SETTING THE SCENE
The No. 5/6 Valdosta State football team returns home to host Fayetteville State Saturday evening for Family Weekend at Bazemore-Hyder Stadium.  This is the first meeting between the two teams on the gridiron.  The Blazers enter at 2-0 on the year after a 42-10 win over Albany State in Week Zero and a 27-14 win last week at Newberry.  FSU battled back from a 21-13 deficit last week at halftime, scoring 15-unanswered points in the second half and trailed again, before scoring a touchdown with 17 seconds remaining in a 35-31 win over UNC Pembroke in the season-opener for the Broncos last week.    
 
CALLING THE GAME
TALK 92.1 FM will broadcast the Blazer games all season long with Wade Beale and Scott James having the call.  The game also will be streamed live on FloSports with Dave Garner and Taylor Biddle providing the call of the game.  Fans can access links to the radio broadcast and video broadcast at vstateblazers.com on the football schedule page.
 
HOW TO PURCHASE TICKETS
Season tickets and 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.
 
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.
 
INSIDE THE SERIES WITH FAYETTEVILLE STATE
This is the first meeting in series history with Fayetteville State, but the Blazers are no strangers to the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA).  The Blazers are 6-1 all-time against current CIAA teams, going 3-0 against Winston-Salem State, 2-0 against Bowie State and 1-1 against Virginia Union.  VSU's last game against a CIAA team came in a 45-40 home loss to Virginia Union on Sept. 10, 2022.    
 
FSU HEAD COACH RICHARD HAYES FAMILIAR WITH THE BLAZERS
Fayetteville State head coach Richard Hayes is quite familiar with Valdosta State as he was as assistant coach at Winston-Salem State in 2012 when VSU defeated WSSU in the national championship game.  Hayes is 50-25 in his ninth season at the helm of the Broncos as he has guided the team to eight or more wins each of the past four playing seasons dating back to 2019.  
 
ABOUT FAYETTEVILLE STATE
The Broncos enter with a 1-0 record on the season after the win versus UNCP as FSU had a strong running game with 168 yards on the ground and 69 yards with two scores by quarterback Demari Daniels on the ground. FSU uses a two quarterback system with Daniels and Joe Owens.  Owens had eight completions for 119 yards, while standout wide receiver David Baros has six catches for 116 yards.  Defensively Shi Gaskin who earned CIAA Defensive Player of the Week honors had nine total tackles, four TFLs and two sacks.  DE Shawn Robinson had seven tackles and a sack.  John Hernandez-Vargas was named CIAA Special Teams Player of the Week with two field goals and made three extra-points.  Teammate Theniias Moss had a blocked punt returned for a touchdown last week.  Head coach Richard Hayes has guided the Broncos to six CIAA Championship Game appearances and one title (2022), while he was named CIAA Coach of the Year in 2018.  Last season, the Broncos went 8-3 and a perfect 8-0 in CIAA play, losing to Virginia Union 21-10 in the conference title game.
 
THIS WEEK IN THE GSC
It's Week 3 in the GSC as North Greenville travels to FCS member The Citadel, while, Elizabeth City State heads to Erskine and Delta State travels to Wingate.  Barton travels to Chowan, while Texas A&M-Kingsville visits Mississippi College and Limestone travels to West Alabama.  VSU versus Fayetteville State is one of two GSC vs. CIAA matchups this weekend.  The GSC is 8-4 this season in non-conference games this season.  The VSU/FSU matchup, the Elizabeth City State vs. Erskine this week and Chowan versus Elizabeth City State in Week One are the only GSC/CIAA matchups this season.  Elizabeth City State defeated Chowan 12-9 last weekend.  
 
TEN THINGS FROM NEWBERRY

 
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 335-137-4 record (.707) behind Grand Valley State (441-148-3) with a .747 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 223-77 overall.
 
NO SHUTOUTS
The Blazers lead all of NCAA Division II with 379 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 366 games without being shutout.
 
SOPHOMORE TURNAROUND
The Blazers won 5.5 more games in 2023 than in Tremaine Jackson's first year as head coach VSU went 5-6 in 2022.  Jackson finished 12-2 in 2023 and 7-1 in GSC play last year.  The 5.5 game improvement was third-best in all of NCAA Division II.  Central Missouri and Miles each led the way with a six-game improvement.
 
A VICTORY OVER FAYETTEVILLE STATE WOULD . . .

 
UP NEXT
The Blazers return to the Palmetto State for the second time this season as they open Gulf South Conference play with league-newcomer Erskine in Greenwood, S.C., on Sept. 21 at 4 p.m.  The Blazers and the Flying Fleet have never met on the gridiron.