SETTING THE SCENE
The top-ranked Valdosta State football team returns from its bye week to open the final month of the regular season at home versus Chowan University.  The Blazers are 7-0 overall and 3-0 in Gulf South Conference play, while Chowan is 2-5 overall and 1-3 in league play.  
 
RECAPPING HOMECOMING
The Blazers last played on Oct. 19, for Homecoming 2024 with a 35-10 victory over Mississippi College.  Against the Choctaws, the Blazers scored on their opening drive and raced out to a 21-0 lead through the first quarter and change en route to the victory. VSU amassed 480 yards of offense for the game and held MC to just 261 yards, including 38 yards passing.  Senior quarterback Sammy Edwards was 20 of 30 passing for 289 yards and four passing touchdowns.  MC held VSU scoreless in the fourth quarter, marking the first quarter all season the Blazers had not scored.  The Blazers improved to 36-6 all-time on Homecoming with the win.  
 
HOME SWEET HOME
It has been a bit of a whirlwind for the Blazer football team this season with Hurricane Helene.  VSU was supposed to play West Alabama on Sept. 28, but was cancelled due to the hurricane.  VSU then spent the following week in Atlanta prior to the Shorter game (Oct. 5) and then back to more of a normal schedule last week before playing at North Greenville on Oct. 12.  This will be the fourth home game for VSU this season as VSU defeated Albany State 42-10 on Aug. 31 and Fayetteville State 34-0 on Sept. 14.  VSU is 33-7 since 2018 at home and are 186-59-1 all-time in home games, while going 177-55-1 at Bazemore-Hyder Stadium.  
 
CALLING THE GAME
TALK 92.1 FM will broadcast the Blazer games all season long, both home and away, with Wade Beale and Scott James having the call on the radio, while Dave Garner and Taylor Biddle will provide the broadcast on FloSports.  Fans can access links to the radio broadcast and video broadcast at vstateblazers.com on the football schedule page.
 
WATCH ON FLOSPORTS
All VSU home and GSC road football games, along with the game Saturday at Newberry, will be broadcast on FloSports once again this season.  For fans eager to watch fall sports, subscribe to pay $14.99 per month or $99.99 per year ($8.33/month). Additionally, those who use a .edu email from a GSC member institution will be able to sign up at a discounted subscription price of $9.99 per month or $69.99 for the year ($5.83/month). The negotiated promotional pricing for GSC fans will be available on the landing page. Fans choosing to sign up via other links or pages may not receive the full benefit of promotional pricing. As part of their subscription, fans receive access to all FloSports verticals. Subscriptions can be canceled at any time.
 
NO INTS
Senior quarterback Sammy Edwards' 20 of 30 passing with no interceptions against Mississippi College gave him 190 pass attempts this season without an interception as he set the GSC-record for consecutive pass attempts without an interception against North Greenville.  The Blazers have not thrown an interception as a team this season as they are one of three teams in the country who have not thrown an interception this season (Southern Connecticut State and Harding).  Edwards and SCSU quarterback Keith Ridley are the only starting quarterbacks in the country to not have thrown an interception as Ridley is 154 of 242 passing this season.  Edwards is 129 of 190 with 18 touchdowns and 1,883 yards.  Harding is a triple option team and only has attempted 49 passes this season.  The NCAA Division II record for consecutive pass attempts without an interception is 280 set by Jesse Showerda of New Haven in 1996 in ten games.  
 
INSIDE THE SERIES WITH CHOWAN
This is only the second meeting in series history with the Hawks.  VSU won 51-36 on Sept. 30, 2023, in Murfreesboro, N.C.  VSU scored 21 points in the first quarter and held a 20-9 lead, only to see Chowan put up 20 in the second quarter as VSU held a slim 31-29 lead at intermission.  VSU used a strong fourth quarter, scoring 13 points and holding the Hawks scoreless in the final stanza for the win.  Edwards went 20 of 29 passing for 393 yards and six touchdowns and one interception in the game as he tossed touchdown passes to five different receivers.  
 
THIS WEEK IN THE GSC
In looking at Week Nine in the GSC, there are three games as North Greenville visits #15 West Alabama, while West Florida visits Erskine and Chowan at VSU.  Delta State and Mississippi College have the week off.  Entering the final month, VSU holds a half game lead over West Alabama, West Florida and North Greenville who all are 3-1 in league play.  Delta State is 2-2, while Chowan is 1-3 and Mississippi College is 1-5.  Erskine is looking for its first league win at 0-3.  
 
ALPHABETICAL NCAA RANKINGS
The Blazers are one of ten teams from Super Region Two under consideration in the first NCAA region rankings, which were released this week.  Along with the Blazers, West Alabama is the only other GSC team in the initial rankings.  Carson-Newman, Emory & Henry, Johnson C. Smith, Lenoir-Rhyne, Miles, Virginia Union, Wingate and Winston-Salem State round out the teams in the poll.  The first rankings in numerical order are scheduled to be released next Monday with one final ranking the following Monday, prior to the NCAA Division II Football Championship Selection Show scheduled for Sunday, Nov. 17 in the evening.  
 
BACK ON TOP
VSU returned to the top of the AFCA Top 25 this week, marking the first time the Blazers have been ranked first in the poll since Nov. 18, 2019.  Ferris State (Mich.) who had a huge 34-7 victory over then-No. 1 Grand Valley State on Saturday, dropping the Lakers from the ranks of the unbeatens.  Ouachita Baptist, who defended then-No. 1 Harding the week before last, moved to third, followed by Kutztown and Pittsburg State rounds out the top five after its 35-21 win over previously undefeated then-No. 9 Central Oklahoma last Saturday.  Harding sits sixth, followed by Grand Valley State, Western Colorado, Charleston and Colorado State-Pueblo rounds out the top ten.  VSU, Ouachita Baptist, Kutztown, Western Colorado and Charleston remain undefeated among teams in the top ten, while Johnson C. Smith is undefeated at 16th.  Lenoir-Rhyne sits 12th among teams ranked in Super Region Two, while West Alabama is 15th and aforementioned Johnson C. Smith is 16th, while West Florida is 21st and Carson-Newman, who suffered its first loss on Saturday fell from 17th to 24th.  Emory & Henry, Wingate, Virginia Union, Delta State and Miles all are among others receiving votes.  The Blazers are 20-7 all-time as the top-ranked team and 17-4 in Valdosta.  VSU was upset 38-35 by West Florida on Nov. 30, 2019, in its last game as the top team in the second round of the NCAA postseason tournament.  Prior to the loss, VSU had won ten-straight as the top-ranked team.
 
NO SHUTOUTS
The Blazers lead all of NCAA Division II with 385 consecutive games without being shutout dating back to a 12-0 loss to Central Florida on Sept. 14, 1991.  VSU only has been shut out five times in program history.  Grand Valley is just behind the Blazers at over 370 games without being shutout.
 
A HISTORY OF SUCCESS
The Blazers have had an outstanding 41+ years of football since the program began in 1982.  The Blazers have the second-highest winning percentage all-time in NCAA Division II with a 340-137-4 record (.714) behind Grand Valley State (445-149-3) with a .746 clip.  VSU went 88-27 from 2010-2019 for a .765 average which is good for eighth in NCAA Division II for the decade and tenth in overall wins.  The Blazers then went 104-20 (.839) from 2000-2009 for the fourth-highest winning percentage and overall wins for that decade. Since 2000, the Blazers are 228-77 overall.
 
EDWARDS MOVING UP THE CHARTS
This season, Edwards has been moving up the career charts at VSU as he is now seventh all-time in career passing yards at 6,115 while he is seventh all-time in career touchdowns with 52 and he is sixth in career total offense with 6,500 yards.  Edwards is eighth all-time in completions with 458 on 686 attempts for a .667 percentage for his career.  
 
A VICTORY OVER CHOWAN WOULD . . .

 
UP NEXT
The Blazers travel to Delta State on Nov. 9 for a 3 p.m. ET matchup, before returning home to close the regular season on Nov. 16 for Senior Day at 7 p.m. versus West Florida.