Feb. 20 (Saturday)	Series	TV/Digital	Time
*Samford at ETSU	Samford leads 6-1	Nexstar/ESPN+	1 p.m.
*Mercer at Wofford	Series tied 6-6	ESPN+	1 p.m.
*Western Carolina at Furman	Furman leads 33-12-2	ESPN+	2 p.m.
*VMI at Chattanooga	Chattanooga leads 17-8-1	ESPN+	ppd.

       
Nexstar affiliates for Feb. 20 Ingles SoCon Game of the Week
WJHL (Tri-Cities)
WMUB (Macon)
WMYT (Charlotte)
WWCW (Lynchburg/Roanoke)
WYCW (Greenville/Spartanburg/Asheville)
 
Play-by-play: Pete Yanity
Analyst: Jared Singleton

Notes:
• The Southern Conference opens the spring season with three games Saturday, highlighted by ETSU hosting Samford in the Ingles SoCon Game of the Week on select Nexstar affiliates.

• Three-time defending league champion Wofford opens its season when it hosts Mercer, while Furman welcomes Western Carolina.  The VMI at Chattanooga game that was scheduled for Saturday was postponed due to COVID issues within the Mocs’ program.

• The Southern Conference is the only FCS league with each of its members participating in the spring season.

• Furman (No. 8), The Citadel (19), Wofford (23) and Chattanooga (24) appear in the HERO Sports spring preseason top 25, while Furman (15) and Wofford (20) appear in Athlon’s spring preseason poll. Samford punt returner Montrell Washington earned preseason All-America honors from both organizations, while HERO Sports also honored VMI long snapper Robert Soderholm and Athlon selected The Citadel linebacker Willie Eubanks III.

• Wofford is the SoCon coaches’ preseason favorite to win the league, while Furman was picked to win the title by the media.

• VMI quarterback Reece Udinski was named the preseason SoCon Offensive Player of the Year. The senior threw for a league-best 3,276 yards in 2019, pacing the SoCon in passing yards per game with 273.0 and total offense with 262.9 yards per game. Udinski set an FCS single-season record for consecutive passes without an interception, opening the season with 368 passes without one to surpass the previous FCS mark by 26 and smash the SoCon record by 165.

• The Citadel’s Eubanks is the preseason SoCon Defensive Player of the Year. A finalist for the STATS FCS Buck Buchanan Award and a consensus All-American as a junior last season, Eubanks earned first-team honors from the AFCA, the Associated Press and Phil Steele and was a second-team pick by Stats Perform. Eubanks finished second in the league with 112 total tackles and an average of 9.3 per game and led the SoCon with 63 solo stops.

• Samford leads the series with ETSU 6-1 and has won three straight in the series since the Bucs’ 15-14 win in 2016. The Bulldogs held ETSU to just three second-half points in last season’s 24-17 win.

• Wofford bolted out to a 20-0 lead in last year’s 41-7 win over Mercer. Saturday’s game against Wofford will be Mercer coach Drew Cronic’s first in league play. The 2018 AFCA National Coach of the Year at Lenoir-Rhyne was named Mercer’s 20th head coach on Dec. 19, 2019.

• Furman has won four straight over Western Carolina. In last season’s 28-7 contest, Devin Wynn rushed for a pair of touchdowns and the Paladin defense blanked Catamounts over the final three quarters.

• Four SoCon squads played at least one fall contest, with The Citadel going 0-4 against a schedule that included three FBS programs and Mercer and Western Carolina each going 0-3. Chattanooga dropped its lone game to FBS Western Kentucky, 13-10.

• The nine SoCon squads will each play eight league games over a nine-week span, concluding on April 17 with the FCS playoffs to follow.

Recent news:
Commish Chat Episode 16: Craig Haley (2/16/21)
Pair of Nexstar FB/MBK doubleheaders announced (2/12/21)
Eubanks, Washington named Athlon Sports preseason All-Americans (2/11/21)
FCS preseason special to air Saturday on Pluto TV (2/10/21)
VMI at Chattanooga football game postponed (2/10/21)
Furman, Wofford ranked in Athlon Sports Preseason Top 25 (2/9/21)
HERO Sports releases preseason poll, All-America team (2/8/21)