By Corey Stewart
SouthernPigskin.com

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With it being late October, itxe2x80x99s time for the pretenders to step aside and let the contenders start to emerge.

nWeek 7 in the SoCon came and went with three schools emerging as the teams to beat in the race for the 2015 season crown. With it being late October, itxe2x80x99s time for the pretenders to step aside and let the contenders start to emerge. But there are still teams vying for a late chargexe2x80xa6yada yada yadaxe2x80xa6

n1)xc2xa0xc2xa0xc2xa0xc2xa0xc2xa0 Chattanooga (Jerry Seinfeld) xe2x80x93 “You know the difference between a dentist and a sadist, don’t you? Newer magazines.” You know the difference between Chattanooga and VMI? About 6 yards, as it took a late 4th down conversion by Chattanooga this weekend to hold off a ferocious VMI upset bid 33-27. In a game where VMI led 21-20 at the half, Chattanooga had to rely on the foot of its kicker (and SoCon Player of the Week winner) Henrique Ribeiro who tied a school record with 4 field goals in the game. While the Mocxe2x80x99s controlled the clock by almost a 2:1 ratio in time differential, and racked up 490 yards to VMIxe2x80x99s 262; a number of drives stalled out and put VMI in a position to hang with the #6 ranked Mocxe2x80x99s wire to wire. But despite the game feeling like a root-canal, the Mocxe2x80x99s emerged 3-0 in league play and travel to a sinking Wofford team this Saturday at 1:30xe2x80xa6yada yada yadaxe2x80xa6who said anything about being an xe2x80x9canti-dentitexe2x80x9d!?
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n2)xc2xa0xc2xa0xc2xa0xc2xa0xc2xa0 Citadel (Tim Whatley) xe2x80x93 Tim Whatley allegedly converted to Judaism for the jokes. If Citadel keeps their ground game going, they might start converting more teams to switch back to running option football again. In a game where the Citadel had to drive across 3 states to get to their opponent, the Bulldogs looked fresh and were the better team on Saturday as they rolled up Samford 44-25. Offensively, Citadel chewed up the turf and clock rushing for 424 yards behind Dominque Allen at QB. Defensively, SoCon Player of the Week Dee Delaney led the Bulldog effort in shutting down Samford with 10 tackles, 1 INT, 1 forced fumble, and a fumble returned for a touchdown. Itxe2x80x99s been over 20 years since the Citadel has this kind of a record this late into the season. Theyxe2x80x99ll look to continue their run this Saturday as they travel to Furman for a 1:30 showdownxe2x80xa6yada yada yadaxe2x80xa6.did you hear the one about the Pope and Raquel Welch on the lifeboat?
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n3)xc2xa0xc2xa0xc2xa0xc2xa0xc2xa0 Western Carolina (Kramer) xe2x80x93 Julie or Karen? Karen or Julie? Having trouble deciding on the right girl? Give Troy Mitchell a call, he seems to have an answer for everything, or at least he did on Saturday in leading Western Carolina to its first victory in Spartanburg since 1981, 24-17. Mitchell tossed for 2 TDs and 203 yards while leading the Catamounts to an early 17-0 lead, then navigated the offense through the second half on their way to a 24-3 4th quarter lead. The Catamounts defense created 5 turnovers in the contest and has Western poised to make a charge for the conference crown with a 4-2 record. The charge begins in earnest this weekend as they host reeling Samford at 3:30xe2x80xa6yada yada yadaxe2x80xa6Julie. She’s the one. Or maybe itxe2x80x99s Karen?
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n4)xc2xa0xc2xa0xc2xa0xc2xa0xc2xa0 Samford (Elaine) xe2x80x93 You break up a couple, help get them back together again, convince said couples adoption agent youxe2x80x99ll go out with him if he expedites their application to only find out they break up and your stuck with the ugly guy at the wedding! A metaphor for Samfordxe2x80x99s season so far? Perhaps. A week after torching VMI in Lexington, Samford hosted Citadel in the weekends showcase game and came away pummeled on their home field 44-25. While the Bulldogs had almost 500 yards of total offense, they were done in by 4 turnovers and 424 rushing yards by the Citadels offense, which dominated the time of possession battle by over 10 minutes. While Samford WR Karel Hamilton garnered SoCon Player of the Week honors for his 220 yards receiving, it wasnxe2x80x99t enough as the game was out of hand headed into the 4th with a 41-17 Citadel lead. The season is on the line this weekend when Samford travels to Cullowhee to face the Catamounts at 3:30xe2x80xa6yada yada yadaxe2x80xa6did I mention the xe2x80x9cbisque?xe2x80x9d
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n5)xc2xa0xc2xa0xc2xa0xc2xa0xc2xa0 Mercer (George) xe2x80x93 “I gotta tell you, I am loving this yada yada thing. I can gloss over my whole life story.” After the last three weeks, ETSU was a sight for sore eyes as Mercer needed to gloss over the memory of those would-be victories from its mind in a 52-0 woodshed beating of the Buccaneers. Mercer racked up 563 yards in the game, with John Russ passing for 269 yards and 4 TDxe2x80x99s before passing out water on the sidelines to the backups in the second half. Defensively, the Bears held ETSU to a paltry 228 yards of offense, most of which came in garbage time when the contest was well in hand. The Bears get a chance to continue their upward trend this week as VMI visits at 3:00xe2x80xa6yada yada yadaxe2x80xa6when do victories against ETSU count toward conference wins again?
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n6)xc2xa0xc2xa0xc2xa0xc2xa0xc2xa0 Furman (Marcy) xe2x80x93 Furman got busted for trying to shoplift an actual offense this week and wellxe2x80xa6yada yada yadaxe2x80xa6wexe2x80x99ll see if they can break the 350 yard mark for the first time in six weeks when they host red-hot Citadel this weekend at 1:30pm.
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n7)xc2xa0xc2xa0xc2xa0xc2xa0xc2xa0 VMI (Karen & Julie) xe2x80x93 Just like the two girls Kramer and Mickey couldnxe2x80x99t decide over, VMI was perplexed this weekend as to how exactly they wanted to give away their upset bid over Chattanooga. While it took some coaxing, it finally came to them in the 4th quarter on an errant throw by Al Cobb that was picked off by Sema’je Kendall and returned 28 yards for a touchdown, cementing the 33-27 loss to the visiting Mocsxe2x80x99. The Keydets were held to only 262 yards of offense, but had three defensive stops inside their own 15 yard line to keep the Mocxe2x80x99s out of the endzone. VMI continues its long trek for that elusive 2nd win as they travel to Macon to play Mercer at 3:00xe2x80xa6yada yada yadaxe2x80xa6can VMI play Morehead State again?
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n8)xc2xa0xc2xa0xc2xa0xc2xa0xc2xa0 Wofford (Mickey) xe2x80x93 Find the girl of your dreams only to find out she really wanted your friend all along? Probably means you negotiated the dating scene about as well as Wofford handled the ball this Saturday as the Terriers had their teeth knocked out to Western Carolina 24-17, falling to 3-4 on the season. In a must win game at home, the Terriers turned the ball over 5 times in an effort that saw them start the 4th quarter down 24-3. The Terriers rushed for 242 yards but could not respond on defense early in giving Western short fields to work with as they built their lead. Itxe2x80x99s all or nothing this week as they host visiting Chattanooga at 1:30xe2x80xa6yada yada yada…good thing Mickeyxe2x80x99s dad is a Dentist!xc2xa0