SETTING THE SCENE
The Valdosta State football team (2-3) travels to Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) member The Citadel (2-3) for a 2 p.m. kickoff Saturday at Johnson Hagood Stadium (11,427).  This marks the first time VSU has played a Division I foe since a 45-17 win at Florida Atlantic on Sept. 6, 2003, in Boca Raton, Fla. 
 
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. Home games this season will be broadcast on FloCollege with Dave Garner and Taylor Biddle having the call.  Fans can access links to the radio broadcast and video broadcast at vstateblazers.com on the football schedule page.
 
HOW TO WATCH
Saturday's game will be broadcast on ESPN+ with Dave Weinstein and Vad Lee calling the game and Matison Little on the sideline.  Blazer fans will have to subscribe to ESPN+ to be able to watch the game.
 
WHAT'S AT STAKE
Both teams are looking to get back to .500 with a win this weekend.  The Blazers are coming off a disappointing 32-25 loss to Lenoir-Rhyne last Saturday, while The Citadel had a bye week last week and won at Chattanooga 28-10 on Sept. 27 to improve to 2-1 in Southern Conference play.  
 
BLAZERS VERSUS DIVISION I
The Blazers are 1-3 all-time against Division I foes as the aforementioned win at FAU in 2003 was the last time against a D1.  VSU also played at Georgia Southern in 1997 (L, 45-26), at UTEP in 1995 (L, 34-24) and at East Tennessee State in 1990 (L, 37-22).  
 
NEW BLAZER MOBILE APP
Valdosta State Athletics in partnership with Renasant Bank is thrilled to announce the official launch of the Blazer Athletics Mobile App, available for free on iOS and Android devices via the App Store and Google Play Store.  The new Valdosta State Blazers Athletic App integrates news, team information, gameday notifications gameday notifications for all Blazer athletic events both home and away and schedules, as well as ways to purchase VSU tickets and apparel.  The Valdosta State App offers a user-friendly interface with easy access to many services and features.  Check vstateblazers.com for more information on the new Mobile App.

SEEING CAROLINA
Saturday marks the fifth-straight game against a team from either North or South Carolina.  VSU played its last four games in a row against teams from North Carolina and now will play The Citadel and Oct. 25 against North Greenville for two games against teams from the Palmetto State.  The Blazers are 12-1 all-time against teams from South Carolina and are 5-1 in home games and 7-0 in road games.  VSU is 6-0 against North Greenville, while going 4-1 against Newberry and 1-0 against both Limestone and Erskine.
 
OUT IN THE SUN
This season, the Blazers play all day games through the regular season with no game starting later than 4 p.m. local time.  Traditionally, the Blazers have had a mix of day and evening/night games, but this is the first season in program history with no night games planned for the regular season.
 
COACH GRAHAM CRAIG SHOW
Following each game this season, The Coach Graham Craig Show will feature the head coach along with select players as they dissect the game both home and away.  Check back with vstateblazers.com and on the Blazer social media channels each Sunday evening for the newest edition of The Coach Graham Craig Show. 
 
ROLADER AND PERKINS EARN WEEKLY HONORS
Blazer redshirt freshman running back Ostin Perkins and freshman kicker Matt Rolader were named GSC Freshman and Special Teams Players of the Week, respectively, the league office announced this week.  Perkins, a native of Havana, Fla., led the Blazers on the ground on Saturday with 53 yards rushing and a touchdown on 13 carries.   This marked his first GSC weekly honor of the season and second Freshman of the Week accolade for VSU as Rolader was named Freshman of the Week on Sept. 1. Rolader, an Auburn, Ala., native, was responsible for eight points for VSU on Saturday as he converted two field goals and two extra-points.  For the season, Rolader leads the team with 26 points as he has converted four field goals in 2025 and 14 of 15 in extra-points.
 
RICH TRADITION OF BLAZER FOOTBALL
Since football began in 1982 at Valdosta State, there has been an outstanding lineage of coaches who have come through Titletown. Beginning in 1992, Hal Mumme took over the Blazer program and was off and running in in 1994 with the program's first playoff berths in both 1994 and 1996. Under Mumme, who is considered the founder of the air raid offense had a fantastic coaching tree. Among the coaches under Mumme who came to Title- town are; the late Mike Leach (Texas Tech, Washington State and Mississippi State), current Nebraska offensive coordinator Dana Holgorsen (West Virginia, Houston), Guy Morriss (Kentucky, Baylor, East Texas A&M), current Samford head coach Chris Hatcher (also Blazer head coach), along with current Samford offensive line coach Shawn Bostick. Both Hatcher and Bostick played at VSU. Hatcher then took over as head coach at VSU in 2000. On is inaugural coaching staff were Bostick, current University of Georgia head coach Kirby Smart, along with current Georgia analyst Will Muschamp, who also served as head coach at Florida and South Carolina. In addition, former Blazer head coach and two-time Blazer national champion David Dean served on Hatcher's staff. Dean also coached at Georgia Southwestern and West Georgia and now is the head coach of Lanier County High School in Georgia. He is the only Blazer head football coach to win two national titles in 2007 and 2012. On January 10, 2020, Leach became the third former Blazer assistant football coach to be named then-current head coach at a Southeastern Conference school. (Leach, Mississippi State), Smart (Georgia) and Muschamp (South Carolina). Former Blazer head coach Kerwin Bell, who won the national title in 2018 for VSU, now is the head coach at Western Carolina. Along with the coaches listed above, some other notable coaches who have come through Valdosta include; Buster Faulkner (Georgia Tech), Seth Wallace (Iowa), Doug Belk (USC), Joe Cauthen (Memphis), Danny Verpaele (Army), Kerry Webb (Western Carolina), Kade Bell (Pittsburgh) and Jeremy Darveau (Pittsburgh), to name a few.
 
A WIN OVER THE CITADEL WOULD . . . 

• Give VSU a 3-3 record this season
• Give VSU a 2-3 record all-time against Division I institutions and be the second-straight win against a D1
• Be the 349th victory in school history (348-141-4)
• Give VSU a 13-1 record against teams from South Carolina and an 8-0 record in the State of South Carolina
• Give head coach Graham Craig a 3-3 record in his first season as a head coach
• Snap a two-game losing skid as VSU has not lost three-straight games since losing four-straight in 2022