Sept. 1 (Thursday)	Series	TV/Digital / Stats	Time
The Citadel at Campbell	First meeting	ESPN+/Stats	6 p.m.
North Greenville at Furman	First meeting	ESPN3/Stats	7 p.m.
#6/8 Kennesaw State at Samford	Kennesaw State leads 2-1	ESPN+/Stats	7 p.m.
Mars Hill at #11/11 ETSU	ETSU leads 8-2-1	ESPN+/Stats	7:30 p.m.
VMI at #22/19 Wake Forest	Wake Forest leads 3-2-2	ACC Network/Stats	7:30 p.m.
Sept. 3 (Saturday)	Series	TV/Digital / Stats	Time
Western Carolina at Charleston Southern	First meeting	ESPN+/Stats	12 p.m.
Wofford at #13/12 Chattanooga*	Wofford leads 15-13	ESPN+/Stats	6 p.m.
#23/23 Mercer at Auburn	Auburn leads 12-0	ESPN+/SEC+/Stats	7 p.m.

* Southern Conference game

Notes
• All nine Southern Conference football squads are in action this week, starting with five Thursday contests, while preseason SoCon favorite Chattanooga and Wofford open their seasons with a league contest to highlight Saturday’s three-game slate.

• Defending SoCon champion ETSU opens its season Thursday by hosting Mars Hill as George Quarles makes his head coaching debut. The Bucs have won eight straight at home and 10 of their last 11 at William B. Greene, Jr. Stadium. ETSU running back Jacob Saylors is the preseason SoCon Offensive Player of the Year.

• Chattanooga, which was picked by both the league’s head coaches and media to win the SoCon in 2022, hosts Wofford to lift the lid on league play. The Mocs are seeking their third straight win over the Terriers, who have made changes to their offensive and defensive schemes after last year’s 1-10 mark.

• Preseason SoCon Defensive Player of the Year Devonnsha Maxwell of Chattanooga enters the season needing just half a sack to enter the SoCon’s career top 10 and is 7.5 back of SoCon and UTC record-holder Davis Tull, who had 37 from 2011-14.

• The SoCon boasts three ranked squads. ETSU is No. 11 in both the AFCA and Stats Perform polls, while Chattanooga is No. 13 in the AFCA poll and No. 12 in the Stats Perform poll. Mercer is ranked No. 23 and Furman received votes in both polls.

• Mercer, which opened its season with a record-setting 63-13 win over Morehead State in a Week 0 matchup, visits Auburn, which is receiving votes in the Associated Press and AFCA polls, on Saturday.

• Against the Eagles on Aug. 27, the Bears set program records for total offense (625 yards), yards per play (10.8) and passing touchdowns (five). Fred Payton had four of those passing TDs, completing 11 passes for 248 yards. Ty James had five catches for 192 yards and three first-half TDs, while James Madison transfer Austin Douglas ran for 140 yards and two TDs on just five carries in his Mercer debut. Devron Harper had a 93-yard kickoff return for a touchdown late in the third quarter.

• VMI and Samford both face tall tasks Thursday as they take on ranked foes. The Keydets visit FBS No. 22/19 Wake Forest, while the Bulldogs host ASUN newcomer and No. 6/8 Kennesaw State. VMI will be meeting Wake Forest for the first time since 1944. Samford, which also opened (and closed) the 2017 season against Kennesaw State, is a SoCon-best 9-7 (.563) against ranked FCS foes since 2017.

• Furman hosts North Greenville on Thursday as those programs will meet for the first time despite their close proximity. Crusaders coach Jeff Farrington has myriad ties to the SoCon, as he played and later served as a graduate assistant at The Citadel and coached at ETSU, Furman, Mercer (before it joined the SoCon) and VMI (before it returned to the SoCon).

• Two other SoCon squads will be meeting first-time foes to open their seasons. On Thursday, The Citadel visits Campbell, and on Saturday, Western Carolina heads to Charleston Southern.

• Western Carolina won four of its last five games to finish the 2021 season, its first under coach Kerwin Bell.

• Three SoCon players are on the preseason watch list for the Walter Payton Award and two are on the watch list for the Buck Buchanan Award. ETSU running back Jacob Saylors, Furman tight end Ryan Miller and Chattanooga running back Ailym Ford are on the initial watch list for the FCS offensive player of the year award and Chattanooga defensive lineman Devonnsha Maxwell and VMI linebacker Stone Snyder are in the running for the defensive player of the year award. Snyder has been a finalist for the Buchanan Award in each of the last two seasons, while Maxwell was a finalist last season.

• Seventeen SoCon football student-athletes earned preseason All-America distinction heading into this season. Chattanooga offensive lineman McClendon Curtis, UTC’s Maxwell and VMI’s Snyder have earned first-team nods from Athlon Sports, HERO Sports, Phil Steele and Stats Perform. VMI long snapper earned first-team honors from HERO Sports and Stats Perform and ETSU’s Saylors was a first-team all-purpose pick on the Stats Perform squad.

• Fifteen SoCon student-athletes earned postseason All-America honors last season. ETSU running back Quay Holmes was a consensus first-team pick and finished third in the Walter Payton Award voting. Chattanooga offensive lineman Cole Strange and Samford wide receiver/kick returner Montrell Washington both earned first-team honors from at least three organizations and were taken in the NFL Draft, with Strange becoming the SoCon’s first first-rounder since 1974.

SoCon Points of Pride
• 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 47 total FCS playoffs appearances.
    • Six of the nine SoCon teams appeared in an FCS top-25 national poll in the 2020-21 season and five of nine did so in the fall 2021 campaign.

• 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 2020-21.

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

• The SoCon had 15 FCS All-America selections in fall 2021 season. Two of them were drafted into the NFL, with Chattanooga OL Cole Strange becoming the SoCon’s first first-rounder since 1974 when he was taken 29th overall by the New England Patriots. Samford WR Montrell Washington was selected in the fifth round by the Denver Broncos.

• 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 2022 campaign is the 101st season of SoCon football. Founded in 1921, the SoCon is the fifth-oldest Division I conference.

Recent news
Mercer rolls past Morehead State in season opener (8/27)
Three on Reese's Senior Bowl Watch List (8/24)
2022 Southern Conference football preview (8/22)
Three ranked in AFCA Preseason Top 25 Poll (8/15)