Note: The following was written by Scott Keeler, who worked as a reporter at the Greenville News for more than 25 years and continues to cover the Southern Conference. 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.
 
MERCER (6-2, 5-1 SoCon)
Mercer vaulted to the top of the Southern Conference standings thanks to four wins sandwiched around an ugly loss in October. After thrilling victories over Samford and Western Carolina to start the month, the last three weeks have been blowouts.
VMI handed the Bears their most lopsided FCS loss ever with a 45-7 decision that snapped Mercer’s six-game home winning streak. It was the Bears’ worst loss in Macon since an 81-0 setback to the University of Georgia in the 1941 season opener.
Mercer responded with a 45-14 win over Wofford and a 34-7 victory at The Citadel. The Bears were tied with Wofford midway through the second quarter before scoring the game’s final 31 points for their first win over the Terriers since 1941. Last Saturday, Mercer trailed The Citadel 7-0 with less than four minutes left in the second quarter before scoring the final 34 points of that game.
Mercer has been powered by an offense that ranks second in the SoCon in scoring (34 points per game) and in rushing (236.6 yards per game). That rushing average ranks sixth best in the FCS.
The Bears have shown the ability to pass when needed, as well. Among starting SoCon quarterbacks, Mercer’s Fred Payton is second in passing efficiency (136.2). Against Wofford, Payton threw for a career-high 335 yards – the second-highest total in school history – and three touchdowns. Ty James ranks seventh nationally averaging 22.1 yards per catch and six of his 17 receptions have gone for touchdowns.
Meanwhile, Mercer’s pass defense is No. 1 in the SoCon and 11th in the FCS at 169.8 yards allowed per game. Seven different Bears have combined for 10 interceptions this season.
November game to watch: vs. Chattanooga, Nov. 13. Mercer has a week off this Saturday, giving the Bears a couple of weeks to prepare for a showdown against the Mocs. After facing the preseason favorite, Mercer closes out the regular season with another big game at the currently highest-ranked SoCon team in ETSU.
MVP: Running back Fred Davis. After rushing for 404 yards and seven touchdowns over the first two weeks of October, Davis was neutralized by VMI. However, he bounced back with 88-yard rushing performances each of the last two weeks. Davis ranks 12th nationally with 751 yards rushing and fourth with 12 touchdown carries.
 
No. 14/14 ETSU (7-1, 4-1)
October included a rarity for the ETSU football team – a non-close SoCon game. The Bucs rushed for 288 yards and threw for 270 in a 48-21 win over The Citadel on Oct. 9, ending their streak of 13 consecutive “one-score” league games.
Another rare thing this season happened the following week when ETSU fell for the first time this season. The Bucs lost three turnovers at Chattanooga and the Mocs scored 14 points off those. The 21-16 loss left ETSU winless at Chattanooga since the 2000 season.
The Bucs avoided back-to-back losses in thrilling fashion the next week at Furman. After being held scoreless in the first half at Chattanooga, ETSU had only three points in the first half at Furman. However, the Bucs’ offense got up off the deck midway through the third quarter and Quay Holmes’ two-yard touchdown cut the Paladins’ lead to 13-10 entering the fourth quarter.
ETSU had no timeouts on second-and-goal from the 3-yard line when Tyler Riddell hit Malik Murray in the back of the end zone for the game-winning touchdown with nine seconds left.
After opening October with their first win over Wofford anywhere since 1998, the Bucs closed the month with their first victory in Greenville since 1997. Of their last 28 SoCon games, 24 have been decided by eight points or fewer.
While ETSU doesn’t lead the SoCon in any of the following six stat categories, it’s the only team to rank in the top three in the league in: scoring offense (33.6), scoring defense (18.4), total offense (439), total defense (336.1), rushing offense (221.9) and rushing defense (132.2).
The Bucs do lead the league in passing efficiency (147.2), third-down conversions (48.6 percent) and kickoff returns (26.3 yards per return). Of the top six teams in the FCS in kickoff returns, ETSU – which ranks No. 3 – is the lone one without a return for a touchdown.
Linebacker Jalen Porter, who ranks second in the SoCon in sacks (six) and tackles for loss (10), leads the Bucs defensively.
November game to watch: vs. VMI, Nov. 6. There are currently four SoCon teams with one league loss each, but there won’t be after this showdown. Holmes’ fourth-quarter touchdown lifted ETSU to a 24-20 win at VMI on April 3, as the Bucs handed the Keydets their lone loss of the spring.
MVP: Running back Quay Holmes. Holmes ranks third in the country with 115.8 yards rushing per game and has rushed for 10 touchdowns. He’s averaging 5.7 yards per carry and has also caught 14 passes for 186 yards and a touchdown.
 
No. 18/18 VMI (6-2, 4-1)
When VMI opened October by falling at rival The Citadel, 35-24, there may have been some rumblings about whether the reigning SoCon champions from the spring would be a contender again this fall. The Keydets proceeded to silence any doubters by going 3-0 the rest of the month.
VMI bounced back the next week with a thrilling 37-34 overtime win over Chattanooga. The Keydets clung to a 17-16 lead before the teams combined for 35 points in the fourth quarter. Jerry Rice’s 49-yard field goal gave VMI a 34-31 lead with 41 seconds left in regulation. The Mocs stormed down the field and Aaron Sears booted a 39-yard field goal with one second left to force overtime. Rice hit a 37-yard field goal in OT to hand Chattanooga its only league loss.
The Keydets traveled to Mercer the next week and handed the Bears their only league loss in impressive fashion. VMi limited a Mercer rushing attack that had been averaging 280 yards a game to just 23 in a 45-7 win.
Last Saturday, VMI trailed Samford 38-17 late in the first half and 45-27 late in the third quarter before rallying for a 46-45 win. Seth Morgan’s seven-yard touchdown pass to Michael Jackson with 3:41 left proved to be the game-winning score.
After allowing 425 yards in the first half, the Keydets’ defense limited the Bulldogs to 122 after halftime. Of those 122, 76 came on Samford’s lone scoring drive of the second half. Morgan finished with a single-game school record of 525 yards of total offense, including 472 passing. The victory guarantees a winning season for VMI, giving it consecutive winning seasons for the first time in 59 years.
Morgan has thrown for 1,307 yards with nine touchdowns and six interceptions this year, while senior running back Korey Bridy has rushed for 622 yards and seven scores.
Sophomore punter Jack Culbreath leads the SoCon with an average of 45.7 yards per punt.
November game to watch: at ETSU, Nov. 6. VMI will try to avenge its only league loss from the spring and ascend to the top of the SoCon standings with a win as Mercer is idle this week. On their last trip to ETSU, the Keydets pulled out a wild 31-24 overtime win in a game that ended after 1 a.m. due to weather delays.
MVP: Linebacker Stone Snyder. Snyder piled up 17 tackles in Saturday’s win over Samford. The reigning SoCon Defensive Player of the Year has 85 stops this season, 18 more tackles than any other player in the SoCon.
 
No. 25 CHATTANOOGA (5-3, 4-1)
While any hopes of an undefeated run through the SoCon ended for Chattanooga in October, the preseason favorites to win the league have looked every bit the part since.
After winning 63-7 at VMI in 2017, the Mocs have not won in either of their two trips to Lexington since, including a 37-34 overtime loss on Oct. 9 this season.
Chattanooga bounced back the next week by dealing ETSU its first loss of the season, 21-16, in the Rail Rivalry. Facing a Bucs defense that ranks second only to its own in stopping the run, Chattanooga got 102 yards and two touchdowns on 14 carries from Tyrell Price and 95 yards and a touchdown on 14 carries from Ailym Ford in the victory.
The Mocs’ defense flexed its muscle the rest of the month.
In a 55-13 win over Samford, Chattanooga held the Bulldogs to 200 yards of total offense, including 131 passing. Samford entered that game ranked fourth nationally in total offense (491.5 yards per game), fourth in passing offense (347.7) and seventh in scoring offense (39.7 points per game).
It’s the lowest scoring output by a Samford team in league play since a 20-13 loss at Chattanooga in 2012.
Last Saturday, the Mocs limited Furman to 157 yards of total offense in a 13-3 win. Chattanooga registered four sacks against a Furman team that had only allowed five this season entering Saturday and held the Paladins to just six first downs – their lowest single-game total in 25 years. Furman completed just 4-of-14 passes for 47 yards. That 28.6 completion percentage was the lowest Chattanooga has allowed to a Division I opponent since Liberty completed 26.1 percent of its passes on Nov. 13, 2004.
The Mocs’ defense currently leads the FCS in interceptions (14). They also lead to the SoCon in scoring defense (18), total defense (299.8), rushing defense (106.1), sacks (27) and opponents’ third-down conversions (29.1 percent).
Ford leads the Mocs offensively this season as he’s second in the SoCon with 846 yards rushing and seven touchdowns. Price is seventh in the league with 586 yards and seven touchdowns. Price is averaging 6.7 yards per carry.
November game to watch: at Mercer, Nov. 13. If Chattanooga wins at Wofford this Saturday, the following Saturday will mark two consecutive weeks in which teams with one league loss apiece will square off. Mercer is idle this week. The Mocs have lost three of the last four meetings with the Bears, although their spring loss came with a starting lineup of nearly all backups.
MVP: Defensive end Devonnsha Maxwell. Maxwell leads the SoCon and ranks second nationally with 11 sacks and also has a league-leading 14.5 tackles for loss. For his career, Maxwell has 28.5 sacks and 40.5 tackles for loss.
 
FURMAN (4-4, 2-3)
In Furman’s five SoCon games, the Paladins have scored 10 touchdowns and five field goals and allowed 10 touchdowns and six field goals. That nearly perfect match of bad news and good news has left Furman squarely in the middle of the league standings and a .500 team overall.
Nine of those 10 touchdowns scored came in Furman’s first two games in October. Following a bye week, the Paladins made a change at quarterback and it seemed to spark the offense’s dormant ground game. Devin Wynn rushed for more than 200 yards and two touchdowns in a 42-20 win at rival Wofford.
With Wynn out due to an injury the next week, fullback Dominic Roberto rushed for 132 yards including a 90-yard touchdown, to help Furman defeat The Citadel 24-14. The Paladins’ offense continued its downward trend the rest of the month. Facing perhaps the two best defenses in the league, Furman fell to ETSU, 17-13, and lost at Chattanooga, 13-3.
The ETSU loss was particularly heartbreaking as the Bucs scored the game-winning touchdown with just nine seconds left. The Paladins’ offense had its roughest day of the season at Chattanooga as it was held to just six first downs and 157 total yards.
All-American tight end Ryan Miller has been a bright spot on Furman’s offense as he ranks fourth in the SoCon with 527 yards on 30 catches, four of which have gone for touchdowns.
November game to watch: vs. VMI, Nov. 13. Furman will try to avenge a heartbreaking 14-13 loss from the spring which springboarded the Keydets to the SoCon title. In the game’s final moments, the Paladins were driving for perhaps the winning score when a shotgun snap bounced off a man in motion and the fumble was recovered by VMI.
MVP: Cornerback Travis Blackshear. Blackshear is tied for the SoCon lead in interceptions with five, the most in a season by a Paladin since 2002. He’s second on the team with 35 tackles, including a team-high 27 solo stops, and has a fumble caused and a fumble recovery.
 
WESTERN CAROLINA (2-6, 2-3)
No team in the SoCon made a bigger move up the conference ladder in October than Western Carolina. After snapping an eight-game losing streak dating back to last season, the Catamounts are now on a two-game winning streak to go from last place to a tie for fifth in the standings.
After some close calls earlier this season, Western Carolina was tied with Mercer 24-24 in the fourth quarter before falling 34-24 on Oct. 9. Everything came together the next week even without starting quarterback Rogan Wells. Backup quarterback Carlos Davis threw for 401 yards and three touchdowns to lead the Catamounts to a 45-31 win at The Citadel, giving Kerwin Bell his first win as Western Carolina coach.
Davis had 320 of those yards in the first half as the Catamounts raced out to a 28-3 lead midway through the second quarter. TJ Jones had 132 yards rushing, 73 receiving and scored three touchdowns for WCU.
After snapping their 11-game road losing streak, the Catamounts made it back-to-back road wins with a 41-21 victory at Wofford last Saturday. Wells returned to the starting lineup and threw for 309 yards and four touchdowns in the win. Freshman Raphael Williams broke the single-game school record for receptions with 16 and finished with 177 yards receiving and two touchdowns. It’s tied for the most receptions in a game for any FCS player this season.
November game to watch: vs. Furman, Nov. 6. After winning consecutive road games for the first time since 2017, Western Carolina goes for its first three-game winning streak since winning four consecutive games that same season. With 17 transfers in this fall, it’s a vastly different Western Carolina team than the one that lost at Furman 35-7 in the spring opener this year.
MVP: Wide receiver Raphael Williams. Williams easily leads the SoCon in receiving with 734 yards, which ranks 10^th-best nationally. The freshman transfer from Tusculum also leads the league with 60 catches and has scored seven touchdowns.
 
SAMFORD (3-5, 2-4)
Samford continued to have the market cornered on exciting finishes in October. Unfortunately for the Bulldogs, only one went in their favor.
After opening the month by seeing a 28-17 third-quarter lead disappear in a 45-42 loss at Mercer, Samford saw a 24-7 halftime lead disappear at Wofford the next week. After the Terriers came all the way back to tie it, Zach Williams made a 38-yard field goal with 1:43 left to give Samford a 27-24 win.
A rare lopsided game followed as Samford’s high-powered offense was neutralized by Chattanooga in a 55-13 loss. It was the Bulldogs’ first loss to an FCS team by more than seven points since a 58-14 loss to Furman on Oct. 5, 2019.
Last Saturday at VMI, Samford held a 38-17 lead late in the second quarter and a 45-27 lead late in the third quarter. The Keydets rallied, though, scoring the final three touchdowns of the game to pull out a 46-45 win.
Senior quarterback Liam Welch leads the SoCon and ranks sixth nationally with 2,579 yards passing. He’s completed 66.3 percent of his passes and thrown 17 touchdowns and 12 interceptions.
November game to watch: vs. The Citadel, Nov. 6. This is usually an intriguing contrast of styles with Samford’s air raid offense and The Citadel’s triple option. The Samford Bulldogs won in Charleston in the spring 55-7 to even the series at 7-7. The last time these teams met in Birmingham, Samford pulled out a 61-55 victory in four overtimes in 2019.
MVP: Wide receiver Montrell Washington. Washington continues to lead the country in all-purpose yards by a healthy margin as he averages 174.6 per game. He’s caught 41 passes for 591 yards and seven touchdowns, rushed 14 times for 119 yards and five touchdowns, returned 25 kickoffs for 514 yards (20.6 yards per return) and returned 11 punts for 170 yards (15.5) including a touchdown. Last Saturday, Washington even made it into the defensive stats with a solo tackle on a VMI fake punt.
 
THE CITADEL (2-6, 1-4)
An October that started off pretty sweet for The Citadel turned sour. The Bulldogs opened SoCon play on Oct. 2 by handing rival VMI its only league loss thus far. The 35-24 victory returned the Silver Shako to The Citadel for the first time since 2018.
The Bulldogs never led after the second quarter in any of their next four games, losing each one by double digits. Against rival Furman on Oct. 16, The Citadel had a 90-52 advantage in total plays, a 22-10 edge in first downs and possessed the ball for 38 minutes and one second, but only posted two scores in a 24-14 loss.
Last Saturday, the Bulldogs’ defense nearly shut out Mercer’s high-powered offense in the opening half. But thanks to a long punt return and later a Citadel lost fumble, the Bears got touchdown drives of 7 and 36 yards, respectively, in the final 3:12 of the half. It was all Mercer in the second half as it pulled away for a 34-7 win.
Despite the offensive woes, the Bulldogs still lead the league and rank fifth in the FCS in rushing at 251.7 yards per game. The Citadel’s 4.39 yards per carry is the lowest of any team in the top 20, though.
Big play receiver Raleigh Webb is fourth in the country in yards per catch with an average of 22.24. He’s caught 21 passes for 467 yards and has scored three touchdowns.
Senior linebacker Willie Eubanks III is tied for third in the SoCon in tackles per game with 8.4. Unfortunately, a knee injury that required surgery this week has ended the brilliant college career of the former SoCon Defensive Player of the Year.
November game to watch: vs. Wofford, Nov. 13. The Citadel’s home finale could be over in well short of three hours given both teams' style of offense. The Bulldogs will try to make it back-to-back wins over Wofford for just the second time ever. On April 3 in Spartanburg, The Citadel rallied from a 24-7 third quarter deficit for a 28-24 win.
MVP: Quarterback Jaylan Adams. Adams ranks fifth in the SoCon in rushing with 699 yards and seven touchdowns. He’s also thrown for 829 yards with four touchdowns and four interceptions.
 
WOFFORD (1-7, 0-6)
After not playing at all in 2020, the year of 2021 is also turning into one to forget for Wofford. The Terriers opened the shortened spring season with a victory but didn’t win again. Thus far in the fall, the same thing has happened.
Wofford opened October with an upset bid at ETSU, but the Terriers saw a 21-17 third-quarter lead fade away in a 27-21 loss. Over the next four losses of the month, three were decided by at least 20 points.
The lone close loss in those last four games was a 27-24 home defeat at the hands of Samford. After Wofford stormed back from a 24-7 halftime deficit to tie the game 24-24 with 4:43 left, the Bulldogs made a game-winning field goal with 1:38 left.
That happened because that’s just what seems to happen every season in this series. The Terriers have now lost seven consecutive games against Samford and five of those have been decided by seven points or fewer.
Wofford’s struggles this season can be highlighted in third- and fourth-down conversions, which have historically been strong points in the Terriers’ offensive attack. Wofford is last in the SoCon in conversion percentage on both third down at 34.4 (33-of-96) and fourth down at 33.3 (3-of-9).
Defensively, the Terriers have allowed opposing quarterbacks to complete 65.8 percent of their passes for 242.4 yards per game. Wofford has given up 17 passing touchdowns and made just two interceptions. Of 123 FCS defenses, only Howard (one) has fewer picks.
November game to watch: at The Citadel, Nov. 13. If Wofford is to break through in the SoCon win column this season, The Citadel might be the place to do it. Despite losing to the Bulldogs in the spring, Wofford still owns a 20-3 advantage in the series. That includes an 11-1 record in Charleston.
MVP: Running back Irvin Mulligan. A big bright spot for Wofford this year has been Mulligan, who ranks fourth in the league with 714 yards rushing and has scored eight touchdowns. The junior ranks sixth in the country in yards per carry with an average of 7.07. Mercer is the only opponent to keep Mulligan out of the end zone this season.