The Gulf South's league slate kicked off last week with North Greenville bouncing back from an 0-2 start to earn a road win over Mississippi College by a 41-19 score and temporarily move to the top of the league standings.

The Gulf South opened the 2022 campaign in impressive fashion, continuing its recent run of dominant Week 1s with a 6-2 collective mark. The league’s only losses came against a Top 25 opponent (Mississippi College at Albany State) and a solid FCS program (North Greenville at Furman).

A linebacker's role in a defense has evolved with the times in college football, but the position's importance has never changed. Linebackers often function as the eyes of a defense and are often tasked with stuffing the run, but they double as vital pass-rushers and, with the proliferation of pass-heavy offenses, can even function as hybrid defensive backs.

Championship football starts up front; look no further than Ferris State.

With a variety of the top offenses in the country, including two of the very best in Valdosta State and West Florida, it’s safe to say that the Gulf South Conference is an offensive league. But with so many standouts on offense, that does create opportunities for defensive players to make a name for themselves. Here’s a look at some of the top returning talent returning to the Gulf South Conference ahead of the 2022 season — on both sides of the ball.

Since Jack Schneider caught Bradbury Robinson's toss for the first reception in football history 117 years ago, pass-catchers have grown ever increasingly vital to the game. To wit, there were an incredible 22 players to eclipse 1,000 yards receiving at the Div. II level in 2021.

Ground games on the Div. II landscape a season ago proved to be a youth movement. Two of the nation's top four, three of the top six, and four of the leading 13 rushers in 2021 were freshmen. All return in 2022 to build on their impressive debuts.

The past three seasons of Gulf South football have been ruled by Valdosta State, with the Blazers going 22-1 in the league over that time.

In the blue corner: From St. Augustine, Florida, he stands 6-foot-2, 220 pounds. He’s third in the nation with 325.6 passing yards per game, fourth in passing touchdowns despite playing just nine games with 33, and holds the NCAA Division II Championship Game record for passing yards.

Sitting alone atop the Gulf South Conference and ranked in one of the top two spots in the national polls isn’t anything new for Valdosta State.

The top half of the Gulf South Conference used Week 6 to create separation from the bottom half, and the emphatic results make for a Week 7 with high stakes.

When a team rallies from a halftime deficit in college football, among the first questions a reporter asks of a head coach is invariably, What did you say to the guys in the locker room?

From unranked to start the season to the top 15 of the poll, both West Alabama and West Georgia have made emphatic statements to start the 2021 season.

Following its historic first game on campus, reigning national champion West Florida heads to Texas for a rematch of the 2017 National Championship Game.

Eight up, seven down: The Gulf South Conference could not have had a much better start than its opening week to the 2021 season.