SETTING THE SCENE
The Valdosta State Blazers (4-6, 2-5 GSC) finish out the 2022 season with Shorter (3-7, 1-6 GSC) in a non-conference game Saturday afternoon at 3 p.m. at Bazemore-Hyder Stadium in part of the GSC Football Bracket Challenge.  This is the second meeting between Shorter and VSU this season as the teams met in Rome, Ga., on Sept. 24, with VSU walking away victorious, 34-30 in come-back-fashion.
 
THE GSC FOOTBALL BRACKET CHALLENGE
Delta State and West Florida tied for the league title this season as DSU finished 9-1 and 6-1 in league play, while West Florida was 8-1 overall and 6-1 in league play.  The GSC Football Bracket Challenge is in its inaugural year as it is based off the standings from last season.  VSU and West Florida tied for the league title in 2021, as the Blazers reached the national title game and, despite losing at UWF last season, was the No. 1-seed for the Challenge this season and hosting No. 8-seed Shorter.  The matchups this week are at the opposite site of where teams played their opponents during conference play this season.  No. 2-seed West Florida travels to No. 7-seed Mississippi College, while No. 3-seed West Georgia travels to No. 7-seed North Greenville and No. 4-seed West Alabama travels to No. 5-seed Delta State.  Reminder, the "seeds" are from last season's conference standings.
 
CALLING THE GAME
TALK 92.1 FM will broadcast the Blazer games all season long with Spencer Van Horn and Wade Beale having the call.  Fans also can access the broadcast at www.talk921.com.  In addition, Dave Garner and Taylor Biddle will have the call of all home games this season on the webstream, which can be accessed at vstateblazers.com on the football schedule page.
 
THOMPKINS 77 YARDS AWAY
Senior running back Jamar Thompkins is just 77 yards away from tying former Blazer standout running back Cedric O'Neal (2012-2015) for the school's all-time rushing record with 4,115 yards.  Thompkins has 4,038 yards on 531 carries with 35 rushing touchdowns for his career.  He is fourth all-time in school history in rushing touchdowns, while he is eighth all-time in scoring with 37 total touchdowns and 222 points.  This season, the Miami, Fla., native, leads the team averaging 75.8 yards per game on 124 carries and 758 yards with six rushing touchdowns.  For the season, he has 124 carries for 758 yards and six rushing scores.  Thompkins is 23rd nationally and second in the GSC in rushing yards per carry at a 6.1 clip.  
 
SENIOR DAY 2022
It's Senior Day for the Blazers as VSU will honor 25 seniors playing in their final game in Blazer uniform on Saturday.  This Senior Class has helped lead VSU to a 45-13 record overall and a 29-9 mark in the GSC with a national title in 2018, national runner-up appearance in 2021, along with Gulf South Conference titles in 2018 and 2019 outright and a share of the league title in 2021.  The seniors helped lead VSU to Gulf South Conference record 25-game winning streak from 2017 through the regular season in 2019.  The 2022 Senior Class includes; Julian Baldi, James Barnes, Brett Buckridge, Jackson Bull, Torren Calhoun, Jeremiah Campbell, Demetrius Cooley, Isaiah Curry, Juan De La Torre, Ivory Durham, Michael Gayden, Davie Henderson, Caden Marcum, Javiontae Martin, Seth McGill, Brian Rattery, Ravarius Rivers, Travon Roberts, Eddie Rox, Victor Talley, Jamar Thompkins, Antar Thompson, Dwayne Thompson II, Kiaran Turner and Darrien Young.  We wish each of these seniors the best in their future endeavors!
 
BACK-TO-BACK WEEKLY HONORS
Blazer graduate students Michael Gayden and Victor Talley earned GSC Player of the Week honors after standout performances at North Greenville (Oct. 29), while Blazer redshirt junior defensive back Ravarius Rivers and sophomore punter/kicker Estin Thiele were named Gulf South Conference Players of the Week.  It marked the first weekly honor for Rivers for the season and his career, while it was the second of the season for Thiele.  Rivers recorded a career-high 14 tackles in the Blazers' heartbreaking 32-31 overtime loss to No. 8 West Florida on Saturday, while Thiele handled all of the kicking and punting duties with a season-best 54.6 average on five punts, all over 50 yards, and a career-long 64-yard punt, while he made a 44-yard field goal for his 14th made field goal of the season and averaged 65.0 yards on five kickoffs with four touchbacks.
 
ALL-PURPOSE MCGILL
Along with Thompkins in the backfield, the Blazers also utilize senior Seth McGill who is second on the team in rushing with 704 rushing yards.  McGill has four rushing touchdowns in a team-high 128 carries, while he 13th nationally and second in the GSC in all-purpose yards at 156.60 per game.  He is third nationally in combined kick returns with 764 yards for tops in the GSC and is fourth in the GSC in kickoff return yards at 23.9 yards per return for 43rd nationally.  For McGill's storied career, he is fourth all-time in rushing yards with 3,334 and 41 rushing touchdowns, which the 41 rushing TDs are good for second all-time in program history.  McGill is sixth all-time in scoring with 270 points on 45 total touchdowns and has thrown two touchdowns this season on a perfect 2 for 2 passing.  He also has 46 kickoff returns for 1,148 yards and leads the school record book at 25.0 yards per kick return.   
 
ON THIS DATE
The Blazers are 4-2 all-time on Nov. 12 and this marks the sixth home game in a row on this date as VSU is 3-2, including a 44-0 victory over Shorter in 2016 on this date.  VSU's lone game away from home on this date came at West Alabama in a 29-14 victory in 1983.   
 
GUARDIAN BANK PLAYERS OF THE GAME
This season each game a number of players will be selected as the Guardian Bank Players of the Game.  Below is the list of each Guardian Bank Players of the Game from each contest this season.  

 
INSIDE THE SERIES WITH SHORTER
The Blazers lead the all-time series with Shorter, 10-0 including the 34-30, victory earlier this season as trailed 17-3 in at halftime and outscored the Hawks 31-13 in the second half.  Shorter held a 466-413 lead in total offense for the game as quarterback Aeneas Dennis' pass sailed high in the end zone with a few seconds remaining on fourth down as VSU escaped with the victory.  The Blazers are 5-0 both in Valdosta and in Rome against the Hawks, while outscoring Shorter 427-84 in the ten previous meetings.  
 
NATIONALLY SPEAKING
The Blazers are ninth nationally in total offense at 479.3 yards per game for third in the GSC, while they are 17th nationally in rushing offense at 209.9 yards per game for fourth in the league and 16th nationally in scoring offense at 37.3 points per game for third in the conference.  VSU is second nationally in sacks allowed at just 0.3 per game to lead the league, while the team in 19th nationally in passing offense at 269.4 yards per game for second in the league.  The Blazers are 29th nationally in kick returns at 22.54 yards per return for third in the league.  Conversely, Shorter leads the nation in fumbles lost (2) and is tops in the nation in turnovers lost (5).  The Hawks are second nationally in passes had intercepted (3), while Devin Brown is third in the GSC and 36th nationally in all-purpose yards (123.20) and is 18th nationally and third in the league in combined kick returns (584).  Dennis is 19th nationally and third in the league in passing yards per completion at 14.24 clip, while Nicholas Pope is third in the league in punting at 39.1 yards per game.
 
GOOD FROM THIELE
Sophomore kicker/punter Estin Thiele has had a strong season for the Blazers as he is 14 of 19 in field goals for a 73.7 clip, while he is 41 of 42 in extra-points.  Thiele is sixth nationally in field goals per game at a 1.40 clip to lead the GSC, while he is third in the league in field goal percentage for 35th nationally.  He is fourth in the league in scoring at 8.3 points per game for 26th nationally, while he is 23rd nationally (also fourth in the league) in total points scored with 83. For his Blazer career, Thiele has made 28 of 37 field goals for a 75.7 clip, while he has gone 114 of 116 in extra-points.  Thiele has 198 points for his career at VSU and is just outside the top ten all-time in career scoring.  He needs four points to tie Keith Moore (1983-1986) for tenth all-time in career scoring. 
 
DURHAM RANKS HIGH
Senior quarterback Ivory Durham has had another outstanding season as he is eighth nationally and tops in the GSC in passing touchdowns (26), while he is 15th nationally and second in the GSC in passing yards (2,580), 20th nationally and second in the league in passing yards per game (258.0), while he is second in the GSC in passing yards per completion at 14.41 per contest.  For the season, Durham is 179 of 335 passing for 2,580 yards with 26 touchdowns and six interceptions.  He is third on the team in rushing with 524 yards and five touchdowns on 75 carries.  Durham is tenth nationally and tops in the GSC in total offense at 310.4 yards per game.  For his outstanding career, Durham is 16-8 as a starting quarterback and is tenth all-time in rushing with 2,298 yards on 288 carries and 27 rushing scores.  His 27 rushing scores are good for sixth all-time in school history, while he is fifth in passing yards (6,614) and seventh in completions (462).  Durham is fourth in passing touchdowns with 69, just one TD shy of third held by former Blazer standout and former teammate Rogan Wells (2017-2019).  Durham is third all-time in total offense with 8,912 and has a chance to catch Wells (9,062) Saturday.
 
PLAYING 50
Seniors Jamar Thompkins, Seth McGill and Ivory Durham all are playing in their 50th game on Saturday as all three first started playing the national championship season in 2018.  Since that time, the trio has gone 40-9.  Thompkins redshirted in 2017, while McGill and Durham were true freshmen in 2018.
 
A VICTORY OVER SHORTER WOULD . . .