SCSU Pough ready to talk about USC

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

COLUMBIA — Let the talk begin.

For weeks, South Carolina State head football coach Oliver "Buddy" Pough deliberately avoided talking about the first-ever game against the University of South Carolina. The reason was simple as the Bulldogs had a very important ‘prior engagement’ a week earlier with Bethune-Cookman which demanded their full attention.

A loss to the Wildcats now only would have put SCSU behind the ‘eight ball’ for the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference regular-season title, but created the nightmarish prospect of having to defeat a Football Bowl Subdivision team to avoid an 0-3 start.

With the 24-13 win over the Wildcats, the Bulldogs can head to Columbia this Saturday relaxed knowing their standing in the conference will remain unchanged regardless of the outcome with the Gamecocks.

The lifted burden was especially evident in a relieved Pough’s post-game comments when asked about returning to the university he spent five years as a running backs’ coach under Lou Holtz. While excited about coaching at Williams-Brice Stadium again, Pough’s much happier about going there off a conference win.

"This makes me feel 100 times better going in there not 0-2," he said.

Quarterback Cleveland McCoy, who was a freshman when the Bulldogs faced Benedict in the 2004 Palmetto Capital City Classic at Williams-Brice Stadium, also believes his team will play more loose because of Saturday’s win.

"If we lost this game, it would been...because Bethune-Cookman is a MEAC team," McCoy said. "That counts and going into Carolina with your head down, that’s not a good thing. They’re coming in there to embarrass us, so that’s the great thing we wanted to do (Saturday)."

McCoy also believes the experience with Air Force, plus taking inspiration from what fellow Football Championship Subdivision team Appalachian State did to Football Bowl Subdivision team Michigan, will aid the Bulldogs against USC.

"We want to go in there and win and by any means necessary," McCoy said. "We don’t want to say ‘Well, we’re going up there to lose because that defeats the purpose of playing football. We want to have a shot at winning. Appalachian State won, so there’s no telling what we can do."

The one Bulldog whose arguably most looking forward to facing USC is former Clemson defensive lineman Xavier Littleberry. As the only SCSU player who have played against the Gamecocks during his one season with the Tigers, he still carries a ‘grudge’ against his former school’s biggest rival.

"I just feel like once they’re my rival, they’re always my rival and that’s going to be a real big game for me," he said.

Kickoff for Saturday’s first-ever contest between USC and SCSU is 7 p.m. Tickets can be purchased at the SCSU Ticket Office by calling (803) 536-8579 and Time Warner Cable will air the game on a pay-per-view basis.

Bulldog notes

The Bulldogs’ 279 rushing yards were 32 more than the combined total yards of Bethune-Cookman. Travil Jamison came off the bench to lead SCSU with 70 yards...With the win, SCSU improved to 37-5 under head coach Oliver "Buddy" Pough when leading or tied at halftime. Last year’s 10-9 loss to Delaware State was the only time that has taken place in conference play...Pough evened his record to 3-3 against Bethune-Cookman, leaving Hampton as the only MEAC team he does not own a winning record against...Corey Council’s 98-yard kickoff touchdown return was just the latest by a Wildcat player against SCSU. In fact, four of the five longest kickoff returns in Bethune-Cookman history have come at the Bulldogs’ expense, including current head coach Alvin Wyatt, who had a 102-yard return against SCSU in 1972. Wyatt’s return is tied for second in school history with John Osbourne, who also had a 102-yard return in 1972 against SCSU and four shy of the school mark set by Vincent Nobles in 1966 against the Bulldogs...A week after averaging 40.9 yards a punt in the high altitude at Air Force, punter Aaron Haire of Orangeburg-Wilkinson did even better with five punts averaging 48 yards, including a 61-yarder...Saturday’s game lasted three hours and seven minutes...Pough will hold his weekly press conference at 9 a.m. today in the athletics building.