Morris: Glory days return in Orangeburg

Coach Buddy Pough Bulldog teams are 76-29
 with a MEAC record of 58-13 over the past 10 seasons.

Orangeburg, SC - When Buddy Pough returned to his hometown of Orangeburg and his alma mater of South Carolina State 10 years ago, there was little promise that the football program would return to its glory days of the 1970s and ’80s.

A decade later and S.C. State again is the king of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference. A dynasty has been born again. If there is one college football constant in the state of South Carolina, it is the success of S.C. State.

Of course, Pough does not want to hear any of that talk. “Sometimes I think we should have done more,” he said. “That’s kind of what drives you. You’re always trying to make that next step.”

In the 18 seasons before Pough’s arrival, S.C. State had managed to win one MEAC championship, in 1994. One title in nearly two decades. Under Pough’s guidance, S.C. State has won outright conference crowns in 2008 and ’09 and shared titles in 2004 and ’10.

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