Sept. 10 (Saturday)	Series	TV/Digital	Time
Bucknell at VMI	Bucknell leads 3-2	ESPN+	1:30 p.m.
Furman at #5/4 Clemson	Clemson leads 43-10-4	ACC Network	3:30 p.m.
#8/9 ETSU at The Citadel*	ETSU leads 18-12	Nexstar/ESPN+	4 p.m.
Samford at #2/2 Georgia	Georgia leads 2-0	SEC Network	4 p.m.
Elon at Wofford	Wofford leads 28-11	ESPN3	6 p.m.
#10/11 Chattanooga at Eastern Illinois	Chattanooga leads 1-0	ESPN+	7 p.m.
Western Carolina at Georgia Tech	Georgia Tech leads 5-0	ACCNX/ESPN+	7 p.m.

* Southern Conference game

Nexstar affiliates for Sept. 10 Ingles SoCon Game of the Week
ECBD/The Lowcountry’s CW (Charleston)
WMUB (Macon)    
WWCW/The CW Virginia (Lynchburg/Roanoke)
WYCW/The CW62 (Greenville/Spartanburg/Asheville)

Play-by-play: Pete Yanity
Analyst: Jared Singleton

Notes
• Furman, Samford and Western Carolina visit Power 5 conference opponents and The Citadel hosts defending Southern Conference champion ETSU in the Ingles SoCon Game of the Week on select Nexstar affiliates in the only league game on the schedule to highlight the week-two slate.

• Two-thirds of the SoCon’s nine squads are either ranked or receiving votes in the latest AFCA FCS Coaches’ Top 25. ETSU leads the way at No. 8, followed by Chattanooga at No. 10 and Mercer at No. 23. Samford is the first squad out of the rankings, while Furman and VMI also received votes.

• Samford did enter the national rankings in the Stats Perform FCS Top 25, riding a 27-17 win over then-No. 8 Kennesaw State to the No. 25 position this week. ETSU is No. 9, UTC is No. 11 and Mercer is No. 23 in the poll, while Furman is receiving votes.

• ETSU earned the first win of the George Quarles era on Sept. 1, downing Mars Hill, 44-7. Bucs quarterback Tyler Riddell went 14-for-19 for 197 yards and three touchdowns through the air,  while running back Jacob Saylors had two rushing TDs and a receiving TD, all in the first quarter.

• The Citadel opened its season with a 29-10 loss at Campbell on Sept. 1. Wofford transfer Peyton Derrick made his Bulldog debut at quarterback, completing three of his five passes for 35 yards and a touchdown and rushing 10 times for 38 yards.

• Samford, which visits defending FBS national champion and No. 2 Georgia on Saturday, downed Kennesaw State on Sept. 1 to move to 10-7 against ranked FCS foes since 2017. Quarterback Michael Hiers dazzled in his Bulldog debut, completing 18 of 24 passes for 289 yards and four TDs.

• Furman, which faces No. 4 Clemson on Saturday, blanked North Greenville, 52-0, for its first season-opening shutout since 1988. QB Tyler Huff went 10-for-12 for 189 yards and two TDs through the air and ran for 94 yards and another score, all in the first half.

• Western Carolina visits Georgia Tech on Saturday. Quarterback Carlos Davis went 28-for-36 for 433 yards and six TDs as the Catamounts topped Charleston Southern 52-38 on Sept. 3. Davis added 28 yards rushing to lead the FCS with 461 yards of total offense on the young season.

• Chattanooga, which visits Eastern Illinois on Saturday, opened its season with a 31-0 win over Wofford on Sept. 3, posting its first shutout of a Division I opponent since 1995. Ailym Ford rushed for 162 yards and two touchdowns, the latter of which went for 86 yards. Preseason SoCon Defensive Player of the Year Devonnsha Maxwell had one sack to move into a tie for eighth in SoCon history with 30.5 for his career.

• VMI welcomes Bucknell for its home opener Saturday. The Keydets dropped a 44-10 decision at then-No. 22/19 Wake Forest on Sept. 1, getting a 42-yard field goal from Jerry Rice at the end of the first half and a 34-yard TD pass from Collin Ironside to Grant Swinehart late in the third quarter.

• Wofford welcomes former SoCon foe Elon on Saturday. The Terriers’ shutout loss at Chattanooga was its first in nearly nine years. QB Jimmy Weirick went 14-for-21 for 133 yards against the Mocs.

• 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.

SoCon in the NFL
Thirteen former SoCon players are on NFL active rosters for the 2022 season entering week one. Four more are on practice squads and one more is on the reserve/injured list.

Active Roster
NFL team, Player, SoCon team
Atlanta Falcons, Younghoe Koo, Georgia Southern
Baltimore Ravens, Michael Pierce, Samford
Buffalo Bills, Sam Martin, Appalachian State
Carolina Panthers, Andre Roberts, The Citadel
Denver Broncos, Montrell Washington, Samford
Kansas City Chiefs, Jerick McKinnon, Ga. Southern
Miami Dolphins, Keion Crossen, Western Carolina
New England Patriots, Cole Strange, Chattanooga
New York Giants, Matt Breida, Georgia Southern
New York Giants, Nick Williams, Samford
Philadelphia Eagles, James Bradberry, Samford
Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Dee Delaney, The Citadel (finished career at Miami)
Tennessee Titans, Corey Levin, Chattanooga

Reserve/Injured
NFL team, Player, SoCon team
Chicago Bears, Dakota Dozier, Furman

Practice Squad
NFL team, Player, SoCon team
Baltimore Ravens, Isaiah Mack, Chattanooga
Baltimore Ravens, Raleigh Webb, The Citadel
Kansas City Chiefs, Chris Oladokun, Samford (finished career at South Dakota State)
San Francisco 49ers, Jason Poe, Mercer

Recent news
SoCon names football players of the week (9/5)
Saturday's football roundup (9/3)
Samford downs No. 6/8 Kennesaw State to open season (9/1)