SETTING THE SCENE
The top-ranked Valdosta State football team (8-0, 4-0 GSC) looks to continue its quest for an undefeated regular season and an outright Gulf South Conference title with a 3 p.m. ET kick at rival Delta State.  The Statesmen, who are 5-3 overall and 2-2 in GSC play, host the Blazers for Homecoming and Senior Day.  The teams split two meetings last season with Delta State winning in Valdosta during the regular season, while VSU won in Cleveland, Miss., in the second round of the NCAA postseason, 38-31.  
 
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.  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 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.
 
INSIDE THE SERIES WITH DELTA STATE
Delta State is the only current GSC team to have a winning record all-time against the Blazers.  DSU leads the series 22-20-1.  Blazer head coach Tremaine Jackson is 1-2 against Delta State, while Statesmen head coach Todd Cooley is 4-7 against the Blazers.  Delta State's win last season in Valdosta marked the first time the Statesmen had won there in four tries.  VSU is 11-11-1 in Cleveland, Miss., while the Blazers are 9-11 in Valdosta.  
 
RECAPPING THE CHOWAN GAME
Following its bye week, VSU football return to the field on Nov. 2 for a 3 p.m. kick with Chowan University.  Despite a slow start, VSU scored 52 points over the final three frames for a 52-0 victory and a school-record third shutout in a season.  Entering the second quarter of the game last Saturday, VSU had not scored in two consecutive quarters for the first time all season dating back to the final frame against Mississippi College on Oct. 19.  Moreover, those two quarters are the only quarters all season VSU has not scored.  For last Saturday's contest, VSU tallied a season-high 339 yards on the ground on 31 attempts for a staggering 10.9 average per run and rushed for five touchdowns.  VSU tallied 573 yards of offense in the game marking the fourth time of over 500 yards of offense in a game this season.  The Blazer "D" held Chowan to 292 yards of offense, marking the sixth time of allowing under 300 yards this season. Individually, Blazer quarterback Sammy Edwards went 14 of 20 passing for 225 yards, two touchdowns and threw his first interception in 195 pass attempts. Despite the pick, Edwards set the school and GSC record this season for consecutive pass attempts without an interception with the previous record being 170 set by former Blazer Chris Hatcher.  Along with Edwards, graduate student running back Blake Hester ran for 121 yards on 12 carries and three rushing scores, marking the second time he has rushed for three touchdowns in a game this season (Fayetteville State, Sept. 14).    Graduate student Alfonso Franklin also went over 100 yards on the ground with six carries for 116 yards and a score.  Graduate student Rodney Bullard had two receptions for 87 yards and a 69-yard touchdown reception.  Defensively, the Blazers turned Chowan over four times with two interceptions and two fumble recoveries, while registering two sacks and eight tackles for loss in the game.
 
IN THE REGION RANKINGS
The Blazers were third in the first true super region rankings released Monday by the NCAA for the NCAA postseason.  Wingate held the top spot in Super Region Two, followed by West Alabama, VSU, Johnson C. Smith and Carson-Newman rounds out the top five.  Virginia Union sits sixth, followed by Winston-Salem State, Lenoir-Rhyne, Miles and West Florida is tenth.  There will be one more public ranking on Monday, followed by the official announcement of the NCAA postseason on Sunday, Nov. 17 in the evening and streamed live on NCAA.com.
 
BLANKING BLAZERS
The Blazers registered their third shutout of the season in the 52-0 win over Chowan on Saturday.  It marked the first time in program history the Blazers have had three shutouts in the same season.  It also was the 29th shutout in program history.  On the other end of the spectrum, the Blazers have not been shutout 386 games dating back to a 12-0 loss to Central Florida on Sept. 14, 1991, for the longest consecutive streak of no shutouts in NCAA Division II.  
 
THIS WEEK IN THE GSC
In looking at Week Ten in the GSC, there are five games beginning with No. 12 West Alabama at Shorter, Northeastern State plays a non-conference game at Mississippi College, while Erskine visits Chowan. Top-ranked Valdosta State travels to Delta State and North Greenville visits No. 17 West Florida.  VSU has a half game lead on West Alabama and West Florida in the league standings and can win the league outright if it wins its final two games at Delta State and home against West Florida next Saturday.
 
ROCKIN' RUNNING GAME
The Blazers registered a season-high 339 yards on the ground on Saturday versus Chowan on 31 carries for a staggering 10.9 average per carry.  Graduate students Blake Hester and Alfonso Franklin, each had over 100 yards on the ground.  Hester finished with 12 carries for 121 yards and three touchdowns, while Franklin had 116 yards on just six carries and a touchdown.  VSU amassed five rushing touchdowns for the game marking the third time this season of rushing for five touchdowns.  The Blazers have 25 rushing touchdowns which are good for ninth-most all-time in program history.  
 
AS THE #1
VSU is 30-7 all-time as the No. 1 team in the country. VSU is 18-4 at home as the top team, while it is 10-3 on the road and 2-0 in neutral site games.  VSU, however, is 0-2 against Delta State as the No. 1 team with a 34-28 loss in Cleveland, Miss., in 1996 and a 27-24 overtime loss in 2008 in Valdosta. 
 
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 341-137-4 record (.714) behind Grand Valley State (446-149-3) 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 229-77 overall.
 
EDWARDS MOVING UP THE CHARTS
This season, Edwards has been moving up the career charts at VSU as he is now sixth all-time in career passing yards at 6,452 while he is seventh all-time in career touchdowns with 54 and he is sixth in career total offense with 6,893 yards.  Edwards is seventh all-time in completions with 477 on 715 attempts for a .667 percentage for his career.  Edwards is 20-2 all-time as a starting quarterback for the Blazers.
 
HIGH OCTANE OFFENSE
The Blazers are fifth nationally in scoring offense at 44.3 points per game to lead the league. VSU has scored 354 points in eight games this season and has scored 40 or more points three times, 50 or more points three times and a school-record 73 points on Sept. 21 at Erskine.  The Blazers have scored 47 touchdowns this season with 21 through the air and 25 on the ground, along with one defensive touchdown.  Moreover, the team is seventh nationally in total offense at 487.9 yards per game to lead the league, while it is 14th nationally in rushing offense at 206.1 yards per game for tops in the league and 12th nationally in passing offense at 281.8 yards per game through the air for tops in the conference.  The Blazers are third nationally in passing efficiency at a 177.19 clip.  
 
BLACK SWARM DEFENSE
Not only have the Blazers been stout on offense, but also defensively as they are third nationally in scoring defense at just 8.0 points allowed per game, while they are eighth nationally in total defense, holding teams to just 236.5yards per game for tops in the league.  Teams are averaging just 110.5 yards per game on the ground on the Blazers for third in the league, while the opposition averages just 126.0 yards per game through the air for third nationally.   VSU is 24th nationally in 3rd down conversion percentage defense, holding teams to a .308 clip on 33 of 107, while the opposition is 4 of 12 on fourth down for 17th nationally at a .333 clip. The Blazers are 19th nationally in sacks per game at 2.88 for third in the league and are 11th nationally in tackles for loss per game at an 8.5 clip also third in the league.  Teams have a passing efficiency of 101.98 against VSU for 19th nationally and second in the league.    
 
PIVOTAL DOWNS
Just as successful as the Blazers are on third and fourth down defense, they are equally the same on offense as the team is fourth nationally in 3rd down conversion percentage at a .583 clip on 49 of 91, while the team is fourth nationally and tops in the league in 4th down conversions at a .778 clip on 7 of 9.  
 
IN THE ZONE
The Blazers are 26th nationally in both red zone offense and red zone defense and second in the GSC in both.  The Blazers have an 0.864 clip on in red zone offense on 38 of 44 trips and 30 of 44 touchdowns, while the defense is holding teams to 9 of 13 in the red zone for a 0.692 clip.  The opposition has scored just four touchdowns in 13 trips in the red zone.
 
GETTING THE FIRST
This season VSU is 25th nationally in first down offense with 194 to lead the league, while they are sixth nationally in first down defense allowing 111 for second in the GSC.
 
EARLY RETURNS
The Blazers are fourth nationally in kick returns at a 28.00 clip to lead the league, while they are second in the GSC in punt returns at a 7.86 clip.  Senior Alfonso Franklin is 19th nationally in kickoff returns averaging 28.6 yards per return this season, with ten returns for 286 yards, while sophomore Ethan Nation has 12 punt returns for 107 yards and an 8.92 clip.  
 
SLINGIN' SAMMY
Quarterback Sammy Edwards has had another outstanding season as he is 8-0 this year and 20-2 as a starter for his career.  Edwards is eighth nationally in competition percentage at a 0.681 clip for tops in the GSC on 143 of 210 passing with 20 touchdowns, one interception with 2,108 yards.  Edwards has a passing efficiency of 182.9 for second nationally and tops in the league.  Edwards' 20 TD passes puts him 14th nationally and tops in the league, while he is 19th nationally in passing yards (2,108) and 12th in passing yards per game at a 263.5 clip.  He is 15th nationally and second in the league in passing yards per completion (14.74) and 13th in total offense at a 278.9 clip for tops in the GSC.  Edwards is fourth nationally in yards per pass attempt at a 10.04 clip.  Edwards set the GSC record against Chowan with 195 pass attempts before an interception as former Blazer Chris Hatcher previously had the record with 177 pass attempts without a pick.  Edwards is 15th nationally in points responsible for with 144 points to lead the league.  He is sixth all-time in career passing yards with 6,452, while he has thrown 54 career touchdown passes for seventh all-time and his 477 completions puts him seventh all-time in school history.  Edwards is sixth all-time in total offense with 6,893 yards on 858 plays.   
  
A VICTORY OVER DELTA STATE WOULD . . .

 
D2FOOTBALL.COM WEEKLY PICKS
Cory Guinn of D2Football.com made his Week ten picks as he has the Blazers defeating Delta State, while picking West Alabama over Shorter, Mississippi College over Northeastern State, Chowan over Erskine and North Greenville with the upset of West Florida on the road. 
 
JACKSON NAMED TO NCAA FOOTBALL RULES COMMITTEE
Blazer head football coach Tremaine Jackson was named to the NCAA Football Rules Committee serving until Aug. 31, 2028.  
 
COACH TREMAINE JACKSON POSTGAME SHOW
The Coach Tremaine Jackson Postgame Show will be available each Sunday at vstateblazers.com on the football page throughout the season as it will include interviews from Jackson, select players and highlights from the previous game.  Scott James and Dave Garner host the show throughout the season and Jamie Abbott of Crashandannie Productions directs and produces the show. 
 
UP NEXT
The Blazers return home to close out the 2024 regular season on Saturday, Nov. 16 at 7 p.m. at Bazemore-Hyder Stadium versus West Florida.