Football 9/27/2018 10:13:00 AM

No. 13/15 Blazers Close First Month of the 2018 Season at Mississippi College Saturday Night

Game Notes in PDF Format

VALDOSTA, Ga. – The No. 13/15 Valdosta State football team returns to the road in search of its fifth win to start the 2018 season Saturday night at 8 p.m. CT at Mississippi College. The Blazers are coming off a 52-0 thrashing of Shorter last week, while Mississippi College lost at home to then-No. 10 West Florida 34-21.

OPENING DRIVE NOTES

The No. 13/15 Valdosta State Blazers return to the road at Mississippi College on Saturday at 8 p.m. ET in Clinton, Miss.
VSU (4-0, 2-0 GSC) is coming off a 52-0 shutout of Shorter last weekend as the Blazers scored 42 points in the second half, scoring touchdowns on all six possessions in the second half of the game.
Blazer freshman running back Seth McGill was named GSC Freshman of the Week for his 98 yards on the ground and two touchdowns, marking the third-straight week VSU has earned Freshman of the Week. McGill finished the game with 10 carries for 98 yards and two touchdowns, including a long of 47 yards, while recording one catch for 13 yards.
Mississippi College (2-1, 0-1 GSC) enters after a hard fought 34-21 home loss to then-No. 10 West Florida last weekend. The Choctaws had their GSC opener the week before against North Greenville cancelled due to Hurricane Florence.
Fans can access links to live stats, audio/video streaming and ticket information at vstateblazers.com on the football schedule page. The game will be broadcast on 92.1 FM with Spencer Van Horn and Scott James having the call.
Valdosta State is in its 37th year of football and is 284-126-4 overall, while going 186-87-3 in the Gulf South Conference.
The shutout of Shorter marked the third-straight shutout of the Hawks for the Blazers, while marking the 25th shutout in program history. The 52 points scored marked tied last season's win over the Hawks for the fourth-most points scored in a shutout by the Blazers.
The Blazers enter the game as the top-ranked team in NCAA Division II in scoring offense at 52.5 points per game, while the defense is fifth nationally allowing just 11.0 points per game. VSU has scored 50 or more points in three of the four games this season and has scored 50 or more points in each of the last three games.
VSU is 9-8-1 all-time against Mississippi College and has won the last eight games in the series. VSU is 3-4-1 in Clinton, Miss., and has won the last three there and gone 3-0-1 in the last four road meetings dating back to a 10-10 tie on Nov. 2, 1991.
VSU owns the NCAA Division II record for consecutive games without being shutout at 318 dating back to Sept. 14, 1991, in a 12-0 loss to Central Florida.
Since 2000, the Blazers are 172-46 (.789), ranking third in Division II in total wins during that span. Grand Valley State and Northwest Missouri State are tied, each with 203 wins.
This is the first year since 2012 where the Blazers have played five games in September. That year, VSU went 3-2 en route to a national championship with a 35-7 win over Winston-Salem State. Also, that year, VSU played on Sept. 29 with a 58-10 home win over Edward Waters starting a string of 10-straight wins to end the season and matching the school-record for consecutive wins as the Blazers opened the 2013 season with four-straight victories.
The Blazers were picked fifth in the GSC Preseason Poll, while Mississippi College was tabbed eighth in the initial season ranking.

INSIDE THE SERIES

VSU leads the all-time series 9-8-1 and has won eight-straight in the series with a nine-game unbeaten streak (8-0-1), dating back to a 10-10 tie on Nov. 2, 1991 in Clinton, Miss.
The Blazers have scored 30 or more points in each of the last five meetings and scored 40 or more in four of them with a 62-0 blanking of the Choctaws in Clinton in 2014, while winning last season in Valdosta, 55-3.
VSU is 3-4-1 on the road against the Choctaws, while going 6-4 in Valdosta.
In the closest meeting in the series, VSU won 42-41 in the last meeting at MC in 2015 as a pair of key sacks on the final drive of the game prevented the Choctaws from a potential game-winning scoring drive.
VSU has outscored the Choctaws 432-321 in the 18 meetings.

MEET THE COACHES

VSU head coach Kerwin Bellis in his third season at the helm of the Blazers. Bell is 17-7 at VSU and is 83-42 overall 12 seasons of coaching, including nine seasons at the University of Jacksonville, where he went 66-35.
Bell is 2-0 against Mississippi College and is 13-5 against Gulf South Conference teams.
Mississippi College head coach John Bland is 9-34 at the helm of the Choctaws in his fifth season.
He is 79-55 overall in his 13th season of coaching. Prior to MC, Bland was head coach for eight years at University of the Cumberlands in Williamsburg, Ky., where he went 70-21. He won five conference titles there and named league Coach of the Year five times.

A WIN OVER MISSISSIPPI COLLEGE WOULD . . .

Give VSU a 5-0 record to start the season, marking the first 5-0 start since 2007.
Be the tenth win over Mississippi College overall and give the Blazers at 4-4-1 record in Clinton, Miss.
Give VSU a 5-1 record on Sept. 29 all-time as the Blazers last played on this date in 2012, with a home win over Edward Waters, 58-10.
Give VSU a 3-0 record in Gulf South Conference play, marking the first 3-0 start in league play since 2007, when the Blazers won their second National Championship.
Be the 285th win in program history, the 187th GSC victory.

BLAZER BITS

This marks the fourth time the Blazers have played five games in the month of September. VSU had five games in 1989, 1995 and 2012. In all three of those years, the Blazers went 2-3 each time in September. This season, VSU is 4-0 in September.
VSU has been outstanding on third down this year as it is second in the conference and 30th nationally at a .438 clip on the pivotal down on 21 of 48 chances. Conversely, VSU is holding teams to a .242 clip on third down for 15th nationally and leading the conference, converting just 16 of 66 chances. Last week against Shorter, VSU went 9 of 16 on third down, while holding the Hawks to just 4 of 19. The nine conversions marked the most in a game this season for VSU.
Coupled with the strong conversions on third down, the Blazers are seventh nationally in first downs with 102 on the season to lead the GSC.
The Blazers have two blocked kicks this season, including a blocked field goal by senior Iseoluwapo Jegede at the end of the first half on Saturday to preserve the shutout against Shorter. VSU is tied with North Greenville for the lead in blocked kicks in the conference and is 19th nationally.
VSU, Mississippi College and West Alabama each lead the GSC with five interceptions on the season as the Blazers have had three pick-sixes to lead the nation and the conference. Last week, senior Raymond Palmer had a 75-yard INT return for a score in the 52-0 win over Shorter.
The Blazers are 25th nationally and second in the GSC in passing offense at 283.5 yards per game, while ranking 39th nationally and second to Mississippi College in passing yards per completion. VSU averages 14 yards per completion, while MC averages an astounding 21.94 for second nationally behind Harding at 23.9.
Saturday's matchup features the top two teams in the GSC in rushing offense as the Blazers are second in the league and 16th nationally at 239.8 yards per game, while Mississippi College leads the GSC and is ninth nationally at 276.3 yards per contest. On defense, VSU leads the league holding teams to just 67.5 yards on the ground per game for eighth nationally.
The Blazers have been dominant in the red zone this season on both sides of the ball as they are holding teams to a .500 clip for third nationally, while converting an average of .909 to lead the GSC and rank 18th nationally.
The VSU "D" has made a living in the backfield as it is fifth nationally in sacks at 4.5 per game, while ranking fifth nationally in tackles for loss at 10.8 per game as both lead the GSC.
The offense is averaging 523.3 yards per game for fifth nationally and the tops in the GSC, while the defense is holding teams to 254 yards per game for 16th nationally.
VSU redshirt sophomore quarterback Rogan Wells is 27th nationally in passing efficiency at 153.3, while ranking third nationally in passing touchdowns with 13, 34th in passing yards (936) and seventh in points responsible for (84). He is third in the GSC and 32nd nationally in total offense at 270.3.
Redshirt freshman running back Jamar Thompkins leads the GSC in rushing yards with 365 and is 37th nationally, while ranking second to Mississippi College's Detric Hawthorn in rushing yards per game at 91.3. Hawthorn leads the GSC and is 23rd nationally at 106.7 yards per game.
Hawthorn, who plays quarterback, is 11th nationally in rushing yards per carry at 7.44, while ranking second in the conference in rushing touchdowns (3) and third in rushing yards (320).
Senior kicker Andrew Gray leads the Blazers and the GSC in in total points with 42 for 11th nationally, while he is fourth in the GSC in field goal percentage (.714) and third in field goals per game a 1.25 for 20th nationally.
VSU makes its second-straight week in the top 25 in both the AFCA Poll and the D2Football.com poll for the first time since 2016.
The Blazers scored touchdowns on all six possessions in the second half against Shorter last week after a 10-0 lead at halftime. Despite having just 157 yards in the first half, VSU ended the game with an outstanding second half offensively, finishing the game with a season-high 583 yards of offense and 426 yards in the second half alone.