GAME THREE: FLORIDA TECH SEPTEMBER 15, 2018 | MELBOURNE, FLA. | PANTHER STADIUM STATESMEN FOOTBALL STATESMEN FOOTBALL | 2018 OFFICIAL GAME NOTES 2000 NCAA NATIONAL CHAMPIONS | SEVEN GULF SOUTH CONFERENCE CHAMPIONS | FOUR NCAA REGIONAL TITLES | NINE NCAA PLAYOFF APPEARANCES GAME FLORIDA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY STATESMEN PANTHERS September 15, 2018 • 7 p.m. EST 3 Panthers Stadium • Melbourne, Florida 0-2 0-0 GAME THREE 2-0 0-0 OVERALL GSC OVERALL GSC ›› GAME DAY INFORMATION DELTA STATE Location Melbourne, Fla. NR AT RV Kickoff 7 p.m. EST AFCA TOP 25 FLORIDA TECH AFCA TOP 25 Site Panthers Stadium SEPTEMBER 15, 2018 | 7 PM ET Capacity 8,500 TODD COOLEY STEVE ENGLEHART Surface Artificial Turf HEAD COACH PANTHERS STADIUM HEAD COACH MELBOURNE, FLORIDA 35-22 6TH 33-25 6TH ›› INSIDE THE SERIES OVERALL SEASON @ FIT SEASON Meeting Sixth Series Record: Delta State leads 3-2 In Cleveland, Miss. Statesmen lead 2-1 In Melbourne, Fla. Series tied 1-1 Last Meeting Nov. 11, 2017 | Cleveland, Miss. FOUR DOWNS: STATESMEN TRAVEL TO FLORIDA TECH TO OPEN LEAGUE PLAY Result W, 42-20 R FIT HOSTS STATESMEN IN GULF SOUTH CONFERENCE OPENER: The Statesmen (0-2, 0-0 GSC) of Delta State University travel to Mel- bourne, Fla., to open the Gulf South Conference schedule this Saturday, Sept. 15 at the Florida Institute of Technology (2-0, 0-0 GSC). Kickoff ›› GET SOCIAL! is set for 7 p.m. EST. Since 2000, Delta State is 12-6 in league openers, including a 3-2 record under head coach Todd Cooley. Saturday's Official Twitter Account @DSUStatesmen match-up with FIT will also be featured on ESPN3 as the Florida Space Coast GSC-TV Game of the Week. Don Russell and Rick Rhoades Football Twitter Account @DeltaStateFB will have the call on ESPN3 for the GSC. Rhoades is a familiar face to the #DSUFamily, as the former DSU head coach returns to the GSC-TV Live Instagram Account @DSUAthletics production for another year as color analyst. Rhoades led the Statesmen to a 38-20 record from 2002-2006, including a run to the NCAA DII Facebook Account Facebook.com/DSUStatesmen National Semifinals in 2006. Hashtags #DSUFamily | #UnitedinGreen | #DSUvsFIT R GREEN & WHITE PICKED FOURTH IN GSC: Delta State is picked to finish fourth in the 2018 Preseason All-Gulf South Conference Poll, as ›› ON THE AIR voted on by the league's head coaches. The Statesmen received 41 poll points, while West Alabama (62) is picked to repeat as league cham- Radio Statesmen Sports Network pions. West Florida, coming off an NCAA national runner-up finish in 2017, is picked second followed by West Georgia (44), DSU, Valdosta State Online (iOS | Android) GoStatesmen.com (38), Florida Tech (32), North Greenville (24), Mississippi College (16) and Shorter (8). Junior offensive lineman Innis Claud, senior defensive Flagship Station WMJW 107.5 FM end Tramond Lofton and senior linebacker Ovenson Cledanord were named Preseason All-GSC by a vote of the league's head coaches. Play-by-Play Matt Jones Analyst Philip Tang R ON THE BIG SCREEN: Delta State will appear three times this season on ESPN3 in the GSC-TV Game of the Week, presented by Florida's Sideline Reporter Lane Quinton Space Coast. Saturday's clash with Florida Tech is the first appearance for the Statesmen this year. DSU will also appear on ESPN3 at No. 8 West Alabama on Saturday, Oct. 13 and again versus Shorter on Thursday, Oct. 25 at Parker-McCool. The Statesmen are 22-11 all-time in ›› WHO’S NEXT? televised contests, including a 10-4 mark under coach Cooley. Opponent North Greenville University R CLEDANORD PACING GSC DEFENDERS: Ovenson Cledanord has picked up right where he left off last season, leading the Gulf South Confer- Location Parker Field-McCool Stadium | Cleveland, Miss. ence in tackles. The 6-foot-2 senior from Greenacres, Fla., enters Saturday's game at Florida Tech with 21.0 tackles, 2.0 tackles-for-loss Date | Time Sept. 22, 2018 | 6 p.m. | Pig Pickin' and 2.0 sacks. The former Dodge City (Kan.) CC transfer is averaging 10.5 tackles per game. He turned in a season-high 13 stops, including one tackle-for-loss and one sack, in last week's 21-10 loss to No. 8 Grand Valley State. Cledanord finished 2017 ranked in the GSC's top five in tackles (85), tackles-for-loss (13.0/71 yards) and sacks (7.5/50 yards). SCHEDULE & RESULTS @ TARLETON STATE GRAND VALLEY STATE @ FLORIDA TECH NORTH GREENVILLE WEST FLORIDA @ VALDOSTA STATE @ WEST ALABAMA SHORTER @ WEST GEORGIA MISSISSIPPI COLLEGE AUG. 30 | 7 PM SEPT. 8 | 6 PM SEPT. 15 | 6 PM SEPT. 22 | 6 PM SEPT.29 | 6 PM OCT. 6 | 12 PM OCT. 13 | 2 PM OCT. 25 | 6 PM NOV. 3 | 2 PM NOV. 10 | 2 PM L, 44-13 L, 21-10 GSC-TV PIG PICKIN’ GSC-TV GSC-TV HOMECOMING GOSTATESMEN.COM | @DSUSTATESMEN | @DELTASTATEFB | @COACHTODDCOOLEY | #DSUFAMILY 1 GAME THREE: FLORIDA TECH STATESMEN FOOTBALL SEPTEMBER 15, 2018 | MELBOURNE, FLA. | PANTHER STADIUM DELTA STATE FAST FACTS COACHING STAFF Name of School Delta State University Head Coach Todd Cooley City/Zip Cleveland, MS 38733 Alma Mater/Year Arkansas Tech/1999 Founded 1924 Record at DSU/Years 35-22/6th Enrollment 3,832 Career Collegiate Record 35-22/6th Nickname Statesmen NCAA Playoff Record 1-2 School Colors Forest Green & White NCAA Playoff Appearances Two | 2014, 2017 Affiliation NCAA Division II Football Office Phone (662) 846-4300 Conference Gulf South Best Time To Reach Mornings (9-11 a.m.) President William N. LaForge (Delta State, 1970) Athletic Director Ronnie Mayers (Delta State, 1972) ASSISTANT COACHES Joel Williams (Mississippi College, 1981) Offensive Coordinator STADIUM INFORMATION Jerry Partridge (Missouri Western State, 1985) Defensive Coordinator Home Field Parker Field at McCool Stadium Kelvin Green (Clemson, 2009) Defensive Line Capacity 8,000 Jonathan Fletcher (Knox, 2011) Running Backs/STC Surface Hellas Artificial Turf Tyler Hasty (Guilford, 2011) Wide Receivers Record at Parker Field-McCool Stadium 152-86-8 Jesse Thompson (Oklahoma Panhandle State, 2014) Secondary NCAA Playoff Record at Parker-McCool 8-3 Sterling Griffin (Louisiana Tech, 2018) Receivers | GA Nick Franey (Central Methodist, 2017) Offensive Line | GA HISTORY Cason Bicknell (Southern Miss., 2013) DFO/Safeties | GA First Year of Football 1926 Karl Balls (Delta State, 1987) Defensive Line | Volunteer All-Time Record 468-390-23 GSC Championships Seven/1998, 2000, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2011, 2014 ATHLETIC TRAINING NCAA National Championships One/2000 Abby Havard, ATC/LAT Interim Assistant AD for Sports Medicine No. of Years in NCAA Tournament Ninth Roger Tollison, ATC Assistant NCAA Postseason Record 15-8 All-Time Bowl/Post-Season Record 17-8 EXTERNAL RELATIONS | ATHLETIC COMMUNICATIONS Last Post-Season Appearance 2017 Delta State University’s Office of External Relations provides a full service public relations shop to Finish 1-1/L, 27-20 vs. West Alabama | NCAA 2nd Round members of the media. Game day services include credentials, statistics, photography, video clips (where available), and post-game access to coaches and student-athletes. The Office of Athletic Communications TEAM INFORMATION is located on the second floor of Chadwick-Dickson Fieldhouse adjacent to Parker Field-McCool Stadium. 2017 Final Record 9-4 Gulf South Conference 5-3 | Tied for 2nd Final National Ranking Not Ranked Basic Offense Spread Multiple Basic Defense 3-4 Starters Returning/Lost 9/16 Offense 6/5 Defense 7/4 MATT JONES FRED SINGTON J.T. WEBB Specialty 3/0 Lettermen Returning/Lost 47/49 Football Contact .......................................................................................................................Matt Jones Offense 19/16 E-Mail: [email protected] | Cell: (662) 719-9160 Defense 27/11 Secondary Contact .....................................................................................................................J.T. Webb Specialty 3/2 E-Mail: [email protected] | Cell: (662) 719-9167 Statistics/Credentials ..........................................................................................................Fred Sington PRINTING PARTNER: THE IMAGE SPECIALIST E-Mail: [email protected] | Cell: (662) 588-6232 Delta State University Athletics would like to thank their official printing partner, The Image Specialist! For nore information on The Image Specialist, please visit SouthernDuplicating.com today. ONLINE: GOSTATESMEN.COM GoStatesmen.com offers complete coverage of Delta State football each week online with a live in-game blog and live stats provided through SideArm Sports. GoStatesmen.com is also optimized for all devices. WEEKLY SCHEDULE MONDAY | 10 TUESDAY | 11 WEDNESDAY | 12 THURSDAY | 13 FRIDAY | 14 SATURDAY | 15 SUNDAY | 16 • Players off • Press @ 11:30 a.m. • Practice 3:15 p.m. • Practice 3:15 p.m. • Practice 3:15 p.m. 10 a.m. | Depart for FIT • Practice @ 5:15 p.m. 6 pm | Statesman Nation • Practice @ 3:15 p.m. 6 p.m. | @ Florida Tech GOSTATESMEN.COM | @DSUSTATESMEN | @DELTASTATEFB | @COACHTODDCOOLEY | #DSUFAMILY 2 GAME THREE: FLORIDA TECH SEPTEMBER 15, 2018 | MELBOURNE, FLA. | PANTHER STADIUM STATESMEN FOOTBALL GULF SOUTH CONFERENCE STANDINGS AMERICAN FOOTBALL COACHES ASSOCIATION SCHOOL CONF CPCT. OVERALL PCT. HOME AWAY NEUTRAL STREAK TOP 25 POLL | SEPT. 10, 2018 Florida Tech 0-0 0.000 2-0 1.000 1-0 1-0 0-0 W2 # SCHOOL (1ST VOTES) W-L PTS. PREV. 1. Texas A&M-Commerce (26) 2-0 812 1 Mississippi College 0-0 0.000 2-0 1.000 2-0 0-0 0-0 W2 2. Minnesota St. (3) 2-0 780 3 Valdosta State 0-0 0.000 2-0 1.000 1-0 0-0 1-0 W2 3. Indiana (Pa.) (2) 2-0 722 4 West Alabama 0-0 0.000 2-0 1.000 2-0 0-0 0-0 W2 4. Northwest Missouri St. (1) 2-0 719 6 West Georgia 0-0 0.000 2-0 1.000 2-0 0-0 0-0 W2 5. Grand Valley St. (Mich.) 2-0 684 8 North Greenville 0-0 0.000 1-1 0.500 0-1 1-0 0-0 L1 6.