ATLANTA — It will be a split ticket of gridiron action in Week 3. The Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference will see its most league clashes of the year while four other member schools battle top foes to represent.
It will be the SIAC's second top-notch conference matchup in a row to start the action on Thursday night. After Clark Atlanta sealed a one-score victory over Fort Valley State in the final moments a week ago, Tuskegee travels to the South Carolina capital to try and put some points against the Benedict College defense yet to be scored upon in 2025 under the lights in a 7 p.m. kickoff.
Three other SIAC squads will test their mettle against HBCU FCS competition. The biggest of the trio has upstart Edward Waters coming off the program's biggest win in many years heading down I-95 against Bethune-Cookman. Central State heads to the east coast to Morgan State and Lane College travels to Alabama A&M.
Fort Valley State wraps up the non-conference tilts when it entertains Delta State, which dropped out of the DII Top 25 after last weekend's close loss.
The three SIAC contests have teams looking to get on track and others aiming to build on momentum from last week – Kentucky State heads to Atlanta versus Morehouse College, Savannah State at Miles College and Clark Atlanta tangles with Allen University with both coming off victories.
With three weeks down already, the SIAC is down to a perfect duo of its 13 teams. With its first 3-0 start since restarting its program in 2001, Edward Waters is the lone member with three wins. Off back-to-back shutouts, Benedict began the year with a pair of wins (2-0) for the fourth time in the last five campaigns. Albany State, Clark Atlanta and Tuskegee are all 2-1 respectively.
Week 2's biggest wins presented four strong choices for the honors. Edward Waters' field goal with no time left for a 41-38 victory over No. 13 Virginia Union got the nod. Benedict College posted an identical shutout, 10-0, to match its first final at Central State while both Clark Atlanta (26-21 over Fort Valley State) and Allen University (29-21 over Lane College) round out the teams. Kentucky State gets a big Honorable Mention as it fell 37-31 in overtime at Grambling State.
BOXTOROW's HBCU D2 rankings have six SIAC squads within its top 10 ratings – 2. Edward Waters; 3. Albany State; 5. Clark Atlanta; 8. Tuskegee; 9. Benedict College and 10. Savannah State. Both Albany State and Edward Waters also received votes in the AFCA D2 Football Coaches rankings.
TUSKEGEE UNIVERSITY AT BENEDICT COLLEGE — ESPN+
Thursday, Sept. 18, at 7 p.m. ET
Facility: Charlie W. Johnson Stadium
Address: 1920 Two Notch Road, Columbia, SC 29204
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In a still early season 'tone-setter' game, the battle of Tigers opens the week under the Thursday night lights.
Tuskegee (2-1, 1-0 SIAC) and
Benedict (2-0, 1-0 SIAC) are a combined 4-1 on the year, 4-0 against NCAA DII opponents and have three shutouts to their credit.
On its home field, though, Benedict will try to buck the series trend as it did three seasons ago. The Golden Tigers of Tuskegee enjoy a 14-1 series advantage, but the home Tigers of Benedict claimed the lone win in big fashion of the last meeting. In the 2022 SIAC Championship, Benedict could not be stopped on its way to a 58-21 final and first series win. Tuskegee's last win over Benedict came back in 2010 in the season finale by a 34-16 margin.
After outscoring its first two DII opponents by a 54-17 margin, Tuskegee had a tough day against FCS Jackson State (30-0). The Golden Tigers produced 109 yards on offense with quarterback
Raequan Beal accounting for 93 of those yards through the air. Beal now has 469 yards and four scoring strikes in three games with
EJ Hall covering 150 yards receiving of the passing total.
Benedict has shown in the first two games it is out to prove last year's 4-6 campaign was an anomaly. The Tiger defense has held both Fayetteville State and Central State scoreless by the same 10-0 final tallies. In fact, Benedict has not allowed a point in the last 122:30 dating back to the 2024 finale, all three were wins.
Benedict outgained Central State by only three yards for the game (275-272), but the defense forced four turnovers (three fumbles and an interception).
Isaiah Stephens earned the SIAC Defensive Player of the Week as his fumble recovery for a touchdown was the game's only touchdown coming with 39 seconds left in the opening quarter. He also posted nine tackles.
CENTRAL STATE UNIVERSITY AT MORGAN STATE UNIVERSITY — ESPN+
Saturday, Sept. 20 at 12 p.m. ET
Facility: Hughes Stadium
Address: 1700 E Cold Spring Lane, Baltimore, MD 21218
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One of the teams will record its first win of the season early on Saturday afternoon. Both
Central State (0-3, 0-3 SIAC) and Morgan State (0-3, 0-0 MEAC) aim to regain their scoring prowess after each being shutout a week ago.
Central State dropped a close, 10-0, home final to Benedict College. Morgan State was blitzed early and could not recover in a road loss, 60-0, at Toledo University.
The Marauders lead the 16-game series by an 11-5 margin. The two teams have not met since Central State restarted its football program in 2005, but it won the first game of the final season of the original program run in 1996 by a tight, 18-17, final over Morgan State. The Marauders got the best of the Bears in each of the four meetings before 1996 in the 1992, 1990, 1985 and 1984 meetings while the Bears last win was a 24-21 final in 1975.
Central State rushed for 159 yards of its 272-yard total against Benedict last Saturday.
Dai'Vontay Young ran 10 times for 68 yards. Damonique Davis recorded 11 tackles, three for a loss and a sack, on defense.
The Marauders aim for the team's first win since it snuck past Savannah State last Sept. 14 by a 10-3 final.
Morgan State allowed Toledo to put 43 points on the second-quarter scoreboard and it totaled only 56 yards of total offense.
KENTUCKY STATE UNIVERSITY AT MOREHOUSE COLLEGE — SIAC Network
Saturday, Sept. 20, at 1 p.m. ET
Facility: B.T. Harvey Stadium
Address: 865 Westview Drive SW, Atlanta, GA 30314
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Moving back, down to NCAA DII competition, both the Thorobreds and Maroon Tigers come off HBCU FCS tough battles.
Kentucky State (1-2, 1-1 SIAC) opens the
Morehouse (0-2, 0-0 SIAC) home slate in the Georgia capital city on Saturday afternoon.
Kentucky State was primed for the HBCU FCS upset of Grambling State only to see the contest slip away to a 37-31 overtime defeat. Morehouse was within four points early in the third quarter before Howard ran off 24 unanswered points in a 38-10 final.
Morehouse holds the slight edge in the series by a 16-15-1 margin in the first 32 matchups. The Maroon Tigers scored two touchdowns in the final 1:55 of the game played at Chicago's Soldier Field last September 21 for the 31-28 final. The Thorobreds claimed a 23-21 win for the 2023 meeting.
Kentucky State was only seven minutes away from the first HBCU FCS upset of the season for an SIAC team. The Thorobreds went ahead, 28-24, with 7:18 left but the Tigers scored at 1:55 and then again with 10 seconds left for a tie at 31-31. A KSU fumble in overtime was returned for the game-winning score by Grambling.
Miles Scott found
Eric Stephens from 24 yards away as Morehouse pulled to within four points, 14-10, only 4:47 into the third quarter at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J. Howard put the final 24 points in the final 25:13 of the day.
Scott passed for 80 of Morehouse's 182 yards of offense.
Sean Johnson registered 10 stops and a pair of sacks on defense.
SAVANNAH STATE UNIVERSITY AT MILES COLLEGE — ESPN+
Saturday, Sept. 20, at 3 p.m. ET
Facility: Albert J. Sloan-Alumni Stadium
Address: 5500 Myron Massey Blvd., Fairfield, AL 35064
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Coming off two different directions a week, both the Tigers and Golden Bears aim for their first conference victories.
Savannah State (1-1, 0-1 SIAC) hits the road for the first time of the fall, while
Miles (0-3, 0-1 SIAC) opens its home docket for the clash.
The two SIAC teams show a combined 1-4 record, but those five contests came against stiff competition. Savannah State claimed the lone victory as it shut out Shorter University by a 13-0 tally. Starting with losses to two of the top HBCU D2 teams currently, Miles fell a third time, coming by a 37-9 margin to HBCU FCS Alabama State.
The Tigers lead the 18 meetings between the programs by a 13-5 difference. The two teams, though, have not met in 19 years. Miles took the last edition, which took place in 2006 by a 24-12 final. Savannah State won the 2000 meeting by double-digits, 35-25.
Both teams have played SIAC upstart Edward Waters with almost identical results. Edward Waters won 41-14 at Savannah State in Week 0 before it defeated Miles, 46-14, a week later.
Around second and fourth-quarter field goals, the Tigers'
Christian Burks hit
Cinsere Clark from 13 yards away for the lone touchdown of last Saturday's shutout of the Hawks of Shorter. Savannah State dominated in total yards by a 323-138 margin. Burks threw for 188 yards through the air and added 18 yards rushing.
Tony Roundtree Jr. stopped three ball carriers for a loss.
Roderick Thomas rumbled in from two yards out in the early third quarter for Miles lone touchdown at Alabama State. The running back ran for 55 yards on 16 carries including the score of the 238 total offense for the Golden Bears.
RV DELTA STATE UNIVERSITY AT FORT VALLEY STATE UNIVERSITY — SIAC Network
Saturday, Sept. 20, at 3 p.m. ET
Facility: Wildcat Stadium
Address: 1005 State University Drive, Fort Valley, GA 31030
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Another conference member wraps up its tough non-conference schedule Saturday afternoon.
Fort Valley State (0-2, 0-1 SIAC) seeks its first victory of the year in the team's home opener against RV
Delta State (2-1, 0-0 GSC).
The Wildcats see themselves in an unusual place at 0-2 for the first time since 2019. FVSU has a tough task ahead of it when traditional power and one Receiving Votes nationally Delta State heads to The Valley.
FVSU does have some history on its side as it has won each of the last five Game 3 games to avoid a third loss with the last 0-3 start coming in 2011.
Delta State holds a 4-2 lead in the short six-game series. The Wildcats held a 17-7 lead midway through the second quarter last year only to see the home Statesmen score the tiebreaking 22-yard field goal with 1:16 left for the 27-24 win. Last year was the first meeting since 2015 and FVSU's last victory came three years before it in a 31-23 win during the 2012 season.
FVSU saw last week's Thursday night primetime game slip through its fingers in Atlanta. Trailing 16-7 at half, the Wildcats reversed the momentum with two third-quarter scores and a 21-16 lead. The Panthers, though, hit a 35-yard field goal in the first minute of the final period and went ahead with 2:57 left for the 26-21 final.
In his first collegiate start, quarterback
Don Hudson Jr. earned the SIAC Newcomer of the Week award where he accounted for 261 all-purpose yards – 21 of 26 passing for 142 yards and two touchdowns and 23 carries for 119 yards rushing.
J.T. Pendleton pulled in seven balls for 74 yards and both receiving touchdowns.
Heading into last week, Delta State was ranked No. 21 in DII. The Statesmen led 21-10 against the Braves of UNC Pembroke with 14:54 left in the game. UNC Pembroke scored the final points with a pair of touchdowns including the winner with 1:07 on the clock for the 25-21 upset.
RV EDWARD WATERS UNIVERSITY AT FCS BETHUNE-COOKMAN UNIVERSITY — TheGrio
Saturday, Sept. 20, at 3 p.m. ET
Facility: Daytona Stadium
Address: 3917 LPGA Blvd, Daytona Beach, FL 32124
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After celebrating its biggest win arguably since restarting the football program last weekend, what do the Tigers do for an encore?
Edward Waters (3-0, 2-0 SIAC) moves up to the FCS opponent ranks and travels down the interstate to battle Bethune-Cookman (0-3, 0-0 SWAC).
In what on paper says the two programs have had drastically opposite starts, the level of foes are much different as well. This will make Saturday all the more interesting of a matchup. Edward Waters ran through both Savannah State and defending SIAC champion Miles College before it upset No. 13 Virginia Union, 41-38. Bethune-Cookman seeks its first win but it is understandable after playing at Florida International and top 10-ranked University of Miami before it fell in a high-scoring 55-41 tilt at South Carolina State last week.
The Wildcats held the advantage over the first 20 meetings by an 11-7-2 margin. Bethune-Cookman claimed the last matchup in 2010 by a 70-10 score with Edward Waters having to look back to 1944 for its last win, 21-0.
After a tied first half, EWU led Virginia Union, 28-17, heading to the final 15 minutes. The Panthers came back, for a third deadlock at 31-31 before a Tiger kick return 90-yard touchdown. Virginia Union tied the contest again with 1:20 showing but EWU had one more trick and took advantage of starting at the 50-yard line. The Tigers drove to the 22-yard line where
Ryan Gagne booted a 45-yard field goal on the game's final play for the victory.
It is EWU's best start since beginning 5-1 in 2004 and first 3-0 beginning since the program's restart in 2001. The last Tiger 3-0 or better start was back, in 1965 at 5-0.
Bethune-Cookman was blitzed 24-0 in the first quarter by host South Carolina State and fell by 14 points despite winning the final period, 28-14. The game featured a combined 1,064 yards of total offense with 503 by the Wildcats.
CLARK ATLANTA UNIVERSITY AT ALLEN UNIVERSITY — SIAC Network
Saturday, Sept. 20, at 6 p.m. ET
Facility: Fairfield Central High School Stadium
Address: 836 US-321 BYP South, Winnsboro, SC 29180
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It will be a battle of two SIAC with some momentum heading into the weekend. Both
Clark Atlanta (2-1, 1-0 SIAC) and
Allen (1-2, 1-0 SIAC) head into their matchup coming off important victories.
Clark Atlanta scored the final 10 points against Fort Valley State and took away the 26-21 victory in front of the ESPN2 national audience. Allen put the first nine points on the scoreboard and never trailed in its 29-21 win over Lane College.
In a short six-game series, the Panthers hold a 4-2 edge on the Yellow Jackets. Clark Atlanta took away the close 25-22 win last season on a 7-yard scoring strike with 43 seconds left in the game. Allen picked up the 2023 win by a 35-27 final.
The Panthers ended both halves strong against the Wildcats of Fort Valley State. CAU scored the first half's final 16 points for a 16-7 lead at half. The home Panthers had to bounce back a second time in the fourth frame with a 35-yard field goal and then the 6-yard game-winning pass with 2:57 left.
CAU quarterback
Zy McDonald threw for 180 yards with two scores and ran for another 40 yards. RB
Alan Riggins rumbled for 90 yards on 18 carries with a score.
Armone Harris pulled in six passes for 78 yards.
Allen quarterback
Jamir Dismukes led his offense to a 409-yard total in the four quarters. He earned the SIAC Offensive Player of the Week award with 257 yards passing and now had 712 yards through the air in the first three games.
Fabian Duncan had a big game on the ground with 125 yards on 27 carries and two touchdowns.
LANE COLLEGE AT FCS ALABAMA A&M UNIVERSITY — SWAC TV
Saturday, Sept. 20, 7 p.m. ET
Facility: Louis Crews Stadium
Address: 4900 Meridian St N, Huntsville, AL 35810
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In the fourth SIAC/HBCU FCS matchup,
Lane College (0-2, 0-1 SIAC) aims for its first 2025 victory when it heads to Huntsville, Ala., against
Alabama A&M (2-1, 0-0 SWAC).
Despite only playing one time in the last 36 years, the Bulldogs went ahead in the series by a 12-11-2 margin with a 51-13 win over the Dragons during the 2023 campaign. Alabama A&M also won the 1989 meeting with Lane's last victory coming by a 22-14 final back in 1959.
Lane was bested by Jackson State (58-7) in its last FCS game a year ago. Lane did come out on top over Tennessee State by a point, 28-27, during the 2022 season.
After falling in its season opener, Lane fell behind by a 9-0 score after the first quarter and were never able to gain the advantage at Allen. The Dragons more than made a game of it and fell short by a single score, 29-21. Quarterback
Nick Billoups threw for 119 yards with two touchdowns and rushed for another 47 yards to lead the attack. Both
Cadarius Newcomb and
Zxaequan Reeves registered double-figure tackles with 11 and 10 apiece.
Following an opening loss to Arkansas, Alabama A&M has recorded back-to-back wins over Alcorn State (41-31) and Tennessee State (23-21). The Bulldogs trailed 21-13 at half last week before they scored the only 10 points of the second half.
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ABOUT THE SOUTHERN INTERCOLLEGIATE ATHLETIC CONFERENCE (SIAC)
The SIAC is a NCAA athletic conference consisting primarily of historically black colleges and universities with headquarters in downtown Atlanta, Georgia. The SIAC includes 15 member institutions (Albany State University, Allen University, Benedict College, Central State University, Clark Atlanta University, Edward Waters University, Fort Valley State University, Kentucky State University, Lane College, LeMoyne-Owen College, Miles College, Morehouse College, Savannah State University, Spring Hill College, and Tuskegee University), which are located within a contiguous seven-state footprint (Alabama, Georgia, Florida, Kentucky, South Carolina, Tennessee and Ohio). The SIAC sponsors nine men's and seven women's sports and is a proud member of the NCAA Division II. For more information, visit
www.thesiac.com.