Oct. 2 (Saturday)	Series	TV/Digital	Time
Western Carolina at #19/RV Chattanooga*	Chattanooga leads 29-17	ESPN3	1:30 p.m.
#22/18 VMI at The Citadel*	The Citadel leads 42-32-2	Nexstar/ESPN+	2 p.m.
Wofford at #14/13 ETSU*	Wofford leads 15-13	ESPN+	3:30 p.m.
#--/RV Samford at #RV/RV Mercer*	Samford leads 14-12-1	ESPN+	6 p.m.

Nexstar affiliates for the Oct. 2 Ingles SoCon Game of the Week
VMI at The Citadel, 2 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: Jay Sonnhalter

Notes
• Four Southern Conference games are on Saturday’s schedule, with The Citadel hosting No. 22/18 VMI for the Military Classic of the South in the Ingles SoCon Game of the Week on select Nexstar affiliates.

• ETSU looks to remain undefeated when it hosts Wofford, preseason SoCon favorite Chattanooga opens its league slate when it hosts Western Carolina, and Mercer welcomes Samford. Furman is idle.

• VMI will try to claim the Silver Shako for the third straight season on Saturday. The Keydets snapped The Citadel’s 12-game winning streak in the series in 2019 and are seeking their first three-game winning streak against the Bulldogs since taking seven straight from 1950-57. Last season’s VMI win came in the final game of the regular season and clinched the Keydets’ first SoCon title since 1977.

• The Citadel has been idle since its 45-13 win over North Greenville on Sept. 18. The Bulldogs got touchdowns from four different players and their defense did not allow a TD on the day. The Citadel set the tone early, getting Jaylan Adams’ 72-yard touchdown pass to Raleigh Webb on just the second play from scrimmage.

• ETSU escaped Samford with a 55-48 overtime win last weekend, getting a 27-yard Tyler Keltner field goal as time expired in regulation to send the game to OT and then a 13-yard touchdown run from Quay Holmes on its first extra possession.

• Wofford has won nine straight in the series against ETSU, though last season’s March 6 meeting didn’t take place when the Terriers dropped below the guideline of available players at a specific position group due to a combination of player COVID opt-outs and injuries. Wofford fell 31-23 at No. 22 VMI last weekend, getting 139 rushing yards and a touchdown from Irvin Mulligan.

• Chattanooga, which has been idle since its 28-23 loss at Kentucky on Sept. 18, has won two straight and 10 of the last 11 against Western Carolina. The squads did not meet last season, as UTC opted out of the spring campaign before the scheduled April 3 meeting.

• Western Carolina quarterback Rogan Wells had 540 yards of total offense in a 52-34 setback at Gardner-Webb last week. The fifth-year graduate transfer threw for 427 yards and two touchdowns and ran for 113 yards and a score to post the sixth-most total yards in a game in SoCon history. He has now thrown for more than 300 yards and run for more than 100 in consecutive contests.

• Samford quarterback Liam Welch set league and school records for total offense (655), passing yards (582), completions (56) and attempts (73) in last weekend’s 55-48 overtime loss at then-No. 15 ETSU. He was named the Stats Perform FCS National Offensive Player of the Week for his efforts.

• The Bulldogs topped then-No. 23 Mercer 44-20 on April 17 in the 2020-21 season finale for both squads. Liam Welch threw for 443 yards and a touchdown, while Jay Stanton ran for 96 yards and three scores.

• Mercer enters Saturday’s contest riding the momentum of its 24-3 win at Furman last weekend. The Bears got a pair of rushing touchdowns from Brandon Marshall and kept their second opponent of the season out of the end zone, getting a game-high 11 tackles from Isaac Dowling and tying a program record with four interceptions.

• Three SoCon teams are nationally ranked this week. ETSU is 14th in the AFCA FCS Coaches’ Top 25 and 13th in the Stats Perform FCS Top 25, while VMI is ranked No. 22 and No. 18, respectively. Chattanooga is No. 19 in the AFCA poll. Mercer is receiving votes in both polls, while Samford is receiving votes in the Stats Perform poll.

• The New York Giants signed Chattanooga alum C.J. Board to their 53-man roster from their practice squad on Saturday. He was elevated from the practice squad for the team’s first two games and had a 38-yard reception Sunday against the Atlanta Falcons. He is joined on the Giants’ roster by fellow SoCon alums James Bradberry (Samford) and Keion Crossen (Western Carolina). 

• Another UTC alum, Buster Skrine, was signed by the San Francisco 49ers on Wednesday, joining former Samford safety Jaquiski Tartt on the roster.

• Former Citadel linebacker Noah Dawkins was signed to the New York Jets’ practice squads on Sept. 10.

• Chattanooga junior offensive lineman McClendon Curtis was recently named to the NCAA Division I Football Oversight Committee Student-Athlete Connection Group. He is one of just 12 nationwide in all three NCAA divisions to earn a spot in the group.

• Chattanooga defensive back Jerrell Lawson was announced Wednesday by the National Football Foundation & College Hall of Fame (NFF) as one of 176 semifinalists for the 2021 William V. Campbell Trophy.

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. Twelve 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 3 (9/29)
UTC's Curtis claims key NCAA appointment (9/28)
SoCon names football players of the week (9/27)
Saturday's football roundup (9/25)