The 2013 Southern Conference football season, part of the 2013 NCAA Division I FCS football season competition of college football, began on Thursday, August 29, 2013 with Chattanooga hosting Tennessee–Martin. The regular season concluded on November 23, while Samford and Furman qualified for the NCAA Division I Football Championship.

Samford was eliminated in the first round by Jacksonville State. Furman defeated South Carolina State in the opening round, but fell to eventual champion North Dakota State 38–7 in the second round.

Appalachian State and Georgia Southern played their final seasons as members of the Southern Conference but were ineligible to win the conference championship or participate in the playoffs as they transitioned to the Football Bowl Subdivision.

Head coaches

Scott Satterfield, Appalachian State - 1st year Russ Huesman, Chattanooga – 5th year Kevin Higgins, The Citadel – 9th year Jason Swepson, Elon - 3rd year Bruce Fowler, Furman – 3rd year

Jeff Monken, Georgia Southern - 4th year Pat Sullivan, Samford – 6th year Mark Speir, Western Carolina – 2nd year Mike Ayers, Wofford – 26th year

Rankings + Legend   Increase in ranking   Decrease in ranking   Not ranked previous week

Appalachian State and Georgia Southern were ineligible for the Coaches' Poll due to the additional scholarship players on the rosters as part of their transition to FBS.

  Pre Wk1 Wk2 Wk3 Wk4 Wk5 Wk6 Wk7 Wk8 Wk9 Wk10 Wk11 Wk12 Wk13 FinalAppalachian State TSN 12 21 RV RV RV NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NRC NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NRChattanooga TSN 24 RV 24 17 23 21 23C 25 RV 23 18 21 23 25The Citadel TSN RV RV C RV NR Elon TSN RV NR C NR NR Furman TSN RV NR C NR NR Georgia Southern TSN 9 10 C NR NR Samford TSN RV RV C RV RV Western Carolina TSN NR NR C NR NR Wofford TSN 8 16 C 5 14

Regular season Index to colors and formattingSoCon member wonSoCon member lostSoCon teams in bold All times Eastern time.

Rankings reflect that of the Sports Network poll for that week.

Week One Date Time Visiting team Home team Site Broadcast Result Attendance Reference August 29 7:30 PM Tennessee–Martin #24 Chattanooga Finley Stadium • Chattanooga, TN L 21–31 11,163 August 29 7:30 PM Western Carolina Middle Tennessee Johnny "Red" Floyd Stadium • Murfreesboro, TN L 24–45 20,011 August 30 7:00 PM Samford Georgia State Georgia Dome • Atlanta, GA W 31–21 17,606 August 31 12:00 PM Elon Georgia Tech Bobby Dodd Stadium • Atlanta, GA ESPN3 L 0–70 45,759 August 31 6:00 PM Charleston Southern The Citadel Johnson Hagood Stadium • Charleston, SC L 29–32 12,196 August 31 6:00 PM Savannah State #9 Georgia Southern Paulson Stadium • Statesboro, GA W 77–9 16,528 August 31 6:45 PM Furman Gardner–Webb Ernest W. Spangler Stadium • Boiling Springs, NC WMYA L 21–28 3,876 August 31 7:30 PM #8 Wofford Baylor Floyd Casey Stadium • Waco, TX FCS Central L 3–69 44,989 September 1 9:00 PM #12 Appalachian State #20 Montana Washington–Grizzly Stadium • Missoula, MT ESPN3 L 6–30 26,293

Players of the week: Offensive Defensive Freshman Special teams Player Team Player Team Player Team Player Team Reference:

Week Two Date Time Visiting team Home team Site Broadcast Result Attendance Reference September 7 1:30 PM Western Carolina Virginia Tech Lane Stadium • Blacksburg, VA ESPN3 L 3–45 61,335 September 7 2:00 PM Chattanooga Georgia State Georgia Dome • Atlanta, GA ESPN3 W 42–14 14,952 September 7 6:00 PM North Carolina A&T Appalachian State Kidd Brewer Stadium • Boone, NC L 21–24 25,723 September 7 6:00 PM #16 Wofford The Citadel Johnson Hagood Stadium • Charleston, SC ESPN3 WOF 21–10 14,545 September 7 6:00 PM Elon Rhodes Stadium • Elon, NC W 49–7 7,112 September 7 6:00 PM Furman #24 Coastal Carolina Brooks Stadium • Conway, SC WMYA L 28–35 8,636 September 7 6:00 PM Saint Francis (PA) Georgia Southern Paulson Stadium • Statesboro, GA W 59–17 13,758 September 7 7:00 PM Samford Arkansas War Memorial Stadium • Little Rock, AR PPV L 21–31 47,358

Players of the week: Offensive Defensive Freshman Special teams Player Team Player Team Player Team Player Team Reference:

Week Three Date Time Visiting team Home team Site Broadcast Result Attendance Reference September 14 12:00 PM Presbyterian Furman Paladin Stadium • Greenville, SC W 21–20 6,500 September 14 2:00 PM Samford Florida A&M Bragg Memorial Stadium • Tallahassee, FL W 27–20 10,034 September 14 3:30 PM The Citadel Western Carolina E. J. Whitmire Stadium • Cullowhee, NC CIT 28–21 9,345 September 14 6:00 PM Austin Peay Chattanooga Finley Stadium • Chattanooga, TN W 42–10 9,189 September 14 6:00 PM Elon North Carolina A&T Aggie Stadium • Greensboro, NC L 10–23 13,221 September 14 7:00 PM Georgia Southern Wofford Gibbs Stadium • Spartanburg, SC WOF 30–20 8,153

Players of the week: Offensive Defensive Freshman Special teams Player Team Player Team Player Team Player Team Reference:

Week Four Date Time Visiting team Home team Site Broadcast Result Attendance Reference September 21 2:00 PM Southeastern Louisiana Samford Seibert Stadium • Homewood, AL L 31–34 4,598 September 21 3:30 PM Western Carolina E. J. Whitmire Stadium • Cullowhee, NC W 30–23 7,490 September 21 6:00 PM Appalachian State Elon Rhodes Stadium • Elon, NC ASU 31–21 9,782 September 21 6:00 PM The Citadel Old Dominion Foreman Field • Norfolk, VA COX L 58–59 20,118 September 21 7:00 PM Gardner–Webb Wofford Gibbs Stadium • Spartanburg, SC L 0–3 6,207

Players of the week: Offensive Defensive Freshman Special teams Player Team Player Team Player Team Player Team Reference:

Week Five Date Time Visiting team Home team Site Broadcast Result Attendance Reference

Players of the week: Offensive Defensive Freshman Special teams Player Team Player Team Player Team Player Team Reference:

Records against other conferences

FCS conferences ConferenceRecordBig Sky0–1Big South1–4CAA0–0Ivy League0–0Independents0–1MEAC2–2MVFC0–0NEC1–0OVC1–1Patriot0–0Pioneer0–0Southland0–1SWAC0–0Total5–10

FBS conferences ConferenceRecordAmerican0–0ACC0–2Big 120–1C-USA0–1Independents0–0MAC0–0SEC0–1Sun Belt2–0Total2–5

Attendance TeamStadiumCapacityGame 1Game 2Game 3Game 4Game 5Game 6Game 7Game 8Total Average% of CapacityAppalachian StateKidd Brewer Stadium30,85625,72325,72325,723ChattanoogaFinley Stadium20,66811,1639,18920,35210,176The CitadelJohnson Hagood Stadium21,00012,19614,54526,74113,371ElonRhodes Stadium13,0007,1129,78216,8948,447FurmanPaladin Stadium16,0006,5006,5006,500Georgia SouthernPaulson Stadium18,00016,52813,75830,28615,143SamfordSeibert Stadium6,7004,5984,5984,598Western CarolinaE.J. Whitmire Stadium13,7429,3457,49016,8358,418WoffordGibbs Stadium13,0008,1536,20714,3607,180

NFL draft The following list includes all SoCon players who were drafted in the 2014 NFL draft.

Round # Pick # NFL team Player Position College 3 96 Minnesota Vikings Jerick McKinnon RB Georgia Southern 4 137 New York Jets Dakota Dozier G Furman 7 252 Cincinnati Bengals Lavelle Westbrooks CB Georgia Southern

References