November 14th, 2025 10:38am
SIAC Weekly-Championship Week
By Matthew Suleski, D2Football.com
Weekly Rewind (SIAC teams denoted in bold)
A look back at last weeks scores by the numbers.
Allen 53 Edward Waters 30
Allen—459 total yds 27 first downs/Passing 284 yds 2 td/Rushing 175 yds 6 td
Edward Waters—354 total yds 16 first downs/Passing 148 yds 2 td 2 int/Rushing 206 yds 2 td
Albany State 48 Fort Valley State 3
Albany State—322 total yds 19 first downs/Passing 163 yds 2 td/Rushing 159 yds 3 td
Fort valley State—106 total yds 12 first downs/Passing 76 yds 3 int/Rushing 30 yds
Tuskegee 24 Miles 23
Tuskegee—345 total yds 24 first downs/Passing 194 yds 3 td 1 int/Rushing 151 yds
Miles—267 yds 20 first downs/Passing 205 1 td 1 int/Rushing 62 yds 1 td
Kentucky State 55 Lane 0
Kentucky State—508 total yds 29 first downs/Passing 242 yds 4 td/Rushing 266 yds 3 td
Lane—131 total yds 6 first downs/Passing 75 yds 1 int/Rushing 56 yds
Benedict 16 Savannah State 13 (2 OT)
Benedict—344 total yds 22 first downs/Passing 143 yds 1 td 3 int/Rushing 201 yds 1 td
Savannah State—327 total yds 11 first downs/Passing 211 yds 1 int/Rushing 116 yds 1 td
Clark-Atlanta 48 Morehouse 45
Clark-Atlanta—422 total yds 25 first downs/Passing 298 yds 2 td/Rushing 124 yds 3 td
Morehouse—465 total yds 20 first downs/Passing 344 yds 4 td/Rushing 121 yds 2 td
SIAC-Championship Week + Bonus Matchups (SIAC teams denoted in bold)
Benedict (9-1, 7-1) at Albany State (9-1, 8-0) Conference Championship Game
Benedict got the tight double overtime victory last week against Savannah State that propelled them into the conference championship game. The Tigers were tied with the red-hot Kentucky State Thorobreds, but were able to move into the championship game due to a tiebreaker. The Tiger’s defense has been outstanding all season long. They enter championship weekend ranked second in the conference in scoring defense and fifth in the conference in total defense. Benedict has to be much better than they were three weeks ago when they got thumped at home by Albany State 31-3. Quarterback Darius Ocean has deep ball playmaking ability, but can be turnover prone at times. Turnovers against the Golden Rams nearly guarantee defeat. Ocean completed just 10 of his 28 pass attempts for 158 yards and an interception in week eight against Albany State. Defensively I believe they must pick their poison against the Golden Rams offense. Either stack the box and force Knowles to beat you through the air or sit in a shallow zone and play bend-but-don’t-break against the run.
Albany State has been the premier team all season in the SIAC. The Golden Rams were fortunate that they played the three teams at the bottom of the conference when Knowles was out. Albany State’s one loss this year was to a Division I FCS opponent in Florida A&M. They only lost that game by eight points. Albany State nearly sweeps the conference in team statistics. They are first in both scoring offense and defense. Giving up only 11.5 points per game while averaging 36.8 points per contest. They also rank first in total defense, yielding only 255.4 yards per outing while finishing second in total offense, at 401.5 yards per game. Kentucky State leads them by 0.9 yards per game for first place in total offense. To say that ASU has been dominant is an understatement. I think the key for them to hoist the SIAC trophy on Saturday is to play to stop the run and force Ocean into making all the throws to beat you. Offensively, a heavy dose of Tiant Wyche and Aljhanod Thomas pounding the rock and the dual-threat capability of Isiah Knowles seems to be the recipe for success.
Some say that it’s hard to beat a team twice in the same season. I would rather have beat them once and know I can beat them, than to have to question it when the game happens the second time.
PREDICTION
Albany State 34 Benedict 13
Shorter (2-8, 1-5) at Kentucky State (8-2, 7-1)
The Hawks from Shorter come into this contest finishing up their regular season with two wins on the season and one win in conference play. They’ve added an extra game against Kentucky State. This will not be their first matchup of 2025 with a SIAC opponent as they fell 13-0 to Savannah State in week two.
The Thorobreds come into this contest riding a seven-game winning streak and a red-hot offense. Whether its Denim Johnson or Torrance Bardell barking out the signals, the end results continue to be a lot of points and a victory. KSU missed out on a chance to play in the SIAC championship game due to a tie-breaker and they sit seventh in this week’s regional rankings. The top eight from each region get into the playoffs and it seems as though Kentucky State is solidly in. This now becomes a must-win for the Thorobreds.
PREDICTION
Kentucky State 49 Shorter 20
Allen (5-5, 5-3) at Erskine (1-5, 1-9)
The Yellow Jackets come into this added game on a three-game winning streak. The offense has averaged 36.3 points per game during the winning roll. They’ll look to put on one last show this season as they travel less than two hours down I-26 to play Erskine from Conference Carolinas.
Erskine has had a tough go of it this year as they enter this contest 1-9 and winless at home. This added game gives them a chance to try and taste victory on their home turf this season.
A win by Allen gives them a winning record for the 2025 campaign while a win for Erskine gives them the sweet taste of victory on their home filed. Who finishes the season out with a victory?
PREDICTION
Allen 41 Erskine 23
SEASON PREDICTIONS
Last Week 3-3
Overall 56-23