SETTING THE SCENE
The Valdosta State football team (3-4) opens Gulf South Conference play Saturday at 1 p.m. at Bazemore-Hyder Stadium versus No. 21 West Alabama (5-2, 0-2 GSC).  This marks the first time the teams have played since Nov. 4, 2023, since last year's meeting, was cancelled due to Hurricane Helene.
 
MILITARY AND FIRST RESPONDERS GAME
Saturday's game against West Alabama is the Military and First Responders Game for VSU.  The Blazers would like to thank all Military and First Responders for their service.
 
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 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.
 
RECAPPING HOMECOMING 2025
The Blazers came out firing on all cylinders scoring on the opening drive against North Greenville as they snapped a three-game skid.  The opening drive score was the first for VSU on the initial possession since the first game of the season in the 31-28 win over Clark Atlanta on Aug. 30.  VSU freshman Shawn Paschall returned a kickoff 95 yards in the second quarter for a touchdown as VSU held a 14-10 lead at the time.  The momentum changed as VSU scored twice more for a 35-10 lead midway through the third quarter.  NGU scored late in the third quarter and late in the game for a 35-24 final margin as VSU improved to 7-0 all-time against NGU and 37-6 all-time on Homecoming.  VSU senior defensive lineman Mark Robinson had a game for the ages, registering nine total tackles, five solo stops, four tackles for loss for 18 yards on four sacks, one forced fumble and one fumble recovery.  Senior running back Eric Watts had two rushing scores, while junior Corey Reddick, Jr., scored on the opening drive from 32 yards out.    
 
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.

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.  VSU has not had a 1 p.m. regular season kick at home since Oct. 6, 2018, in a 59-28 win over Delta State.
 
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.  
 
INSIDE THE SERIES WITH WEST ALABAMA
The Blazers lead the all-time series with West Alabama 36-6 and won in the last meeting in Livingston, Ala., with a 20-14 win on Nov. 4, 2023.  VSU is 19-3 all-time against UWA at home, but the Tigers won 34-31 in the last meeting in Valdosta on Oct. 8, 2022, and won 38-14 in Valdosta on Nov. 4, 2017 for two victories out of the last three in Titletown.  VSU won 44-27 in Valdosta on Sept. 21, 2019.  The Blazers have won four of five and seven of ten. 
 
BATTLE OF FIRST YEAR HEAD COACHES
This marks the second-straight week of battle of first year head coaches VSU's head man is Graham Craig (3-4) who served as offensive coordinator last season for the national runner-up Blazers, while UWA's Scott Cochran (5-2) has had stops at Alabama, LSU and Georgia.  Last week, Craig bested first-year head coach Nate Garner who also is in his first year of coaching. 
 
AGAINST RANKED TEAMS
Saturday marks the first time the Blazers have faced a ranked team this season.  VSU is 74-67-2 all-time against ranked teams and 42-29-1 at home against ranked foes.  VSU is 11-31-1 all-time against ranked teams when it has not been ranked, and is 1-1 against West Alabama when the Blazers have not been ranked and the Tigers have.  VSU is 4-3 against UWA all-time when the Tigers have been ranked.  VSU's last win against a ranked team when it was not ranked came on Sept. 15, 2018, in a 58-24 win at West Alabama.  VSU has lost its last three games against ranked teams when it has been unranked.  
 
QUEST FOR ANOTHER GSC CHAMPIONSHIP
The Blazers need to win the three Gulf South Conference games over the next three weeks and they would win the Gulf South Conference title and earn a berth into the NCAA postseason playoffs.  VSU owns a league-record 11 GSC Titles and have won or shared five titles since 2018.  VSU is not in the initial alphabetical NCAA Super Region Two rankings which were released on Wednesday.  Delta State, West Alabama and West Florida were in the rankings.  Essentially to make the playoffs, the playoffs already have started for the Blazers.
 
ROBINSON NAMED D2FOOTBALL.COM PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Senior defensive lineman Mark Robinson had a day at the office last Saturday, registering five solo tackles, four assisted tackles, four tackles for loss for 18 yards on a career-high four sacks, one forced fumble and one fumble recovery along with one quarterback hurry in a 35-24 win over North Greenville.  Robinson earned Co-Gulf South Conference Defensive Player of the Week honors as well.  Robinson's four sacks tied for the most in program history in a single game for the third time and first since 1997.  It also tied for fourth-most all-time in Gulf South Conference history.  VSU sacked NGU quarterback Dylan Ramirez seven times as a team, while Robinson's four sacks tied the Bazemore-Hyder Stadium record for the third time as the last was Tyler Josey of VSU on Nov. 1, 2012, versus Texas A&M-Kingsville.
 
PASCHALL NAMED GSC FRESHMAN AND SPECIAL TEAMS PLAYER OF THE WEEK 
Freshman running back Shawn Paschall continued to impress this season as he earned GSC Freshman of the Week honors for the second time and earned GSC Special Teams honors for the first time.  Paschall electrified the crowd last Saturday with a 95-yard kickoff return for a touchdown giving VSU a 21-10 lead in the second quarter in the 35-24 win over North Greenville.  The ironic part of the return is NGU was called for offsides on the initial kick and had to kick it again and that's when Paschall showed his heroics with the return.  It really changed the momentum of the game as NGU had pulled within 14-10 moments earlier.  VSU would rattle off two more touchdowns for a 35-10 lead, before NGU scored two touchdowns for the final margin.  
 
ABOUT WEST ALABAMA
The Tigers enter having dropped their last two games in heartbreaking fashion and also need to win out to get into the playoffs.  UWA is 0-2 in GSC play and out of the conversation for a league title, but desperately needs a win Saturday to keep the playoff chances alive.  UWA lost on Oct. 18 at home to No. 3 West Florida, 23-16 and then almost pulled off a monumental comeback in the second half against No. 17 Delta State last Saturday as DSU led 13-0 after the first quarter and 34-17 at halftime, before UWA responded in the second half, outscoring the Statesmen 21-7.  Following a touchdown with 2:22 to play to pull within three at 41-38, UWA was unable to stop DSU on two third downs as the Statesmen ran out the clock.  The Tigers began the season with five-straight wins and Saturday marks their final conference game while it is VSU's first.  UWA quarterback Spencer Arceneaux has been solid this season as he leads the team in rushing with 447 yards on 57 carries and seven touchdowns, while he is 102 of 188 passing for 1,572 yards, 15 touchdowns and five interceptions.  TD Parker has a team-high 437 yards and four touchdown receptions on 19 catches, while Dearrius Nelson has a team-high 22 receptions for 435 yards and four touchdown grabs.  Defensively, JT Hooten leads the team with 60 tackles, five tackles for loss and one sack.  Exavier McDowell leads the team with three sacks, while Devonte Harris has a team-high two interceptions.  
 
NATIONALLY SPEAKING
The Blazers are third nationally in fewest penalties with 33 to lead the league, while the team is eighth nationally in first down defense allowing just 117 first downs for the season/  Punter Devin Walter is 15th nationally in punting at a 42.4 clip.  The blackshirt defense is 22nd nationally in tackles for loss per game at a 7.3 average and is 35th nationally in sacks at a 2.57 average per game with a season-high seven sacks last week against North Greenville (10/25). 
 
COMING UP NEXT
The Blazers continue Gulf South Conference play on Nov. 8 with Senior Day versus Delta State at 4 p.m. at Bazemore-Hyder Stadium.  Delta State, ranked 15th this week, hosts No. 3 West Florida on Saturday, Nov. 1, in a battle of unbeaten GSC teams.  UWF is 8-0 overall and 2-0 in league play, while Delta State is 7-1 overall and 1-0 in conference play with a 41-38 win last week at West Alabama. 
 
A WIN OVER WEST ALABAMA WOULD . . . 

• Give VSU a 4-4 record this season and a 1-0 mark in Gulf South Conference play
• Be the seventh-straight season of starting league play 1-0
• Be the 350th win in program history for VSU (349-142-4)
• Give VSU a 37-6 record all-time against West Alabama and a 20-3 record in Valdosta against the Tigers
• Be the 77th victory all-time in November (76-43-3)
• Give VSU a 3-2 record all-time on November 1 and a 3-2 mark at home on this date
• Keep the Blazers' chances for a winning season intact as VSU has had just one losing season (2002 / 5-6) since 1999 and just six losing seasons all-time in program history
• Give the Blazers their 75th win all-time against a ranked team (74-67-2) and 43rd win at home against ranked foes (42-29-1).  
• Be the 12th win (11-31-1) all-time against a ranked team when VSU is not a ranked team
• Give head coach Graham Craig his second-straight win over a first-year head coach