Football Preview | Game 3 | at Valdosta State

#20 WEST ALABAMA (2-0) at #1 VALDOSTA STATE (2-0)
Sept. 21, 2019 l Bazemore-Hyder Stadium | Valdosta, Ga. | 6:05 p.m. CDT l ESPN 104.9

THE SERIES
This is the 38th meeting between the Tigers and Blazers. VSU leads the series 32-5.

WEST ALABAMA
West Alabama is 2-0 after a 47-14 road win at Tusculum.

VALDOSTA STATE
Valdosta State is 2-0 after defeating Ohio Dominican 48-21 at home. VSU has won 17 straight games.

THE COACHES
Brett Gilliland is 39-21 in his sixth season at UWA. Gary Goff is 2-0 in his first year at VSU, 38-50 in his ninth season as a college head coach.

COVERAGE
Radio: ESPN 104.9: Robert Upchurch & Will Atkinson handle the call. The game will be televised regionally by Football Saturday's Down South.

NEXT WEEK
UWA is host to Tuskegee on HOF Day at Tiger Stadium.

LAST TWO YEARS
Over the last two seasons the West Alabama football program has won 18 games (9 per season), been to the NCAA Playoffs twice and graduated 60 players.

TOUGH SLEDDING AGAINST BLAZERS
West Alabama has won just five of the 37 games in the series against Valdosta State. Four of those five wins have come since 2010. From 1985 to 2009 the Blazers defeated the Tigers 24 straight times.

LAST TRIP TO VALDOSTA
UWA clinched the GSC title outright in 2017 with a 38-14 win over VSU at Bazemore-Hyde Stadium.

ZACH LEADS THE NATION
Tiger punter Zach Gaines leads both the NCAA and the GSC in punting, averaging 48.4 yards per punt.

TYLER TOO
West Alabama reserve tight end and special teams maven Tyler Butler leads the nation in blocked kicks after blocking two punts at Tusculum last week. The junior from Marrero, Louisiana earned GSC Special Teams Player of the Week and D2Football.com National Special Teams Player of the Week for his efforts

GSC PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
Sept. 7            Zach Gaines               Special Teams
Sept, 14          Tyler Butler                 Special Teams

COACHES STILL HAVE US AT 20
A 33-point road win at Tusculum didn't do much to impress the Division II coaches, who left the Tigers at No. 20 in this week's national poll. The Tigers are 23^rd in the D2Football.com poll.

THE LEGEND CRACKS TOP 10
Tiger slot corner Jordan "Legend" Graddy is 10th in the nation averaging 8.5 tackles per game. He leads the Tigers after two games with 17 total stops, 14 solo.

FIRST TIME IN 13
All-GSC receiver Bayley Blanchard went without a catch last week at Tusculum, the first time he hadn't call a ball in the last 13 games.

TOP TWO OFFENSES
The game features the top two scoring offenses in the GSC. Valdosta State averages 43 points per game, West Alabama 41. They are also the top two total offenses with VSU at 506.5 yards per game, UWA at 458 yards per game.

COLLEGE FOOTBALL DOWN SOUTH
The game is being televised by College Football Down South. Following are the outlets where it will be shown:
Charter Channel 80, Statewide in Alabama
WSCG-TV, Savannah, Ga.
WOTM-TV, Birmingham, Ala.
WBTV-TV , Charlotte, N.C.
WPCH-Tv, Atlanta, Ga.
Cox Sports, Pensacola, Fla.
WJXT -TV, Jacksonville, Fla.
Cox Sports , Macon, Ga.
Cox Sports , Norfolk, Va.
WCTV-TV , Tallahassee, Fla.
WALB-TV, Albany, Ga.
Cox Sports, Gainesville, Fla.
Cox Sports , New Orleans, La.
Cox Sports, Norfolk, Va.
Cox Sports, Baron Rouge, La.
Cox Sports, Las Vegas, N.V.
Cox Sports, Tulsa, Okla.
Cox Sports, OKC, Okla.
Cox Sports, Lake Charles, La.
NBC Sports, Chicago
NBC Sports, Philadelphia
MASNSports.com

TOP PASSERS
West Alabama leads the GSC in passing offense at 324.5 yards per game.

EFFICIENT ON DEFENSE
The Tigers are second din the GSC in defensive efficiency at 106.1.

BLOCK THAT KICK
The Tigers lead the nation in blocked kicks with four after two games. UWA blocked a pair of extra points in the opener against Limestone and then two punts at Tusculum last week.

SOCIALLY SPEAKING
Twitter: @UWAathletics
Facebook: UWAAthletics
Instagram: uwaathletics

UWA Record Breakdown
Overall: 2-0
GSC: 0-0
Home: 1-0
Road: 1-0
Day: 0-0
Night: 2-0
Sept: 2-0
Oct: 0-0
Nov: 0-0
Score First: 2-0
Lead After 1st Quarter: 2-0
Trail After 1st Quarter: 0-0
Tied After 1st Quarter: 0-0
Lead At Half: 2-0
Trail At Half: 0-0
Tied At Half: 0-0
Lead After 3rd Quarter: 2-0
Trail After 3rd Quarter: 0-0
Tied After 3rd Quarter: 0-0
1-5 Points: 0-0
6-10 Points: 0-0
11-19 Points: 1-0
20-29 Points: 0-0
30 or More Points: 1-0
Overtime: 0-0
GSC Home: 0-0
GSC Road: 0-0
TV Games: 0-0

UNIFORM COMBINATIONS RECORD
Red Jersey, Red Pants: 0-0
Red Jersey, White Pants: 1-0
Red Jersey, Black Pants: 0-0
White Jersey, Red Pants: 0-0
White Jersey, White Pants: 0-0
White Jersey, Black Pants: 1-0

UWA FOOTBALL ASSISTANT COACHES
Assoc. HC /Receivers/Special Teams
Lamont Seward (Western Carolina 2003)
5th Year at UWA

Defensive Coordinator/Linebackers
Steve Sisa (Virginia Tech 2001)
3rd Year at UWA

Offensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks
Don Bailey (Portland State 1991)
4th Year at UWA

Tight Ends
David Thornton, (UAB 1995)
8th Year at UWA

Defensive Line
Roberto Pinilla, (West Georgia 1997)
6th Year at UWA

Defensive Backs
Ervin Jackson (Ohio 2008)
8th Year at UWA

Running Backs
Will Furlong (UNA 2012)
1st Year at UWA

Offensive Line
Devin Myers (UWA 2016)
5th Year at UWA

ST/Defensive Graduate Assistant
Robert Belle (UWA 2015)
2nd Year at UWA

Defensive Graduate Assistant
Jared Boddie (Taylor University 2013)
2nd Year at UWA

Offensive Graduate Assistant
Harry Satterwhite (UWA 2018)
1^st Year at UWA

Hype Coach
Ryan Cram (School of Hype 2015)
5^th Year at UWA

Quoting Coach Brett Gilliland on the Upcoming Valdosta State Game

"Offensively we have to win the battle up front. Have to be able to control the line of scrimmage, try to control their pass rush and get some run game going.

"Defensively, we need to clean up some things in our secondary play. With the offense we are playing it is critical.

"(Quarterback) Jack (McDaniels) doesn't get rattled. He plays level. It's not like he hasn't played before after two years at Delaware State. He is steady with a strong arm.

"Jacob (Murphree) and Jack are pretty similar players. We run the exact same offense with both players. We don't do different things when either one of them are in there.

"Derrick Underwood good in all phases of the running game and a good pass blocker. He runs the ball hard. James Smith is a smaller guy but doesn't shy away from contact.

"Coming back this year we had every receiver that played for us last year. The first game it was Tyriq Martin and Bayley Blanchard who had the big games, this week it was Christian Saulsberry. It's really finding the one guy who is hot and get it to him.

"Tavarius Hutchinson has played really well and is very physical. Jordan Jones at defensive end is a really good player. We have been really good at stopping the run. We pride ourselves on being physical and we have done that.

"We have to be better against big plays, especially this week against a team that prides itself on big plays and is very good at it.

"We have to make sure we don't do anything that hurts ourselves to be in this game. If we do things to hurt ourselves, they are a great team and it can pile up on us.

"This is a big game for us because it's out first conference game and our first conference game on the road. We need to guard against making it bigger than it is. It's obvious they are a great team, the best team in the country.

"We don't put a lot of emphasis on it, but obviously we know who we are playing and how good they are."

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Players Mentioned

#15 Harry Satterwhite: QB; 6' 1"; Senior

#89 Bayley Blanchard: WR; 6' 1"; Junior

#14 Tyler Butler: TE; 6' 2"; Junior

#17 Zach Gaines: P; 6' 1"; Senior

#1 Tavarius Hutchinson: DB; 5' 10"; Senior

#7 Jordan Jones: LB; 6' 2"; Senior

#8 Tyriq Martin: WR; 6' 3"; Sophomore

#2 Christian Saulsberry: WR; 5' 8"; Senior

#3 Derrick Underwood: RB; 5' 10"; Sophomore

#28 James Smith, III: RB; 5' 8"; Junior

Players Mentioned

#15 Harry Satterwhite
: 6' 1"; Senior
: QB

#89 Bayley Blanchard
: 6' 1"; Junior
: WR

#14 Tyler Butler
: 6' 2"; Junior
: TE

#17 Zach Gaines
: 6' 1"; Senior
: P

#1 Tavarius Hutchinson
: 5' 10"; Senior
: DB

#7 Jordan Jones
: 6' 2"; Senior
: LB

#8 Tyriq Martin
: 6' 3"; Sophomore
: WR

#2 Christian Saulsberry
: 5' 8"; Senior
: WR

#3 Derrick Underwood
: 5' 10"; Sophomore
: RB

#28 James Smith, III
: 5' 8"; Junior
: RB