SAVANNAH, Ga. – If Savannah State's football team defeats Morgan State in both teams' season finale Saturday, it would be the first time SSU has finished with a .500 record in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference and the first time the Tigers went unbeaten at home since joining the MEAC in 2011.

SSU (3-6 overall, 3-4 MEAC) will play Morgan State (2-8, 2-5) at 1 p.m. at T.A Wright Stadium. The game will be radio-broadcast by WHCJ 90.3 FM and it will be live web-streamed on SSUAthletics.com.

"It would be fantastic for the seniors to go undefeated at home, to end their Savannah State careers with a win," SSU first-year head coach Erik Raeburn said. "It would be great for our program, too, to build some momentum heading into the offseason. It would help us in recruiting. It would be the first time ever that we would have a non-losing record in the MEAC."

SSU enters with a two-game losing streak, including a 32-0 loss at South Carolina State last Saturday. The Tigers are 0-8 in the series against Morgan State, which won, 42-3, last season. The Bears enter with a six-game losing streak, including a 60-3 loss to Army last Saturday in West Point, N.Y.

SSU players ended practices this week by extending their arms to the sky, touching hands in a huddle and shouting, "Protect the Marsh!" The Tigers beat Bethune-Cookman, 16-10, on Sept. 24 at T.A. Wright Stadium. SSU also won at home against Howard, 31-27, on Oct. 29 and Norfolk State, 31-14, on Nov. 5.

"There are a lot of positives to play for," Raeburn said. "We didn't have a great season but we made progress as a football program. Getting a win on Saturday would help a lot."

HURRICANE MATTHEW MAKE-UP GAME
SSU and Morgan State originally were scheduled to play Oct. 8 but the game was rescheduled because of Hurricane Matthew.

The Tigers practiced at their regular afternoon times Monday and Tuesday. They practiced at 1 p.m. Wednesday, and had an early morning practice Thursday before enjoying a Thanksgiving meal at 4 p.m.

"You've got to be excited to be playing football this late," Raeburn said. "The season is over for most people so we're grateful that we have to make a scheduled game up around the Thanksgiving holiday."

SEEKING REDEMPTION AFTER LOSS TO S.C. STATE
Raeburn called SSU's 32-0 loss at S.C. State the Tigers' worst performance this season. It was the first time SSU was shut out by a Football Championship Subdivision team since North Carolina A&T won, 34-0, on Nov. 15, 2014, in Savannah.

"It was disappointing," he said. "They're extremely good on defense. When the all-conference voting comes out, you're going to see some guys from their school on the All-MEAC team on defense. They don't lose very many games at home. We were better than the way we played. We're better, defensively, but we gave up 254 yards rushing. We haven't given up that many yards rushing in a long time."

It was the most rushing yards allowed by SSU's defense since Southern Mississippi ran for 369 yards on Sept. 10 in Hattiesburg, Miss.

"Offensively, that was our worst game in terms of turning the ball over," said Raeburn, whose Tigers lost a fumble and threw three interceptions. "The very first game of the year against Georgia Southern, I think we turned it over three times. After that, I don't think we've had a single game we turned it over more than once so that was disappointing.

"It's hard to play your very best every week but that was just bad," Raeburn continued. "It would be one thing if we played well and just didn't get up on offense. But we were poor in all aspects. We were just poor as a team."

MEAC ALL-ACADEMIC HONORS FOR 16 TIGERS
SSU's football program had 16 student-athletes chosen to the MEAC's All-Academic team for the 2015-16 academic year. The 16 Tigers honored were Afolabi Ayangbayi; Ellison Burns III; Brandon Burns-Carswell; Kendarius Dukes; Daniel Foster; David Handler; Ronald Harrell; Jeremiah Harris, Jr.; Anthony Hunt; Marcus Lee, Jr.; James Livingston; Giovanni Lugo; Raydell Martin; Johvonte Singleton; Juwuan Tolbert; and Johnathan Wilson.

The MEAC recognizes student-athletes with a 3.0 or better cumulative grade-point average, including sophomores, juniors and seniors, as well as transfer student-athletes, who have been in residence at the institution for at least one year.

"That's a great honor for guys who take care of business on the field and off the field in the classroom," Raeburn said. "We're really proud of that. They're a great example for the younger players in our program to have guys like that to look up to. Most guys don't get the opportunity to play in the NFL. Even the ones that do, the average length of their career is three years. Most guys that do get to play in the NFL, it's not long enough that they can live off that money forever. They have to have a career after football.

"If you take your education for granted, and don't take care of business, at some point your football career is going to end," Raeburn continued. "You need to have something to fall back on to support you and your family. We've got a bunch of guys who have really taken that to heart."

MORGAN STATE OUTLOOK
Morgan State quarterback Chris Andrews, a 6-foot-1, 235-pound graduate student from Queens, N.Y., is 100-of-210 passing for 1,236 yards, nine touchdowns and seven interceptions in 10 games. He was 8-of-20 passing for 79 yards against Army.

Backup quarterback DeAndre Harris, a 6-foot-3, 200-pound freshman from Washington, Ga., was 3-of-6 passing for 17 yards against the Black Knights. Harris has played in eight game and is 40-of-82 passing for 376 yards, two touchdowns and four interceptions.

"Offensively, they've made a switch," Raeburn said. "They've started playing their young quarterback. He's a talented guy. But I imagine they feel a little better about how they're playing on defense than how they're playing on offense."

Wide receiver Ladarious Spearman, a 6-foot-1, 210-pound senior from Jamestown, Texas, has made 27 catches for 375 yards and three touchdowns, all team highs.
Running back Lamont Brown, a 5-foot-10, 195-pound redshirt senior from Suffolk, Va., leads the Bears in rushing with 342 yards on 95 carries. Running back Eric Harrell, a 5-foot-10, 205-pound sophomore from Orlando, Fla., has 311 yards and three touchdowns on 89 carries.

Linebacker Greg Gibson, a 6-foot-1, 225-pound senior from Houston, Texas, has made a team-leading 74 tackles, including eight for minus-22 yards. Defensive end Jai Franklin, a 6-foot-3, 280-pound junior from Clinton, Md., has made 50 tackles, including 13 for minus-60 yards.

"They have one of the best defenses going," Raeburn said. "They have one of the best D-lines. We've struggled up front so that's a real concern and a bad matchup for us. They're exceptional in the secondary. Their one corner (senior Deadrick Jones) is as good as anyone we've played and that includes the two FBS schools. He is a legit guy. Their one D-tackle (Franklin), same deal. He's as good as anyone we've played against. It'll be a challenge for us."