Georgia Southern and Elon will be the inaugural Southern Conference game this week as all of the other SoCon schools will play at least one more round of non-conference games.

Elon (2-1) is the only SoCon school that did not schedule an FBS opponent, instead choosing to play one of the stronger nonconference teams within the FCS. Elon coach Pete Lembo said via teleconference on Tuesday that he thinks it's a better measurement tool to see where a team stands in relation to the kind of competition it will face once league play begins.

"With us opening up with Richmond — who I think is probably one of the better FCS teams in the country — I think that's a great barometer when you're getting ready to play teams like Georgia Southern and so on."

Both teams had players picked as the player of the week for the Southern Conference for last week's efforts as GSU's Antonio Henton garnered the offensive title while Elon's A.J. Harris was named freshman of the week with 91 rushing yards and three touchdowns on seven carries and returner Bo Williamson was named special teams player of the week with 114 kickoff-return yards and 14 punt- return yards.

Wofford stands alone as league's only unbeaten

Wofford is the Southern Conference's only remaining undefeated team at 2-0 after a bye in week three. Wofford is also one of two Southern Conference members that has not played an FBS team this season, but that will change this week as the Terriers travel to South Carolina to take on the Gamecocks (1-2).

The game in Columbia, S.C. is the last time a SoCon team will face off against an FBS opponent this season. Teams from the league are 0-8 in those matchups after Samford lost its undefeated record in a 34-10 loss to Ole Miss and Chattanooga fell to Florida State, 46-7, last week.

The last time Wofford played South Carolina in Sept. 2007, the Terriers scored 10 fourth-quarter points and found themselves at the SC 10-yard line with 29 seconds remaining, but a pass was picked off and South Carolina avoided the upset, 27-20.

"If you execute, even against great football players, you've got a chance to win," Wofford coach Mike Ayers said. "The one thing I think, and the main thing that we took away from that [game in 2007] is that if you get behind and you persevere and you work hard and you execute, you've got a chance to win a game."

Presbyterian making the rounds within the SoCon

Presbyterian College (1-2) has now played two out of its three games against SoCon teams. The Blue Hose lost to Wofford in their season opener and fell to Elon last week. Presbyterian still has two games remaining against SoCon opponents — Western Carolina this week and Appalachian State next week — before entering its conference season on Oct. 4.

Defensive Player of the Week

Though Georgia Southern and Elon consumed three of the four weekly honors divvied out by the league, Western Carolina's Quintin Phillips was named defensive player of the week with 16 tackles.

Natalie Sayewich can be reached at (912) 489-9413.