Southern Conference Week Five Previews

Overview: It will be yet another big week in week five of Southern Conference football, with one very big matchup between Samford (4-0, 2-0 SoCon) and Georgia Southern (2-1, 1-1 SoCon) highlighting the week’s slate of games.

Since joining the Southern Conference as an official member in 2008, Samford has taken three out of four meetings between the two schools. Georgia Southern ended a streak of three-straight wins by Samford last season, defeating the Bulldogs, 31-17, in the 2011 season opener.

The last time Samford paid a visit to Georgia Southern in 2010, the Bulldogs came away from Allen E. Paulson Stadium with a 20-13 win. Since that loss to Samford, the Eagles have claimed 18-straight wins at home. Samford also claimed a 28-10 win over Georgia Southern in its inaugural season as a SoCon member back in 2008.

Saturday’s meeting between the Bulldogs and Eagles will mark the eighth meeting all-time between the two schools, with Georgia Southern holding the 4-3 all-time advantage. The matchup between the two would not be one many would have highlighted prior to the season as being a SoCon title-deciding type game, but Georgia Southern could very well play its way out of defending the Eagles’ 2011 crown with a loss on Saturday.

The Eagles had to hold on to survive Elon, 26-23, at Paulson Stadium last Saturday in a game that pitted the preseason favorite against a team predicted to finish in the No.7 position at the annual preseason league media day. Meanwhile, Samford is off to its best start since 1995, as the Bulldogs continue to get clutch big plays from running back Fabian Truss, who rushed for 180 yards and two scores, including the game-winning 2-yard score last week en route to leading the Bulldogs to the dramatic, 25-21, come-from-behind win.

Meanwhile, in Greenville, it will be a battle of the purples, as Furman (1-3, 0-1 and Western Carolina will meet for the 40th time in series history,which sees the Paladins hold a commanding 27-10-2 all-time series lead, including a 47-21 win in Cullowhee last season.

Furman has claimed six-straight over the Catamounts heading into Saturday dating back to a 41-21 win by the Catamounts over the No.2 Paladins in

2005.Furman has also claimed eight-straight wins over the Catamounts in Greenville, which dates back to a 35-24 win by Western Carolina in 1994. First-year head coach Mark Speir was a coordinator on that WCU staff that came home from Greenville victorious.

In all, Furman has won 16 of the last 18 meetings between the two schools dating back to the 1994 meeting. Western Carolina will be looking to snap a streak of 16-straight Southern Conference losses, which dates back to October of the 2010 season. The Catamounts looked as though they would end that streak last week against Samford, but blew a 21-18 fourth quarter lead to drop a 25-21 contest.

Saturday’s matchup between the Catamounts and Paladins will also feature two of the leagues most electrifying newcomers under center, in Furman’s Reese Hannon and Western’s Eddie Sullivan.