Southern Conference 9-1 against other FCS competition

The Southern Conference entered this season hoping to regain some relevance in the NCAA’s Football Championship Subdivision.

The league has taken a step in the right direction.

The SoCon is 9-1 in nonconference games against FCS competition this season, with wins over teams in the Big South, Ohio Valley, Patriot and Southland conferences. The league’s lone loss was 52-42 by Furman to Kennesaw State, which lost to another SoCon team – East Tennessee State – earlier in the season.

The premier nonleague win came from Samford, which went on the road and defeated Central Arkansas 35-29 on Sept. 10. UCA is considered one of the favorites in the Southland Conference and has a 4-1 record overall and is spotless in league play along with second-ranked Sam Houston State.

The Bears went on the road a week later and defeated FBS member Arkansas State.

“I think the league has done pretty good,” UTC coach Russ Huesman said. “We’re taking care of what we’ve got to do outside the conference, and that’s all we can ask for. We’ll see what happens at the end of the year as far as at-large bids and things like that, but I think our league has shown up pretty good.”

Another win could help when the playoff brackets are announced on Nov. 20. The SoCon had only two teams in the field of 24 in 2015 after only UTC got in the year before.

The SoCon has one more nonconference game against FCS competition, on Oct. 22 when Mercer visits Austin Peay.

Bulldogs move ahead

Due to the threat of Hurricane Matthew, The Citadel moved its game against North Greenville from Saturday in Charleston, S.C., to Thursday at the North Greenville campus in Tigerville, S.C.

The ninth-ranked Bulldogs were supposed to have their Parents’ Day activities this weekend. Those have been rescheduled for next week when UTC comes to town.

The Citadel’s campus was closed Tuesday afternoon after South Carolina governor Nikki Haley ordered an evacuation of coastal communities.

Players of the week

Samford quarterback Devlin Hodges, who threw for 315 yards and four touchdowns against Wofford, was named the SoCon offensive player of the week. And on Tuesday he was added to the STATS offensive player of the year watch list.

The Citadel’s Joe Crochet was the defensive player of the week after forcing a fumble, recovering two and tallying 2.5 sacks in the Bulldogs’ 37-14 win over Western Carolina.

UTC’s Henrique Ribeiro, who had a career-long 52-yard field goal and was 4-for-5 on extra points, was named the special teams player of the week. He also punted twice for 54 and 45 yards, both downed inside the 20. It was his eighth career honor, which tied former Appalachian State and current Detroit Lions punter Sam Martin for the SoCon record for special teams honors.

Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter.com @genehenleytfp.