Tuesday, September 4, 2007

Pough says SCSU has to improve


By THOMAS GRANT JR., T&D Senior Sports Writer

We probably played as poorly ... as anytime I’ve been here’; Heading into Bethune-Cookman game, Pough says SCSU has to improve

Monday’s federal holiday was just another work day for the South Carolina State football team.

Instead of taking it easy on Labor Day, SCSU head football coach Oliver "Buddy" Pough planned to have his staff working late into the night following last Saturday’s 34-3 loss at Air Force Academy. Just watching the game film detailing what Pough called the "real, real, real poor" play in the second-worst season-opening loss in school history was enough to justify shunning a day off.

"We probably played as poorly as a football team as anytime I’ve been here," said Pough at Monday’s weekly press conference. "(The players) tried to shake it off, but then that film part is the one that really brings it back to earth. After they got a chance to see the video and see how poorly we looked ... we look at teams all the time and see them playing, doing things that we don’t think are really good. You know, fundamentals are bad and that kind of stuff. And, for us to see some of those same kind of things on our own film, for that kind of film to be out there with our name on it is a little bit embarrassing. So, we are going to really work hard this week to work to clean up some on our deficiencies so that we don’t let that happen again."

Now the Bulldogs face a "make or break" Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference opener this Saturday at Bethune-Cookman. A loss puts SCSU back in the same hole it faced last season following the 45-21 trouncing in Charleston at the hands of the Wildcats and, with the University of South Carolina the following week, the real prospect of a first-ever 0-3 start under Pough.

"We’ve got to get it done this week and this is probably as important a week as we’ve had in a long time here," he said.

Many of the problem areas the Bulldogs hope to correct from last Saturday plagued them in last year’s loss to Bethune-Cookman. SCSU was unable to stop Air Force Academy on third down (the Falcons were 9-16 on third-down conversions) and the secondary was particularly vulnerable against the running and passing threat presented by quarterback Shaun Carney.

"I thought it was more because of some of the uncertainty and some of things that had our defense playing a little bit soft," Pough said. "We had some people that didn’t understand some of the intricacies of staying with your guy. A lot of times, what happens is if your guy starts to block and you’ve got a man-to-man, you think it’s run and the next thing you know, you go ahead and see if you can try to help your team with the run. Before you know it, that guy a minute ago that you thought was blocking for a running play is now out in a pass pattern and now you’ve lost it. You can’t find him. We had that happen to us a couple of times.

"Those kind of things you need to actually replicate for your kids because if not, then some of that stuff may catch you and some of that kind of stuff did. That’s why some of our secondary stuff looked as poor as it did, especially on a couple of touchdown runs, a couple of long pass plays. Besides that, it was mostly kind of playing soft because of the uncertainty of it all."

Pough also took the blame for the offensive line’s lack of effectiveness. He admitted underestimating the unit’s ability to maintain continuity after shuffling around a couple of starters after tackle Nygel Pearson broke his hand and in its ability to protect quarterback Cleveland McCoy, who was sacked five times.

"That caught us off-guard a little bit, too," he said. "It was one of those situations where I thought we had a little bit of a false sense of security in that those guys were kind of experienced. The one thing I didn’t maybe take into account was the way we moved some of those guys around and we had some breakdowns there that can strictly be attributed to the fact that we ended up moving some guys back around in the last week of practice.

"We talked about moving them again, that kind of stuff. I think what I’d like to see happen is for us to maybe let those guys settle in a little bit more and see if we can get ourselves grounded in what we’re doing by letting them kind of jell together some. I’m hoping that will start to happen this week. We’re going to give more reps this week than we ordinarily would."

The one bright spot for SCSU was its overall special teams’ play. Taking advantage of the altitude, place-kicker Stephen Grantham booted a career-long 51-yard field goal and punter Aaron Haire of Orangeburg-Wilkinson averaged 40.9 yards a punt and booted a career-best 61-yard attempt. Meanwhile, the kick coverage team which led all Football Championship Subdivision programs last season picked up right where they left off, allowing 17.8 yards per kick.

Pough is hoping the offense and defense can bring the same level of consistency this week or else face another uphill battle for the conference title.

"I’m thinking that the old saying that you make your biggest improvement between your first and second game because it’s the first time you get the kind of real sense of urgency factor that you just can’t seem to produce or replicate in practice," Pough said. "You really work hard to get better next week, so I’m hoping that’s the case this week."

Bulldog notes

SCSU leads the all-time series with Bethune-Cookman 26-6-1, but has not won at Municipal Stadium/Larry Kelly field since 1997 - a 17-10 victory. The Bulldogs did defeat the Wildcats in their last visit to Florida back in 2005 by a 27-24 score in Jacksonville ,.. Bethune-Cookman’s Alvin Wyatt and Hampton University’s Joe Taylor are the only MEAC head coaches with winning records against Pough, each sporting a 3-2 mark ... Both defensive tackle Steve Jacobs and running back Jonathan Woods are expected to miss Saturday’s game with ankle sprains, according to Pough ...
Saturday’s 34-32 victory by defending FCS champion Appalachian State over fifth-ranked Football Bowl Subdivision Michigan provided little solace for Pough. "The fact that you know it can be done (a FCS defeating an FBS) is a little bit disappointing," he said. "You had some of the top (FCS) teams in the country ... who had some of the same kinds of difficulties that we did against (FBS) opponents. So, it’s not so unusual for what happened to us to happen. I think the more unusual thing is what happened with Appalachian (State). Although we’d all like to be there today. We are who we are." SCSU will get another shot at an FBS team on Sept. 15 when it visits the University of South Carolina.

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