8/21)