SETTING THE SCENE
The No. 3/4 Valdosta State football team returns home after a convincing 51-7 victory at Virginia Union last weekend.  The 2-0 Blazers host 2-0 Albany State Saturday at 7 p.m. at Bazemore-Hyder Stadium as this marks the seventh-straight season the teams have played (no game 2020 due to COVID-19). Each of the previous six seasons the game was played as the season-opener for both teams.  
 
FLOSPORTS
The Gulf South Conference signed a league-wide, four-year agreement with FloSports to broadcast all GSC football games beginning this fall.  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.  Subscribe to FloSports at www.flosports.tv/gulfsouth.  The membership will include:

 
CALLING TONIGHT'S GAME
TALK 92.1 FM will broadcast the Blazer games all season long with Spencer Van Horn and Wade Beale having the call of the games.  Fans also can access the broadcast at www.talk921.com.  This season with the addition of FloSports, Dave Garner will provide play-by-play coverage on the video broadcast of the home games for FloSports, while Taylor Biddle will be the color analyst.  
 
INSIDE THE SERIES WITH ALBANY STATE
The Blazers own a 19-2 record against the Golden Rams and have won four of the last five and nine of the last ten in the series, including a 38-3 victory in Albany on Sept. 7, 2019, in the last matchup.  ASU won in 2017 for just its second victory in the series, also in Albany, 29-12 (Sept .2, 2017).  The Blazers are 10-0 all-time against ASU in Valdosta.  Prior to 2017, the last victory in the series for ASU came on Sept. 4, 2004, 24-22.  The teams have met three times in the NCAA playoffs, with VSU winning all three.
 
LAST TIME OUT FOR THE BLAZERS
The Blazers made a 650-mile road trip to the Commonwealth of Virginia for the first time in program history and came away with a 51-7 victory over Virginia Union last Saturday evening.  VSU, once again, dominated all facets of the game as it forced three Panther turnovers and held a 14-0 lead in points off turnovers.  Senior linebacker Nick Moss led the team with 14 tackles and an interception, while senior defensive back Mondrell Jefferson recorded another fumble recovery for his third of the season to lead the nation.  VSU held VUU to just 97 yards passing and 274 yards for the game.  Offensively, the Blazers put up 307 yards on the ground and a season-high 559 yards of total offense in the game.  Junior quarterback Ivory Durham ran for two scores and tossed two in the victory, while junior Seth McGill scored one touchdown on the ground and ran for 129 yards on 11 carries.  Sophomore kicker Estin Thiele had another strong week as he went 1 for 2 in field goals (missed a 56-yarder) and was perfect on his kicking extra-points, while he had nine kickoffs for 559 yards and 62.1 average with five touchbacks.   
 
UNDEFEATED TEAMS 
The Blazers and the Golden Rams are two of the 51 teams in NCAA Division II who are undefeated heading into week three.  There are six teams in the Gulf South Conference who are undefeated, while the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference has two undefeated teams in ASU and Benedict.  The GSC has the most teams undefeated (6), while the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) is second with five teams who are 2-0.  The PSAC and the Great America Conference each have six teams undefeated total, but some have played just one game thus far.
 
THREE BLAZERS NAMED GSC PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
For the second-straight week, Thiele was honored as the GSC Special Teams Player of the Week, while the Blazers also earned the GSC Defensive Player of the Week for the second time.  This week, senior linebacker Nick Moss earned the honor after a VSU career-high 14 tackles at Virginia Union, including eight solo stops.  He also had a fumble return for 44 yards.  Durham earned Co-GSC Offensive Player of the Week honors for two rushing touchdowns and two passing scores as he rushed four times for 112 yards, while going 16 of 31 passing for 175 yards, two touchdowns and an interception.  Durham was one of two Blazers over 100-yards rushing for the game as junior Seth McGill led the team with 129 yards on the ground on 11 carries.  Through two weeks, four different Blazers have earned GSC Player of the Week accolades and five total honors.   
 
VSU MOVES UP IN THE POLLS
The Blazers moved to fourth in the newest AFCA Top 25 from fifth last week, while VSU sits third in the D2Football.com Top 25 this week.  Both polls have West Florida as the top team in the country, while West Georgia and Delta State are 18th and 22nd, respectively, in the AFCA Poll and West Georgia is 20th in the D2Football.com poll.  West Alabama is among others receiving votes in the AFCA poll.  
 
STREAKS 
VSU has had an outstanding winning streak since 2017 as it won 25-straight games to the final game of 2019 to set a Gulf South Conference record for consecutive victories.  Since the Shorter game to end the 2017 season, VSU has won 25-straight regular season games and two conference titles. Moreover, the team has won 30 of its last 32 games. 
 
IVORY AND SETH 
Durham and McGill each rushed for over 100 yards last week at Virginia Union and combined for three rushing touchdowns.  McGill had 11 carries for 129 yards and a 50-yard touchdown run, while Durham had four carries for 112 yards and two scores on runs of 59-yards and 39-yards.  For the season, McGill leads the team with 204 yards rushing on 22 carries and two scores, while Durham is second in rushing with 10 carries for 143 yards and two scores.  
 
FIRST IN THE NATION
VSU leads the nation in fumbles recovered with five through the first two games of the season, while senior defensive back Mondrell Jefferson leads the nation with three fumble recoveries thus far.  VSU also is first in the nation in net punting at a 47.17 clip.
 
GETTING THE T-O
VSU have forced six turnovers already this season for ninth nationally, while VSU is seventh nationally in turnover margin (2.50) and VSU is 11th nationally in turnovers lost (1).  VSU owns a 35-0 lead in points off turnovers this season.
 
CAREER WATCH
VSU junior running back Jamar Thompkins is eighth all-time in career rushing yards with 2,377 yards.  He is 278 yards behind Vontrell Mitchell (1995-98) for seventh all-time.  Junior running back Seth Mitchell has 1,599 yards rushing and is closing in on the top ten this season and needs 305 yards to catch Donnie Harrell (1985-88) for tenth all-time.  Both McGill and Thompkins also are in the top ten in rushing touchdowns as McGill is tied for fifth with former Blazer Rogan Wells (2017-19) with 25 rushing scores and Thompkins is ninth with 22.  Senior wide receiver Lio'undre Gallimore has 1,828 yards currently and is just outside the top ten in career receiving yards.  Graduate Brian Saunds is tenth all-time with 1,929 yards.  Saunds is seventh all-time in receiving touchdowns with 22 and he has 46 punt returns for 525 yards and an average of 11.4 per return for eighth all-time in program history.  
 
OVER 300
Saturday's 307 yards on the ground marked the fifth time of 300 or more rushing yards by the Blazers under head coach Gary Goff.  VSU had 446 yards rushing at Shorter on Sept. 28, 2019, for a school-record, while it had 358 at Delta State that season, 303 against Florida Tech and 325 at West Georgia.  This season, VSU is 11th nationally in rushing offense at 258.5 yards per game to lead the GSC.
 
GOOD ON THIRD
The Blazers are 11 of 21 this season on third down for a 52.4 clip for 16th nationally and second in the GSC.  VSU was 6 of 12 on third down last week at Virginia Union.  Conversely, VSU is holding teams to a 32.1 clip on the pivotal down on 9 of 28 for the season.  
 
STRONG THROUGH THREE QUARTERS
In the first three quarters this season, VSU has not allowed a point and has outscored the opposition 81-0.  In the fourth quarter, VSU has outscored the opponents 23-14.  VSU has scored in every quarter this season and has never trailed.
 
GOFF HITS 50 CAREER VICTORIES
VSU third-year head coach Gary Goff hit 50 career coaching victories with the 53-7 win over Savannah State on Sept. 4.  Goff now is 51-50 in his 11th season of coaching. Prior to VSU, he coached nine years at Tiffin University in Tiffin, Ohio.  Goff is 12-1 during his time at VSU.
 
GARY GOFF RADIO SHOW
The Gary Goff Radio show is back this season at the Salty Snapper Restaurant in Valdosta every Monday at 7 p.m.  Come out and listen to VSU head football coach Gary Goff speak about the previous game and lookin ahead to the next game on the schedule.  VSU Assistant Athletic Director for Development, Matt Malone, broadcasts the show and if you can't make it out, you can listen on WVGA 105.9 FM in Valdosta or stream it at valdostatoday.com.  Prizes will be awarded after the show and fans in attendance have the opportunity to ask questions of Goff during the show. 
 
COACH GARY GOFF SHOW
The Coach Goff Show will be available each Sunday at vstateblazers.com on the football page throughout the season as it will include interviews from Goff, select players and highlights from the previous game.  Spencer Van Horn and Dave Garner host the show throughout the season and Jamie Abbott of Crashandannie Productions directs and produces the show.
 
EIGHT BLAZERS EARN PRESEASON ALL-GSC ACCOLADES; PICKED SECOND IN GSC POLL
The Blazers were picked second in the GSC Preseason Coaches Poll, released in early August.  UWF was held a slim margin over VSU with a 47-45 lead in total points and a 5-3 lead in first-place votes.  Delta State was selected third in the poll, followed by West Alabama and West Georgia rounded out the top five.  Mississippi College was picked sixth, followed by North Greenville and Shorter was eighth.  VSU had the second-most selections to the preseason all-conference team with eight.  The Blazers had five players named on the offense and three on defense.  Junior running back duo Jamar Thompkins and Seth McGill were named to the team, while senior wide receivers Brian Saunds and Lio'undre Gallimore each earned a spot, along with senior offensive lineman Ralph Singleton.  On defense, senior defensive lineman Ja'Davien Williams, along with senior linebacker Nick Moss and senior defensive back Cory Roberts each were honored.  Saunds also was named return specialist for special teams.
 
LOOKING AT ALBANY STATE
The Golden Rams enter with two wins over Gulf South Conference foes thus far and are looking for their third victory over a GSC foe.  ASU defeated Mississippi College 24-0 in Clinton, Miss., and downed Shorter 28-12 last weekend in Albany.   The Golden Rams are fifth nationally in scoring defense (6.0 ppg), while they are seventh in turnover margin (2.50) and ninth in turnovers gained (6), while only coughing up the ball once for 11th nationally.  Quarterback Dionte Bonneau has had a strong start to the season as he is 27 of 40 passing for 352 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions. Bonneau is 16th nationally in completion percentage (67.5) and is 14th in passing efficiency (186.23).  Marcuis Fulks leads the team on the ground with 121 yards in 25 carries along with two scores.  Ralph Lovett leads the team with 101 yards receiving on four catches and a score.  Defensively, the Golden Rams are holding teams to 107.5 yards passing for 14th nationally and 212 yards of total defense for 18th nationally.  Stephan Pierre leads the team with 16 total tackles and 11 solo stops, while Coemba Jones has 13 tackles with one tackle for loss and a sack. ASU has ten tackles for loss for 31 yards and five sacks for 20 yards.  The Golden Rams had five players named to the 2021 Preseason All-SIAC Teams.  Miquail Harvey earned first team on the offensive line, while Gabriel Ballinas was named to the first team as a kicker, along with Derik Davis on the defensive line and Jones as a defensive back.  Katray Pringle earned second team honors as an offensive lineman.  Head coach Gabe Giardina is 22-12 in his fifth season at the helm of the program.  He is 1-3 against Valdosta State and guided the team to a 7-4 record overall and a 5-1 mark in the SIAC in 2019.  The Golden Rams were picked second in the SIAC East Division preseason poll.
 
NO SHUTOUTS
The Blazers lead all of NCAA Division II with 344 consecutive games without being shutout dating back to a 12-0 loss to Central Florida on Sept. 14, 1991.  VSU only has been shutout five times in program history.  Behind the Blazers is Grand Valley State who hasn't been shutout in 338 games.
 
A HISTORY OF SUCCESS
The Blazers have had an outstanding 39 years of football since the program began in 1982.  The Blazers have the second-highest winning percentage all-time in NCAADivision II with a 306-127-4 record (.703) behind Grand Valley State (407-143-3) with a .738 clip.  VSU went 88-27 from 2010-2019 for a .765 average which is good for eighth in NCAA Division II for the decade.
 
A VICTORY OVER ALBANY STATE WOULD  . . .

 
GOOD AGAINST GEORGIA
This season, the Blazers face Savannah State, Albany State, Shorter and West Georgia who all are from the Peach State.  VSU has played six school from Georgia and is 74-24-1 (.753) against those teams all-time with 26 victories against West Georgia and 19 against Albany State and Fort Valley State.  
 
UPCOMING SCHEDULE
Following the game VSU has a bye week (Sept. 25) and will open the month of October and Gulf South Conference play with home dates versus Shorter (Oct. 2) and the Pink Out Game Oct. 9 versus Delta State.