WEEK 5 SCHEDULE
Saturday, October 5
Time (CT)
3/3 Valdosta State at Shorter
(YouTube) 11 am
Erskine at 15/15West Alabama*
(FloFootball) PPD, Nov. 16
North Greenville at Benedict
(SIAC Network) 2 pm
Mississippi College at West Florida*
(FloFootball) 4 pm
Chowan at 20 Delta State*
(FloFootball) 6 pm
CONFERENCE NOTES
GSC ON FLOSPORTS
- FloSports will be the exclusive home for all GSC games for the 2024-25 season. In August, the conference announced the addition of four sports (soccer, baseball, softball, lacrosse) to media package. On Sept. 24, FloSports announced that it will launch FloCollege on Oct. 15. Visit gscsports.org/flosportsFAQ for more info.
CONFERENCE PLAY IN FULL SWING
- Through two weeks of conference action, seven of eight teams have played at least once.
- Delta State’s conference-opener last week at Erskine and the top-25 matchup between Valdosta State and West Alabama were canceled due to the effects of Hurricane Helene.
GSC IN NON-CONFERENCE PLAY
- Through Week 4 of the 2024 season, the GSC is 11-10 in non-conference games.
- The GSC is 107-62 record in the regular season non-conference games, since 2016. It has tallied 15 or more wins four times (19 in 2021, 16 in 2022, 15 in 2018 and 2016).
- Since 2015, the GSC is 105-36 (.743) against Super Region 2 teams in all match-ups.
- Week 5 features two non-conference games, including against Super Region 2 opponents, as Valdosta State travels to Shorter (2-0) and North Greenville is slated to visit Benedict (2-2).
THREE TEAMS IN THE COACHES POLL
- The GSC has three teams in the AFCA D2 Coaches Poll this week (Sept. 30)–No. 3 Valdosta State, No. 15 West Alabama and No. 20 Delta State.
- This is the third consecutive week Valdosta State comes in at No. 3 and is among the top-5 since the Week 1 poll in 2022 (Sept. 5, 2022). West Alabama makes its first appearance among the top-15 since being ranked No. 15 in the Week 7 poll in 2021 (Oct. 18, 2021).
- This is the fourth time in five poll releases this season two GSC teams are inside the top-15.
- The GSC has had a team appear in 305 of 308 AFCA D2 Top 25 polls, dating back to 2000. Two or more teams have been among the D2 Coaches Top 25, 286 times. A GSC team has spent 66 weeks at No. 1 and among the top-five 213 times.
TWO TEAMS IN THE D2FOOTBALL.com POLL
- Two GSC teams were ranked in the D2Football.com poll this week (Sept. 30)–No. 3 Valdosta State and No. 15 West Alabama.
GSC CELEBRATES 54TH SEASON
- The 2024 season is the 54th season of Gulf South Conference football. The league was formed as football-only conference in 1970 as the Mid-South Conference, before renaming itself to the Gulf South Conference prior to the 1971 campaign.
Offensive Player of the Week:
Javier Batiste, Sr., WR, Mississippi College
Batiste collected six passes for a career-best 111 receiving yards and tallied a touchdown as Mississippi College’s fourth quarter rally fell short, falling to Chowan, 27-25 on Saturday. The senior was a key piece to the Choctaw fourth quarter offense as he pulled in three passes totaling 75 yards. Batiste is the first Choctaw to earn GSC Offensive weekly accolades since Marcus Williams was recognized on Oct. 17, 2022.
Defensive Player of the Week:
Kam Canterbury, So., DB, West Florida
Canterbury had a team-best 16 tackles, including seven solo stops on Saturday for the Argonauts. The sophomore also registered 2.5 tackles for loss totaling four yards and was credited for a forced fumble that led to a scoop and score in the second quarter.
