SETTING THE SCENE
The No. 22 Valdosta State Blazers return home to host No. 8 Delta State Saturday afternoon at 2 p.m. at Bazemore-Hyder Stadium.  The game is the first game against a ranked D2 foe this season for the Blazers, as both teams are undefeated overall and in league play.  Both enter with 5-0 records, while Delta State is 3-0 in league play and VSU is 2-0 in the GSC. 
 
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 12:15 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.
 
WEAR PINK
Blazer fans are encouraged to wear pink to the game on Saturday for Breast Cancer Awareness Game. 
 
AND THEN THERE WERE 19
Both Valdosta State and Delta State are the only remaining teams in the Gulf South Conference with an undefeated record and are two of 19 remaining teams unblemished in NCAA Division II.  VSU has won its last six games dating back to last season for the longest current winning streak in the GSC and tied for fifth-most currently in Division II.  Delta State has won five-straight games as the Statesmen are tied for eighth.  
 
RECAPPING CHOWAN
The Blazers made their first trip to North Carolina since 2014 on Saturday in a 51-36 victory over GSC-newcomer Chowan in Murfreesboro, N.C.  The Blazers raced out to a 21-7 lead through the first quarter, only to see Chowan erase the deficit in the second quarter and regain the lead.  The Blazers used a touchdown with one minute left in the half to regain the lead at 31-29 at intermission.  Chowan regained the lead, once again in the third quarter, but the Blazers responded for a 38-36 lead through three frames and outscored the Hawks 13-0 in the fourth quarter.  Junior quarterback Sammy Edwards threw for a career-high six touchdown passes and 393 yards on 20 of 29 passing with one interception.  Junior Council Allen had four receptions for a team-high 118 yards and two receiving touchdowns in the game, while Edwards threw to nine different receivers and five different receivers caught touchdown passes.  VSU improved to 14-3 all-time against teams from North Carolina and improved to 5-0 in games played in the Tar Heel State.  On Saturday, VSU tallied 487 yards of total offense, including 397 through the air and 94 on the ground.  Chowan (0-5, 0-3 GSC) finished with 456 yards of offense with 327 through the air and 127 on the ground.   VSU held the ball for a season-low just 21:17 minutes as the team was scoring quickly throughout.  The game saw seven lead changes.  The Blazers were a season-low 2 of 7 on third down, while CU was 8 of 15, which kept the Hawks in the game. 
 
INSIDE THE SERIES WITH DELTA STATE
The Statesmen have been one of the most dominant teams in Division II this season, but this will arguably be their toughest test to date.  VSU has won the last three meetings in the series in Valdosta, including a 55-0 victory in 2021 on Oct. 9, that began with a 96-yard kickoff return to begin the game for VSU.  DSU leads the all-time series in Valdosta, 10-9 and 11-10-1 in Cleveland, Miss.  The Blazers have won four of the last five meetings in the series and seven of ten.  DSU's last win in Titletown came on Sept. 20, 2014, in a 49-32 decision.  Last season, DSU won by its largest margin in the series in Cleveland, Miss., 70-31 on Oct. 1, 2022, snapping the Blazers' six-game winning streak in the series.  Delta State is the only current GSC opponent the Blazers have a losing record against.  
 
NATIONAL COMPARISON SNAPSHOT

 
WHERE THEY STAND IN INDIVIDUALLY THE GSC 
Both Delta State and Valdosta State have outstanding players who are leading the way in the GSC this season.      

THIS WEEK IN THE TOP 25
The Blazers moved up three spots to No. 19 in the latest AFCA Top 25.  Delta State is No. 8 in the land in the AFCA Top 25 as Saturday's matchup is one of two matchups featuring ranked versus ranked teams across all of NCAA Division II.  The other being No. 20 Emporia State (Kan.) at No. 3 Pittsburg State (Kan.).  Ferris State leads the top 25, followed by Colorado School of Mines at No. 3 and aforementioned Gorillas of Pittsburg State at No. 3.  Minnesota State is fourth, followed by Ouachita Baptist (Ark.) to round out the top five.  West Florida is sixth in the poll, while Delta State is eighth and VSU is 19th among teams ranked in the GSC.  For Super Region Two, Benedict is 11th, while Lenoir-Rhyne is 13th.  Virginia State, Virginia Union, Barton and Limestone all are among others receiving votes.  In the D2Football.com poll, the Blazers entered for the first time since the early part of the 2022 season, checking in at No. 25 this week.  
 
GOING FOR WINNING SEASON 33
The Blazers enter this game with a 5-0 record and have a chance to earn the 33rd winning season in the 41-year playing history of the program.  VSU has won 14 games in a season twice (2002, 2018) and has won double-digit games 16 times.   
 
FOR STREAKS
VSU enters the game with a six-game winning streak dating back to the final game of 2022 to tie for the fifth-longest current streak in Division II.  Delta State has won five-straight games and is tied for the eighth-longest streak.  Harding and Minnesota Duluth lead the way as thye have won their last nine games.  
 
FOR 70
Interesting note for the VSU vs. Delta State series with the number 70.  VSU posted a 70-12 victory over the Statesmen in Cleveland, Miss., on Oct. 6, 2001, while DSU won 70-31 last season also in Cleveland, Miss., on Oct. 1, 2022.  The 70 points scored by VSU and allowed the most for each in program history.  
 
PARKER EARNS STEEL'S JEWELRY PLAYER OF THE WEEK
VSU junior linebacker Kennedy Parker earned Steel's Jewelry Blazer Athlete of the Week honors after he had nine tackles, six solo stops and one tackle for loss last Saturday at Chowan.  He is the fifth different Blazer to earn the honor this season, joining graduate student Nick Jackson, graduate student B.K. Smith, junior Eric Watts and junior Sammy Edwards.
 
THIELE MOVES UP TO SEVENTH IN SCORING
VSU junior kicker Estin Thiele moved into seventh all-time in career scoring with nine points in the 51-36 victory at Chowan on Saturday.  Thiele made his first field goal of the season (1-2) from 44 yards and went 6 of 7 in extra-points to surpass former Blazer Jamar Thompkins (2018-22) with 241 career points.  Thiele is 35 points from sixth all-time (Seth McGill, 2018-22) with 276 points.  
 
IN DAY GAMES
The Blazers began a stretch of six-straight games last weekend of games beginning before 6 p.m. local time.  VSU is 2-0 this season in day games (63-10 vs. Point and 51-36 at Chowan) and will not have another night game until Nov. 11 versus West Georgia at Bazemore-Hyder Stadium.  Since 2018, VSU is 19-4 in day games.  VSU last played Delta State in a day game on Oct. 6, 2018, in Valdosta with a 59-28 victory.
 
ON GRASS
Saturday marked the second game of the season the Blazers have played on grass and moved to 2-0 on grass this season with the 51-36 victory at Chowan.  VSU also won 21-16 earlier this season at Albany State (Sept. 9) on grass.  Since 2018, the Blazers are 6-2 on grass.
 
AGAINST RANKED TEAMS
VSU is 69-64-2 all-time against ranked teams and are 59-33-1 all-time when both teams are ranked.  VSU is 34-14-1 at home when both teams are ranked, while it is  39-27-1 at home against ranked teams.
 
SPREADING THE WEALTH
Junior quarterback Sammy Edwards has been great this season at distributing the ball to different receivers.  Against Chowan last week, he connected with nine different receivers, while 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). Edwards is 97 of 140 passing (.693) with four interceptions and 15 touchdowns this season as he has completed at least one pass with 13 different receivers.
 
SAMMY AND THE 6 
Edwards threw a career-high six touchdown passes last week in the 51-36 victory at Chowan.  Edwards' six touchdowns went to five different receivers as he has 15 touchdown passes this season for for 15th nationally and second in the GSC behind Delta State's Patrick Shegog (16).
 
THIS WEEK IN THE GSC 
Conference play is in full swing and there are three undefeated teams in league play, including VSU (5-0, 2-0 GSC), West Florida (4-1, 2-0 GSC) and Delta State (5-0, 3-0 GSC), with both VSU and Delta State playing each other in the GSC Game of the Week.  This week, North Greenville (2-3, 1-3 GSC) travels to Chowan (0-5, 0-3 GSC), while Shorter (2-3, 1-2 GSC) visits West Florida and West Alabama (2-3, 1-2 GSC) travels to West Georgia (2-2, 1-1 GSC). 
 
WITH THE BLOCK
The Blazers have blocked two kicks this season for 30th 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 last Saturday
 
ABOUT DELTA STATE
The Statesmen enter as one of the top teams over the last year-plus in Division II with star quarterback Patrick Shegog under center.  Delta State ranks in the top ten nationally in third down conversions (8th / .529), kickoff returns (5th / 29.75), net punting (9th / 40.53), passes had intercepted (7th / 1), punt return defense (3rd / 0.00), scoring offense (8th / 45.6), total offense (9th / 469.2) and turnovers lost (6th / 3).  Shegog has accounted for 21 total touchdowns (16 passing and five rushing) and has not turned the ball over this season.  The DSU defense is allowing just 16.3 points per game and has ten takeaways this season.  Shegog leads the nation in passing efficiency at a 195.6 clip, while he is fourth in passing touchdowns (16) to lead the league and he leads the nation in points responsible for (126).   His five rushing scores ties him for tops in the GSC, while he is fifth nationally in pass yards per attempt (10.08).  Alfonso Franklin is ninth nationally in combined kick returns (378), while he is 16th nationally in kickoff returns at 29.1 per return for second in the league.  DSU had five players named to the GSC Preseason team, while it was picked to win the league.  Head coach Todd Cooley is 64-40 in his 11th year at Delta State.  He is 3-6 all-time against VSU.  
 
A+ FOR ALLEN
Junior wide receiver Council Allen had four catches for 118 yards and two touchdowns at Chowan on Saturday.  It marked the most yards receiving he has had in his VSU career and the most touchdowns in a game for his career.
 
SCORING FAST
This season, the Blazers have scored their opening drive of the game four times, including the last four games.  VSU could've started with touchdowns on each opening drive of the season, but were picked off at the goal line in the opener versus Point (9/2).  VSU has outscored the opposition 28-14 on opening drives this season.
 
ON THIS DATE
The Blazers are 3-2 all-time on Oct. 7 and are 2-1 in Valdosta on this date.  VSU last played on this date in a 42-13 loss at West Georgia in 2017, while Delta State won on Oct. 7 in 2000, in Valdosta with a 45-35 victory for the only meeting in the series on this date.   
 
NO SHUTOUTS
The Blazers lead the nation in the longest streak of not being shutout with 369 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.
 
A VICTORY OVER DELTA STATE UNIVERSITY WOULD . . .