Sept. 17 (Saturday)	Series	TV/Digital / Stats	Time
Wofford at Virginia Tech	First meeting	ACC Network/ACC online / Stats	11 a.m.
Cornell at VMI	VMI leads 1-0	ESPN+ / Stats	1:30 p.m.
Presbyterian at Western Carolina	Western Carolina leads 10-9	ESPN+ / Stats	3:30 p.m.
The Citadel at #20/20 Mercer*	The Citadel leads 11-7-1	Nexstar/ESPN3 / Stats	6 p.m.
North Alabama at #9/10 Chattanooga	Chattanooga leads 2-0	ESPN+ / Stats	6 p.m.
#25/24 Samford at Tennessee Tech	Samford leads 13-11	ESPN3 / Stats	7 p.m.
Furman at #19/18 ETSU*	Furman leads 27-9	ESPN+ / Stats	7:30 p.m.

* Southern Conference game

Nexstar affiliates for Sept. 17 Ingles SoCon Game of the Week
ECBD/The Lowcountry’s CW (Charleston)
WMUB (Macon)
WMYT/My 12 (Charlotte)
WWCW/The CW Virginia (Lynchburg/Roanoke)
WYCW/The CW62 (Greenville/Spartanburg/Asheville)
 
Play-by-play: Pete Yanity
Analyst: Jared Singleton

Notes
• Fresh off its upset of defending Southern Conference champion ETSU, The Citadel visits Mercer on Saturday for the Ingles SoCon Game of the Week on select Nexstar affiliates. The Bucs look to get back on track when they host Furman for the only other league game of the weekend, while the other five league teams take on nonconference foes.

• Six of the SoCon’s nine squads are either ranked or receiving votes in the latest national polls. Chattanooga is ranked No. 9 in the AFCA FCS Coaches’ Top 25 and No. 10 in the Stats Perform FCS Top 25.  ETSU is No. 19 in the AFCA poll and No. 20 in the Stats Perform poll, while Mercer is No. 20 in both. Samford is No. 25 in the AFCA poll and No. 24 in the Stats Perform poll. Furman is receiving votes in both polls and The Citadel is receiving votes in the Stats Perform rankings.

• The Citadel pulled off a big upset of ETSU on Sept. 10, getting a 39-yard field goal from Colby Kintner as time expired to hand the then-No. 8/9 Bucs a 20-17 setback. Logan Billings had runs of 31 and 32 yards on consecutive plays on the Bulldogs’ final drive, which started on their own 3-yard line.

• Mercer has been idle since a 42-16 setback at Auburn on Sept. 3. The Bears, who opened their season with a 63-13 shellacking of Morehead State on Aug. 27, are looking to build on last season’s 6-2 conference record that saw them finish second in the SoCon, their best finish since joining the league in 2014.

• Following its first loss of the season, ETSU will look to bounce back at William B. Greene, Jr. Stadium, where it is 22-7 since the facility debuted in 2017. The Bucs got a school-record 23 tackles from linebacker Chandler Martin against The Citadel, netting him SoCon Defensive Player of the Week and Student-Athlete of the Week honors.

• Furman outgained FBS No. 4 Clemson on Sept. 10, posting 384 yards of total offense to the Tigers’ 376 in a 35-12 loss. Paladin quarterback Tyler Huff is second in the FCS so far this season with a completion percentage of 78.8 after two contests.

• Chattanooga looks to stay unbeaten when it hosts North Alabama on Saturday. The Mocs downed Eastern Illinois 38-20 in their last outing, getting three total touchdowns from quarterback Preston Hutchinson, who ran for 64 yards and two scores and threw for 278 yards and a TD.

• VMI looks for its second straight win Saturday when it hosts Cornell. The Keydets got 11 tackles from two-time All-American linebacker Stone Snyder in a 24-14 win over Bucknell on Sept. 10.

• Samford visits Tennessee Tech as the squads meet for the third time in four seasons. The Bulldogs have averaged 55 points per game in the previous two outings, with the Golden Eagles claiming a 59-58 win in double overtime in 2019 and Samford winning 52-14 last season.

• Western Carolina jumped out to a 14-7 lead at Georgia Tech in the first quarter on Sept. 10, getting touchdown passes of 49 and 22 yards from Carlos Davis in an eventual 35-17 setback. The Catamounts host Presbyterian on Saturday.

• Wofford, which has been shut out in its first two contests, faces another stiff test Saturday when it visits Virginia Tech in the squads’ first meeting.

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
ETSU's Martin named Student-Athlete of the Week (9/14)
SoCon names football players of the week (9/12)
The Citadel knocks off No. 8/9 ETSU on last-second field goal (9/10)
Keeler's Corner: In-season update #1 (9/9)