SETTING THE SCENE
The Valdosta State Blazers return home after a 21-10 win at Mississippi College on Saturday to host Shorter for Homecoming 2023 on Saturday, Oct. 21 at 3 p.m. at Bazemore-Hyder Stadium.  The Blazers enter 6-1 overall and 3-1 in Gulf South Conference play, while Shorter is 3-4 overall and 1-3 in league play.  This will be the final meeting with Shorter in the GSC as the Hawks will be leaving the league to be a football independent in 2024, and then join Conference Carolinas in 2025 when the league adds football as a sponsored sport.
 
ON HOMECOMING
The Blazers are 34-6 all-time on Homecoming and have won 20 of the past 22 Homecoming games since 2000.  VSU defeated Shorter on Homecoming in 2014, 37-6.  Last season, VSU lost 49-40 to Mississippi College on Homecoming.  SU is one of 17 different schools VSU has played on Homecoming and becomes the 13th school VSU has played more than once on Homecoming.  The Blazers won 17-straight games on Homecoming from 2000 to 2016 and have outscored the opposition all-time 1,320 to 711 for an average of 33.0 points per game to 17.8 per contest.
 
CALLING THE GAME
TALK 92.1 FM will broadcast the Blazer games all season long with Mike McDowd having the call.  The game also will be streamed live on FloSports with Dave Garner and Taylor Biddle calling the action.  Fans can access links to the radio broadcast and video broadcast at vstateblazers.com on the football schedule page.
 
HOW TO PURCHASE TICKETS
Single-game tickets currently are available for purchase online at vstateblazers.com or by calling the Athletic Department Ticket Office at 229-333-SEAT (7328).  The Athletic Department Ticket Office is Open Monday-Friday and tickets can be purchased until 2:45 p.m., the day prior to each home game (i.e. Friday at 2:45 p.m. for Saturday home game).  The Athletic Department Ticket Office is located in The P.E. Complex on Sustella Avenue until 3 p.m. the day before a game.  On Saturday, Ticket Gates and Will Call will open at 1:15 p.m. 
 
WATCH ON FLOSPORTS
The Gulf South Conference enters its second year of a four-year agreement with FloSports to broadcast all GSC football games this fall.  ALL VSU football home regular season and road conference livestream broadcasts will be available exclusively through FloSports.  Check back with vstateblazers.com on how to sign up and watch on FloSports.
 
INSIDE THE SERIES WITH SHORTER
Valdosta State is 11-0 all-time against Shorter and defeated the Hawks twice last season, once in Rome, Ga., and in the season finale in Valdosta.  VSU battled back from a 17-3 deficit at halftime in the game in Rome, for a 34-30 victory as VSU outscored the Hawks 31-13 in the second half.  In the season finale, Shorter held a 21-20 lead through three quarters and 28-27 with 8:17 to play, before VSU used a seven-play, 62-yard drive capped with a 25-yard field goal from Estin Thiele with 1:31 left for the 30-28 victory.  For the series, VSU is 6-0 all-time against Shorter in Valdosta, while the team is 5-0 in Rome.  Prior to last season, the margin of victory for the Blazers in the series had been no less than 15 points in any of the other nine games.  
 
ABOUT THE HAWKS
The Hawks enter the game with a 3-4 record overall and a 1-3 mark in the GSC as they downed Clark Atlanta in a non-conference game this past Saturday, 19-13 in overtime.  SU trailed at halftime 10-0, before outscoring the Panthers 13-3 in the second half to force overtime.  In the overtime session Shorter got a strip-sack fumble by DJ Walker on Clark's first possession and then the Hawks needed just one play on a 25-yard scamper Lanear McCrary, Jr., for the winning touchdown.  This season, the Hawks are under the direction of sixth-year head coach and SU alum Zach Morrison.  He is 12-43 at Shorter and 0-5 all-time against VSU.  Morrison's squad enters the week seventh nationally and tops in the GSC in red zone offense at a .938 clip, while the team is tops in the GSC in punt returns at a 19.67 clip for fourth nationally.  SU has two defensive touchdowns this season to tie for the league-lead for 18th nationally, while the team is third in the league in completion percentage at a .628 clip as VSU leads the league with a .711 average.  Individually, Trey Thomas leads the team with a punt return touchdown and is fifth in the GSC in combined kick returns with 216 yards.  Thomas is 18th nationally and second in the league in passes defended per game (1.4).  Offensively, Joshua Brown is third in the GSC and 35th nationally in completion percentage (.617) as Blazer junior Sammy Edwards leads the league with a .709 average.  Brown is fifth in the league in completions per game (14.71), while he is sixth in passing yards (984), sixth in passing yards per game (140.6) and eighth in passing yards per completion (9.55).  Brown is sixth in the league in total offense at 160.1 yards per game.  On the ground, Justus Durrant leads the team with five rushing scores for third in the league, while Jaiden Dollard leads the team with 316 yards rushing.  Defensively, Marc Harris leads the GSC in total tackles per game at a 7.3 clip as he has 51 tackles with 3.5 TFLs, one sack and one interception.  
 
NATIONAL COMPARISON SNAPSHOT

 
RECAPPING THE MISSISSIPPI COLLEGE GAME
The Blazers scored a touchdown on their sixth-straight opening possession for the early 7-0 lead and then MC coughed up the ball on the goal line on its first possession of the game as VSU held a 7-0 lead through the first quarter and pushed the lead to 21-3 at halftime.  VSU had three rushing touchdowns in the game as junior G'Mone Wilson went for 114 yards on 14 carries and one touchdown to lead the team as he earned GSC Offensive Player of the Week honors.  Junior quarterback Sammy Edwards went 24 of 29 passing for 185 yards and scored a touchdown on the ground.  Junior Eric Watts had 74 yards on ten carries and one touchdown.  Junior wide receiver Council Allen had a season-high ten catches in the game for 45 yards.  Defensively, VSU held the Choctaws to 1 of 4 on fourth down for the game, while graduate student Kyle Cass had his third interception in the last two games, returning this one 38 yards, while recording the fumble recovery in the end zone for the Blazers.  He had two solo stops in the game also.  Junior Caleb Sutherland paced the team with eight solo tackles.  
 
SCORING FAST
This season, the Blazers have scored touchdowns on their opening drive of the game six times, this season in seven games.  VSU could've started with touchdowns on each opening drive of the season, but was picked off at the goal line in the opener versus Point (9/2).  VSU has outscored the opposition 42-21 on opening drives this season.
 
ON THIS DATE
The Blazers are 4-0 all-time on Oct. 21 and last played on this date in 2017, with a 34-13 victory at Delta State.  VSU has played Delta State twice on this date and West Alabama twice.  VSU has outscored the opposition on this date 136-66.  This year marks the third home game on this date.
 
NO SHUTOUTS
The Blazers lead the nation in the longest streak of not being shutout with 370 games without a shutout dating back to a 12-0 loss at Central Florida to open the 1991 season on Sept. 14.  VSU's last shutout of the opposition came on Oct. 9, 2021, in Valdosta with a 55-0 victory over Delta State for the 26th shutout in program history.
 
BLAZERS RECEIVING VOTES AGAIN THIS WEEK
VSU is again receiving votes in the AFCA Top 25 as the second team out of the top 25 behind Virginia Union (26th).  Colorado School of Mines takes over the top spot in the rankings after Grand Valley State (#4) downed defending national champion and top-ranked Ferris State, 49-28, on Saturday.  Pittsburg State (Kan.) moves to second in the poll, followed by Minnesota State, GVSU and GSC foe Delta State moves from eighth to fifth.  Harding is sixth, followed by Slippery Rock, Benedict, Ferris State and Lenoir-Rhyne rounds out the top ten.  West Florida dropped from sixth to 18th.  In Super Region Two, DSU leads the way, followed by Benedict, Lenoir-Rhyne, West Florida, Virginia State (20), while Virginia Union and VSU are next. In the D2Football.com Poll, Colorado School of Mines also leads that poll, followed by Grand Valley State, Pittsburg State, Minnesota State and Ferris State rounds out the top five.  Delta State is sixth, while West Florida fell to 13th.  Benedict is tenth, followed by Lenoir-Rhyne (11), Virginia Union (20) and Virginia State is 24th.
 
THIS WEEK IN THE GSC 
Conference play is in full swing and Delta State is the lone unbeaten team overall (7-0), while DSU and the only unblemished team in league play after West Alabama upset previous league-unbeaten West Florida last weekend, 10-6, in Livingston, Ala.  VSU, West Florida and West Georgia all are 3-1 in league play, while North Greenville and West Alabama are 2-3.  For this week, Shorter travels to VSU for a 3 p.m. kick, while West Florida heads to Delta State in arguably the GSC Game of the Week at 4 p.m. ET.  North Greenville travels to West Georgia (6 p.m.) and Chowan heads to Mississippi College for a 7 p.m. ET game time.
 
SEEING BLUE
Saturday's matchup with Shorter is the sixth game this season against a team with blue as a color.  Next week the Blazers travel to West Florida for the seventh game and then end the regular season on Nov. 11 against West Georgia for the eighth game against a "Blue" team this season.  VSU is 5-0 currently against teams with blue as a color.
 
IN DAY GAMES
The Blazers began a stretch of six-straight games at Chowan (9/30) of games beginning before 6 p.m. local time.  VSU is 3-1 this season in day games (63-10 vs. Point, 51-36 win at Chowan), lost 49-25 at home to Delta State on Oct. 7 and won at Mississippi College (21-10) last Saturday.  VSU will not have another night game until Nov. 11 versus West Georgia at Bazemore-Hyder Stadium.  Since 2018, VSU is 20-5 in day games.  
 
MAKING THE PASS
The Blazers are second nationally in completion percentage at a .711 clip, while quarterback Sammy Edwards is third nationally at a .709 clip, on 146 of 206 passing (.709) with 15 touchdowns and seven interceptions for 2,061 yards.  Edwards and the Blazers are sixth nationally in passing offense at 310.4 yards per game, while he is tenth nationally in completions per game (20.86) to lead the GSC.  Edwards is eighth nationally in passing efficiency (172.1) for second in the league, while leading the GSC in passing yards (2,061) for sixth nationally and passing yards per game at a 294.4 clip also good for sixth nationally. 
 
GETTING THE BOOT 
VSU is seventh nationally in net punting at a 39.14 clip, while freshman punter Noah Botsford has punted 21 times for a 39.3 average and a long of 51 with seven inside the 20, eight fair catches and no touchbacks.  
 
A FOR ALLEN
VSU junior Council Allen had a season-high ten receptions last Saturday at Mississippi College.  The ten receptions were most by any Blazer this season and the most in head coach Tremaine Jackson's coaching history.  Allen leads the team with 31 catches for 378 yards and three touchdowns this season.  Allen is second in the GSC in receiving yards per game at a 63.0 clip. 
 
WILLIAMS WITH THE RETURN
Junior Xavier Williams is second in the GSC in kick returns at a 25.2 clip for 22nd nationally, while Williams leads the GSC in yards per reception at 22.79 for eighth nationally.  He has 12 kick returns for 303 yards this season, while he has 14 catches for 319 yards and two touchdowns.  
 
GOOD ON THIRD
The Blazers are 12th nationally in 3rd down conversions at a .500 clip for second in the GSC, while the defense is 30th nationally and tops in the GSC on fourth down conversion defense, holding teams to a .333 clip on 4 of 12.  Last week, VSU held MC to 1 of 4 on fourth down.
 
GETTING THE PICK 
MC had only thrown one interception this season for fifth nationally and tops in the league.  The week before, Delta State had thrown one interception through five games and the Blazers tallied to picks from junior Kyle Cass.  Cass then tallied his third interception of the season at MC last week.  Cass is 21st nationally in interceptions per game for second in the GSC.  His three picks are tied for second in the GSC this season.  Malik Jones of Delta State leads the league with four INTs.  
 
THIELE MOVES UP TO SEVENTH IN SCORING
VSU junior kicker Estin Thiele is 27 points from sixth all-time (Seth McGill, 2018-22) with 276 points.  Thiele has 249 points for his VSU career and is seventh all-time in scoring at VSU.
 
SPREADING THE WEALTH
Junior quarterback Sammy Edwards has been great this season at distributing the ball to different receivers.  Last week against Mississippi College, he found seven receivers for catches, while the week prior it was ten receivers against Delta State (Oct. 7) and at Chowan (Sept. 30), he connected with nine different receivers.  He found seven versus North Greenville (9/23), nine versus Keiser (9/16), seven at Albany State (9/9) and a season-high 11 in the season-opener versus Point (9/2). 
 
WITH THE BLOCK
The Blazers have blocked two kicks this season for 48th nationally and tied for first in the GSC.  Redshirt freshman defensive back Theron Stroops had a blocked kick against Keiser, while junior defensive lineman J'Quan Hicks had a blocked kick against Chowan on Sept. 30.
 
A VICTORY OVER SHORTER WOULD . . .

Give VSU its fourth win (3-1) of the season during the day and 21st (20-5) since 2018