Nov. 20 (Saturday)	Series	TV/Digital	Time
Wofford at North Carolina	First meeting	Bally Sports South/ESPN3	12 p.m.
Western Carolina at VMI*	Western Carolina leads 23-4	ESPN+	12:30 p.m.
#23/21 Mercer at #10/8 ETSU*	Series tied 3-3	ESPN3	1 p.m.
Furman at Samford*	Furman leads 12-11	ESPN+	1 p.m.
The Citadel at Chattanooga*	Chattanooga leads 33-19-2	ESPN+	1:30 p.m.

Notes
• The Southern Conference title and automatic bid to the FCS playoffs are on the line Saturday when ETSU hosts Mercer in a top-25 matchup in Johnson City, Tennessee. The nationally ranked squads enter the contested tied atop the league standings at 6-1 in SoCon play.

• The Bucs enter the contest ranked No. 10 in the AFCA FCS Coaches’ Top 25 and No. 8 in the Stats Perform FCS Top 25. The Bears entered both polls this week, debuting at Nos. 23 and 21, respectively.

• ETSU, which aims to match its SoCon wins record with its seventh of the season, is seeking its first outright SoCon title and its second overall after sharing the 2018 crown. Mercer, which has already scored a program-record six SoCon wins, is seeking its first league title. Last season, the Bears topped then-No. 20 ETSU 21-13.

• ETSU rolled to a 56-35 win at Western Carolina last weekend, getting 266 rushing yards and three touchdowns from Jacob Saylors and 212 yards and three rushing scores from Quay Holmes. The duo became just the second set of teammates in SoCon history to rush for 200-plus yards in the same game, joining Georgia Southern’s Jayson Foster (253) and Lamar Lewis (206), who did it against Coastal Carolina on Sept. 15, 2007.

• Holmes has rushed for a career-best and FCS-leading 1,299 yards this season, while Saylors has run for 932, also a career best, and needs just 68 yards for the duo to become the first SoCon teammates to both rush for 1,000 in a season since 2015 and just the 12th duo in league history to do so overall.

• Mercer topped then-No. 19/22 Chattanooga 10-6 in a defensive battle last week, forcing five turnovers and holding the Mocs to their fewest points in a game this season, nearly 23 points below their season average. The Bears also held UTC 99.5 yards below its season total offense average and 94.1 yards below its rushing average.

• Chattanooga, which saw offensive lineman Cole Strange earn an invitation to the Reese’s Senior Bowl this week, held Mercer 24 points, 180.6 rushing yards, 83 passing yards and 263.6 total yards below its season averages, but could not overcome the five turnovers, two missed field goals and a missed extra point. The Mocs have won three straight against Saturday’s opponent, The Citadel, all by one point and two in overtime.
 
• The Citadel enters Saturday’s contest coming off a 45-44, overtime win over Wofford last weekend. Jaylan Adams threw for 121 yards and two TDs and ran for 53 yards and two scores.

• Samford scored the most points ever by an FCS team against a Power 5 program in its 70-52 loss at Florida last week, rolling up 530 yards of total offense. Liam Welch threw for 400 yards and three TDs and ran for 65 yards and two scores, also adding a 16-yard catch on the day.

• The Bulldogs host Furman, which knocked off then-No. 20/21 VMI last week, 37-31. The Paladins raced out to a 17-0 lead and saw quarterback Jace Wilson throw for 269 yards and two TDs, both season bests.

• Western Carolina outgained then-No. 12/11 ETSU in its 56-35 loss last week, 544 total yards to 536. QB Rogan Wells threw for 385 yards and four TDs.

• VMI QB Seth Morgan threw for more than 400 yards for the second time this season in the loss to Furman last week, passing for 415 yards and three TDs. The Keydets snapped a 17-game losing streak to this Saturday’s opponent, Western Carolina, last season.

• Wofford wraps up its 2021 campaign at North Carolina. QB Payton Derrick accounted for five total touchdowns in the loss at The Citadel, throwing for 181 yards and four TDs and running for 54 yards and a score. 

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. Thirteen former SoCon players are on NFL rosters 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
Ten named to CoSIDA Academic All-District Teams (11/18)
SoCon names football players of the week (11/15)
Saturday's football roundup (11/13)