BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Back-to-back Gulf South Conference football champion Valdosta State was tabbed second in the 2021 Gulf South Conference Preseason Coaches Poll, released Tuesday by the league office. Defending national champion West Florida was named the league favorite. VSU had eight Blazers (nine total selections) named to the Preseason All-GSC Team for the second-most in the league.
UWF held a slim 47-45 lead in total points in the preseason standings and a 5-3 advantage in first-place votes. Delta State was picked third with 33 points, followed by West Alabama (30) and West Georgia was picked fifth (26) to round out the top five. Mississippi College (22) was picked sixth, followed by North Greenville (14) and Shorter rounded out the poll with seven points.
Along with the preseason poll, the league also announced preseason all-conference team with West Florida leading the way with ten selections, followed by VSU with nine.
Headlining the preseason all-conference team for the Blazers are 2019 first team all-conference running backs
Jamar Thompkins and
Seth McGill, along with wideouts
Brian Saunds and
Lio'undre Gallimore. Saunds also was named to the preseason all-conference team as a return specialist. Blazer standout offensive tackle
Ralph Singleton also earned a spot on the preseason team as he earned second team all-conference honors in 2019.
Defensively, the Blazers had selections at all three levels with Ja'Davien Williams earning a spot up front, while
Nick Moss was selected as a linebacker and 2019 second team all-conference selection
Cory Roberts earned a spot in the secondary on the preseason team.
Thompkins, a native of Miami, Fla., and a junior on the field, has played in 25 games and started 22 for his career. He is a two-time All-GSC first team selection and was named GSC Freshman of the Year in 2018. Thompkins earned honorable mention All-America honors in 2018 and named GSC All-Decade Honorable Mention in 2020.
He has scored 132 points on 20 rushing touchdowns and two receiving scores for 22 total touchdowns. Thompkins has 261 carries for 2,279 yards for an average of 91.2 yards per game on the ground. He has 27 catches for 237 yards for his career. In addition, he has seven kick returns for 207 yards and has recorded 2,723 all-purpose yards for his career for an average of 108.9 yards per game.
McGill, also a native of Miami and a junior on the field this fall, has played in 25 games with one start for his career. He has rushed 240 times for 1,395 yards and 23 rushing scores. McGill has caught 43 passes for 345 yards and one touchdown reception. He has 14 kick returns for 384 yards and one punt return for five yards, accumulating 2,129 all-purpose yards. Overall, he has scored 24 touchdowns for 144 points.
He earned First Team All-GSC honors in 2019 as the all-purpose back and named to the GSC All-Decade First Team as an all-purpose back. He finished the 2019 season third on the team in rushing yards with 683 on 129 carries and had a team-high 13 rushing touchdowns.
Gallimore, a native of Miami Gardens, Fla., has played in 30 games with 25 starts. He has 87 catches for 1,685 yards for his career, while hauling in 16 receiving touchdowns. Gallimore earned all-region honors in 2018 and was a first team all-conference selection that season, while earning second team all-league honors in 2019. He has 1,787 all-purpose yards for his career and has five games over 100-yards receiving with a career-high 194 yards against Delta State (10/6/18).
Saunds who has had an outstanding career for the Blazers as he has played in 34 games with 25 starts for the red and black. He has 114 receptions for 1,782 yards and 21 touchdowns receptions. Saunds also has 40 punt returns for 466 yards for his career. He has 2,354 all-purpose yards.
In 2019, the Darien, Ga., native, started all 11 games for the Blazers earning first team all-conference at wide receiver and punt returner. He earned Academic All-District accolades and named to the GSC All-Academic Team. Saunds earned D2CCA all-region honors. He even through a touchdown pass against West Alabama on a trick play. Saunds had a season-high ten catches for a school-record 246 yards against Florida Tech in 2019.
Singleton, a native of Sumter, S.C., earned second team all-conference honors for the Blazers in 2019, helping lead the team to back-to-back GSC titles and a GSC-record 25-game winning streak since 2017. Singleton helped lead the Blazers to finish third nationally in total offense at 522.1 yards per game, while the team was 11
th nationally in rushing offense at 260.2 yards per game.
Having played in 31 games with 13 starts, Williams heads into 2021 as a key force for the Blazers upfront defensively. He has 58 tackles with 31 solo stops for his career, along with 16 tackles for loss for 49 yards and 6.5 sacks for 35 yards. The Haines City, Fla., native started all 11 games for the Blazers in 2019 finishing with 24 tackles and 12 solo stops, along with 7.5 tackles for loss and 4.5 sacks.
Moss, a native of Dearing, Ga., has played in 17 games with three starts for the Blazers at linebacker. He has 52 tackles with 17 solo stops. Moss started three of the first four games of the season in 2019 before an injury sidelined him the rest of the season. Prior to the injury, Moss had 18 tackles with seven solo stops, 1.5 tackles for loss for ten yards and 1.5 sacks for ten yards. He recorded a season-high nine tackles and four solo in the opener against Albany State and had 1.5 tackles for loss assisting in three sacks at Shorter.
Pensacola, Fla., native, Roberts, has played in 24 games with ten starts for his career in the secondary. He has 100 tackles with 53 solo stops, along with three tackles for loss, five interceptions for 55 yards, 11 pass breakups and one forced fumble. In 2019, Roberts earned second team all-conference honors as he played in all 11 games with ten starts. He recorded a team-high 61 tackles with 30 solo stops. He led the team in interceptions with four for 16 yards to finish third in the GSC in interceptions per game at a 0.4 clip.
VSU head coach
Gary Goff returns a wealth of experience from 2019 when the Blazers went 10-1 with a perfect 8-0 mark in GSC play in his first season in Titletown. The Blazers open the 2021 season with Savannah State at Bazemore-Hyder Stadium September 4 at 7 p.m., and feature six home games for the season. VSU and Savannah State have not met on the gridiron since 1996.
The season-opener is set for September 4 will be the first football game for VSU since November 30, 2019, in a heartbreaking loss to West Florida in the second round of the NCAA playoffs – a span of 644 days.
Tickets are on sale now in the VSU Athletic Ticket Office or by calling 229-333-SEAT (7328).
This season the Blazers have six outstanding home games and the GSC has entered into a four-year agreement with FloSports that will move all GSC member schools' football livestream broadcasts to a subscription delivery starting in the fall of 2021. The agreement also includes all Gulf South Conference postseason championship tournament games.
With this new GSC package, all VSU football livestream broadcasts will be available exclusively through FloSports. Fans can purchase a monthly membership for $19.99 or an annual subscription for $150 ($12.50/month). The yearly membership is a saving of nearly $90. The membership will include:
