Pough feeling letdown of 'only' a 7-4 season, no 4th straight MEAC title

Coach Oliver "Buddy" Pough

Orangeburg, South Carolina -- Celebrating a 10th straight winning season was not on the top of South Carolina State head football coach Buddy Pough's postgame plans on Saturday.

The relief Pough had in seeing the Bulldogs rally from a 14-3 deficit to defeat North Carolina A&T 30-22 in the team's 2011 finale at Oliver C. Dawson Stadium was accompanied by a sense of disappointment. For the first time in four years, S.C. State's offseason will not include a playoff appearance and ring-sizing for another Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference championship.

"I think it's gone kind of medium," Pough said about the current season. "We haven't been good enough. We haven't been bad enough. Kind of medium. That's what it is. It's not quite up to standards for South Carolina State. I can tell you we're not satisfied. But at the same time, it is what it is."

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S.C. State's Pough taking ‘caged animal' to Howard

Orangeburg, South Carolina -- With Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference title hopes on life support and mounting injuries at key positions, South Carolina State resembles the proverbial "wounded animal" entering Saturday's game at Howard University.

This is exactly the position head football coach Buddy Pough seems comfortable with in facing a second straight opponent looking to snap an eight-game losing streak to the Bulldogs.

"It's a better football team than (Florida A&M) was last week, I guarantee you, and we go there to play this week," Pough said. "So we've got our hands full. It'll be a tough task and it's a great scenario for us," Pough said. "We get to be a little bit the caged animal a little bit. We get to try to get our backs from against the wall. So we get a chance to really get a look to see just what's inside some of our guys. We've got to go up there and win. We feel like this is a must-win for us and we'll see what happens from there."

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NSU report: South Carolina State offense may be problematic

Norfolk, VA - Norfolk State has seen this offense before, just not quite like this. South Carolina runs a spread offense predicated on a single play and single player, much like the offenses run by Charleston Southern and Howard - teams the Spartans have shut down this season.

The zone read quarterback run, recently brought to prominence by Tim Tebow and then Cam Newton, will be a big part of the Bulldog offense. South Carolina State quarterback Derrick Wiley might not be as effective as the aforementioned, he is better than both quarterbacks the Spartans previously faced.



"They're almost identical as far as scheme is concerned...," head coach Pete Adrian said. "They have a lot better players, which presents a problem."

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Indiana Hoosiers v. South Carolina State Bulldogs (preview)

Indiana vs. South Carolina State
September 17, 2011 | 3:30 p.m. ET | Bloomington, Ind.
TV: BTN | Radio: IU Radio Network; Sirius 117
Gametracker | Listen Online | Broadcast Affiliates
 Indiana Game Notes | Big Ten Game Notes



BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - Staying home for the second straight Saturday, the Indiana football team will face South Carolina State on Saturday, Sept. 17. Kickoff is at 3:30 p.m. EDT and the BTN will broadcast the game.

Tom Werme will handle play-by-play duties and he will be joined by Gerry DiNardo (analyst) and Stacy Paetz (sideline). The game can also be heard on the statewide IU Radio Network with Don Fischer (play-by-play), Buck Suhr (analyst) and Joe Smith (pre-game, halftime and post-game) on the call.

Setting The Scene
• The Indiana football team (0-2, 0-0 Big Ten) welcomes South Carolina State (1-1, 1-0 MEAC) to Memorial Stadium on Saturday, Sept. 17. IU roared back from a 23-3 deficit with 28 unanswered points only to fall to Virginia, 34-31, while SCSU earned a 26-18 victory at Bethune-Cookman last weekend.
• South Carolina State was named the preseason favorite in the MEAC. The Bulldogs have won three straight conference titles and made three straight FCS playoff appearances.

The Coaches
• Kevin Wilson is in his first season as Indiana head coach. Wilson spent the 2002-10 seasons at Oklahoma, where he served as co-offensive coordinator and offensive line coach from 2002-05 and as offensive coordinator and tight ends and fullbacks coach from 2006-10. OU played in seven Big 12 Title games in Wilson's nine years, going 6-1 in those appearances. His offenses were vital to accumulating an overall record of 99-24 (.805) during his time in Norman, including seven 10-win seasons.
• Oliver "Buddy" Pough is in his 10th season as head coach at South Carolina State, where he earned All-MEAC honors as an offensive lineman. Pough has compiled a 77-30 (.720) overall record and his teams have captured or shared four MEAC titles.

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S.C. State knocks off Bethune-Cookman

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - It was about as close as you could get to a heavyweight championship fight taking place on a football field Saturday at Municipal Stadium.

For 3-1/2 quarters, South Carolina State took Bethune-Cookman's best offensive shots and were out-pointed both on the scoreboard and the statistics department. Yet the defense enabled the Bulldogs to maintain a puncher's chance late in the nationally televised contest.

With S.C. State holding a one-point lead with four minutes left, the Wildcats prepared to land the knockout punch. Instead, the Bulldogs countered with a lethal blow in the form of Dominique Ellis' 55-yard interception return for a touchdown which sealed a 26-18 victory over Bethune-Cookman in a matchup of two of last year's three co-Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference champions.

"I actually knew it was coming," Ellis said. "They had ran it on me earlier. I played it bad. I knew from the whole jump. I knew it! I knew it from film study. (Defensive coordinator Mike Adams) had us ready."

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Bulldogs pull past Wildcats in 4th quarter to win, 26-18

DAYTONA BEACH -- Brian Jenkins picked up a stat sheet and read the numbers out loud again and again. "We had 397 total yards. They had 211," Bethune-Cookman's coach said. "We had 245 passing. They had 54." If was as if he was trying to make sense of it all.

B-CU dominated the stat sheet but lost the battle as South Carolina State relied on special teams and defense to rally past the Wildcats 26-18 in a key Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference game Saturday before a near-capacity crowd of 9,463 at Municipal Stadium.

The Wildcats, normally as adept at holding onto the ball as they are at knocking it away from their opponents, had five turnovers. The big one was Dominique Ellis's 55-yard interception return for a touchdowns with 4 minutes left to give the Bulldogs a 26-18 lead.

B-CU quarterback Jamarr Robinson, who threw three of his four interceptions in the second half, was picked off a final time with 25 seconds left in the game.

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B-CU can't hold on

DAYTONA BEACH -- Coaches never forget big games. And they never forget any and every small detail of big losses.

In the moments immediately after such occasions, it's hard to hide the honest emotions, which explains why Brian Jenkins gave a quick but definitive jab to the makeshift table in front of him as he worked through his post-game press conference Saturday night.

"Two plays . . . two plays," Jenkins said just before delivering a blow to the table.

He was thinking back to a pair of late-game punt returns his team gave up -- two returns brought about by missed assignments, Jenkins said. Jenkins, a stickler for detail, isn't high on missed assignments. When they lead to touchdowns, which lead to defeat, what you get is a head coach who, through 14 games at Bethune-Cookman, has never been this frustrated after a game.

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South Carolina State coach respects B-CU

DAYTONA BEACH, FL -- South Carolina State coach Buddy Pough has tried to play down the magnitude of today's 4 p.m. matchup with Bethune-Cookman.

WHERE: Municipal Stadium
KICKOFF: 4 p.m.
Cable TV: 10:30 p.m., ESPNU (tape)
Internet TV: ESPN3 LIVE@ 4 p.m.
RADIO: WELE (1380 AM)
RECORDS: S.C. State 0-1, 0-0 MEAC; B-CU 1-0, 0-0
COACHES: S.C. State, Buddy Pough, 10th year (76-30); B-CU, Brian Jenkins, second year (11-2)

"I think we've got to look at it as a regular-season conference game and let things play out as they will," Pough said of the teams' Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference opener at Municipal Stadium. "There are good enough teams in the conference that probably neither one of us will get through unscathed."

But B-CU coach Brian Jenkins describes the contest as a heavyweight fight, "like Ali-Frazier."
Neither coach's comments should be taken at face value, however. To Jenkins, all the games are heavyweight fights. "Every game is a big game," he said. "Our first game (a 63-14 rout of Prairie View A&M on Sunday) was a big game. To us, all our opponents are the same. We prepare for them the same."

That may not be true of S.C. State, however ...

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Adams spending long hours getting S.C. State's defense ready for B-CU

Orangeburg, S.C. - Long hours watching film is usually the norm for South Carolina State defensive coordinator Mike Adams.

Preparing a game plan for Saturday's Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference opener against an explosive Bethune-Cookman offense, now under the direction of former Clemson offensive coordinator Rob Spence, has only further extended Adams' time spent the past seven days in his Rowe Hall office.

"It's definitely been a long week," he said. "You don't want to leave anything uncovered when it comes to preparing for these guys. It's a situation where although they had a lot of success against Prairie View in their opener (Bethune-Cookman amassed 500 total yards and scored seven touchdowns in a 63-14 win in the MEAC/SWAC Challenge this past Sunday).

You know they're going ...

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S.C. State QB gets his turn: Junior Wiley tries to fill shoes of Long as Bulldogs open with revamped offense

Orangeburg, SC - Derrick Wiley was recruited to be the guy to lead the South Carolina State football team to the next level.

Wrested away out of Richmond County High in Rockingham, N.C., from the recruiting charms of Appalachian State, Wiley was barely on campus before Buddy Pough did something coaches rarely do -- set the bar at a nearly unreachable height for his star recruit.

Pough couldn't help himself back then when he looked at Wiley, his ability to throw and run, and compared him to Armanti Edwards. That is Armanti Edwards, the quarterback who led App State to back-to-back FCS national titles.



Reminded of those comparisons after practice this week, Wiley began to smile before looking down at the turf at Willie E. Jeffries Field.

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S.C. State-Claflin basketball series to be revived this year

Orangeburg, S.C. - There was a time in the mid-1980s and '90s when Claflin and South Carolina State battled annually for on-court hoops supremacy in Orangeburg.

For a 10-year period, the Garden City Classic featured an evening of hard-fought men's and women's basketball. Whether at Smith-Hammond-Middleton Memorial Center or the Jonas T. Kennedy Center, the games saw passions raised to a fever pitch for the two Orangeburg fan bases which in turn produced funds to cover scholarships.

"I thought it was great," said Claflin athletics director Tim Autry, who served in the same position at S.C. State at the time of the final Garden City Classic in 1996.

A mandate by then-Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference commissioner...

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In the FCS Huddle: Ten games that will shape the FCS season

Philadelphia, PA (Sports Network) - So much changes during the course of the FCS season that it's dangerous for people to look too far down any team's schedule and say, "Win here, loss here...," and believe they have everything figured out.

For instance, did anybody have Bethune-Cookman winning 10 straight games to start last season? Did anybody foresee Georgia Southern reaching the FCS semifinals? Did anybody leave Montana out of the playoffs?

Of course, there are staples on the schedule that everybody can feel comfortable in saying will shape the regular season. Following are 10 such games for the 2011 FCS season:

South Carolina State at Bethune-Cookman (Sept. 10) - Last season, these two teams provided the MEAC with two FCS playoff participants for the first time since 2003. Neither one can afford to give the other the upper hand in its first conference game of the season, but the loser will.



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Carroll excited about coaching opportunity with SCSU Bulldogs

Orangeburg, S.C. - Trumain Carroll called it the "longest drive" he has ever embarked upon. The Houston native had just completed a grueling road trek through seven states, 1,035 miles and 17 hours from Kansas City, Kan., to Orangeburg in a loaded U-Haul truck which hauled his car on a trailer. Helping Carroll pass the time cruising through the southern states was his father, Kenneth, a former offensive lineman for Texas Southern.

The breathtaking view along Interstate 40 through the Great Smoky Mountains provided a scenic moment along the long ride for the former Oklahoma State linebacker and defensive end. "That was about the most beautiful sites that I had ever seen at least on a drive before in my life," Carroll said. "I was like ‘Wow! The beauty of the East Coast!'"

Upon reaching the final destination Tuesday, Carroll eagerly headed to South Carolina State University to meet with head football coach Oliver "Buddy" Pough.

SCSU adds new men's hoops assistant

As a men's basketball assistant coach for Winston-Salem State, Murray Garvin experienced his share of wins and losses against South Carolina State. This season, Garvin will try to help head coach Tim Carter and the Bulldogs regain their winning ways as he told the Winston-Salem Journal he plans to head to Orangeburg.

"We did some good things at Winston-Salem State and I wish (Rams' head coach) Bobby (Collins) and the school nothing but the best," Garvin told the Journal.

In three seasons at Winston-Salem State, Garvin worked with the post players and was responsible for coordinating the Rams' travel and academics. He also spent four years as the head men's basketball coach and athletics director at Clinton Junior College in Rock Hill.

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Perry's double-double, Jenkins' 17 assists propel MEAC-leading Hampton past S.C. State

The MEAC-leading Hampton University women's basketball team beat South Carolina State 77-57 Saturday at the Convocation Center as Quanneisha Perry had 25 points and 16 rebounds.

HU's Jericka Jenkins had 17 assists — second only in school history to Jackie Wyche’s 20 in 1986 against Virginia Union. Choicetta McMillian scored a career-high 22, hitting six 3-pointers. Sophomore Keiara Avant scored a career-high 11 points, and junior Sherena Abercrumbia tied her career high with eight.

Pirates win third in a row


Videographer: wvec.com

HAMPTON– The Hampton University men’s basketball team picked up its third straight win Saturday night, beating South Carolina State 64-53 at the HU Convocation Center.

Junior guard Kwame Morgan led the Pirates with 14 points – going 7-for-9 from the free throw line – while junior guard Darrion Pellum added 12 points and sophomore forward Koron Reed scored a career-high 10 points, all in the first half.

Junior forward Danny Agbelese pulled down a team-high 10 rebounds and blocked three shots. Pellum added a team-high five assists.

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South Carolina State Signs 23 Football Prospects

ORANGEBURG, SC – South Carolina State, on Wednesday, announced the signing of twenty-three (23) prospects to national letters, including ten from South Carolina, nine from neighboring North Carolina -- among them six from Charlotte -- two from Georgia and one each from Florida and Virginia.

The 2011 Bulldog class, which features four Shrine Bowl participants and three North-South All-Star Game players, is made up of six offensive linemen, five defensive linemen, four listed in the athlete category, three running backs and defensive backs each, and one linebacker and tight end each.

SC State's Buddy Pough, who is beginning his tenth season as Bulldog head coach, said the class addresses the team's need.

The Bulldogs finished the 2010 campaign at 9-3 overall and 7-1 in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference to earn a share of the title after winning outright league championships in 2008 and 2009. Pough lost 11 starters and 15 seniors overall from that squad.

The signees are:

Raheim Barr OL 6-3 270 Lamar Timmonsville, SC North-South All-Star,
HSSR All-State

Fadol Brown TE/DE 6-4 235 Burke Charleston, SC All-Low Country,
Region Def POTY

Andrew Carter DE 6-1 230 Richmond Sr. Hamlet, NC

Dominique Cooper RB 6-0 180 Darlington Florence, SC North-South All-Star, 247 Sports 3-Star recruit; received offers from East Carolina and South Carolina; Has 4.4 speed in 40 yard dash. Coach Justin Danner said, "When he breaks out, you might as well go ahead and warm up the band." Despite two nagging injuries, Cooper rushed for 1,200 yards and 11 TDs senior season.

Mariel Cooper DB 5-11 170 Sumter H.S. Sumter, SC Shrine Bowl, HSSR All-State

Devin Flowers OL 6-3 300 Mallard Creek Charlotte, NC Shrine Bowl, AP All-State

Alex Glover DE 6-1 310 Mallard Creek Charlotte, NC All-Mecklenburg,
Meck Def POTY

Avery Grant OL 6-2 310 Mullins H.S. South Carolina,  Mullins North-South All-Star, HSSR All-State

Javon Hargrave DL 6-1 280 North Rowan Salisbury, NC All-State, Def POTY

Jairon Harrison OL 6-3 310 James Island H.S., Charleston Shrine Bowl, HSSR All-State

Temmarick Hemingway TE 6-4 210 N. Myrtle Beach Loris

Charles Henderson OL 6-3 265 Kennesaw Mtn. Kennesaw, GA Cobb County Senior Bowl

Justin Hughes LB 6-2 215 Fork Union Mil. Virginia Beach Dondre

Dondre Lewis-Freeman ATH 5-8 180 Hopewell Charlotte, NC Lake Norman News
POTY, All-Lake Norman

Chris Manns DL 6-2 250 Mount Tabor Winston-Salem AP All-State, All-County, All-Region; Received offer from N.C. State.

Dominique Mitchell DB 5-10 180 NC Tech Miramar, FL

Julius Pendergrass ATH 5-9 170 Chester Chester, SC Shrine Bowl, HSSR All-State

Tevin Richard ATH 6-0 180 Carvers Bay Hemingway

Gideon Scott OL 6-3 310 Louisburg College Jonesboro, GA

Jalen "Scoot" Simmons RB 5-8 200 West Charlotte Charlotte, NC All-Mecklenburg, All-Conference

Austin Smith ATH 6-1 190 Mount Zion Rex, GA All-Area, All-Region

Austin Stewart DB 6-1 200 Butler Charlotte, NC NC 4AA State Champs

Deion Walker RB 5-10 190 Butler Charlotte, NC NC 4AA State Champs

By S.C. State Sports Information 2/2/2011

SCSU Bulldogs get Long on success

ORANGEBURG — Senior quarterback Malcolm Long threw for 275 yards and two touchdowns to become South Carolina State’s career passing leader (6,363 yards) as the Bulldogs cruised to a 54-14 victory against Howard on Saturday at Oliver C. Dawson Stadium.

The Bulldogs (7-2, 5-1 Mid-Eastern Athletic) jumped to a 7-0 lead in the first quarter off a 40-yard inception return for a touchdown by senior linebacker Marshall McFadden. Senior running back Chris Merrill scored the first of two touchdowns with a 4-yard run and Long connected with Thomas Williams on a 31-yard touchdown pass to make the score 20-0 in the first quarter.

Howard Bison Drops Fourth-Straight, 54-14 to South Carolina State

The season is coming to a close but the losses continue to pile up for the Howard Bison, who suffered their fourth-straight defeat Nov. 6 in a 54-14 shellacking by the South Carolina State Bulldogs in Orangeburg, S.C.



S.C. quarterback Malcolm Long threw for 275 yards and two scores, powering S.C. State to a 37-7 halftime lead. When Long wasn’t torching Howard through the air, running back Chris Merrill was gashing them on the ground, accounting for three scores on just 42 yards rushing.

Ex-Lamar Star Leads SC State Past Howard

ORANGEBURG, S.C. -- Former WPDE All-Zoner Marshall McFadden, a product of Lamar, returned an interception 40 yards for a touchdown to help South Carolina State to a 54-14 win over Howard on Saturday. QB Malcolm Long passed for 275 yards and two touchdowns. Long became the school's all-time leader in total yards with 6,363 eclipsing the old record held by Cleve McCoy.

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ATTENDANCE: 8,007

Videographer: grossb78

DSU Hornets say they're up for challenge against S.C. State Bulldogs

DOVER, DE -- A tough season will not become any easier today when Delaware State's football team hosts South Carolina State, the two-time reigning Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference champions who are ranked 17th nationally in Division I-AA. DSU (1-6 overall, 1-4 MEAC) hosts the Bulldogs (5-2, 3-1) at Alumni Stadium at 1 this afternoon. The Hornets say they will not be intimidated.

"They're one of the best teams in the MEAC, so we've had to prepare hard this week for a very competitive match," said Andre Caroll, a redshirt senior defensive lineman for DSU.

The Hornets are hoping to follow the same blueprint as last season, when they won two out of their last three games to finish 4-7 despite struggling to a 1-5 start, which included a forfeit loss because of a scheduling conflict.

Hornets Gameday

South Carolina State (5-2, 3-1 MEAC) at Delaware State (1-6, 1-4)
1:00 p.m. today, Alumni Stadium, Dover, DE
Radio: WWTX-1290, WDOV-1410

Bulldogs on offense: QB Malcolm Long (6-3, 250, sr.) has completed 102 of 177 passes (57.6 percent) for 948 yards with a pair of touchdowns and six interceptions. RB Chris Massey (5-11, 220, sr.) has rushed for 639 yards on 124 carries and has scored six TDs. RB Asheton Jordan (6-0, 205, so.) has gained 396 yards on 61 carries with four TDs. WR Lennell Elmore (5-11, 170, r-so.) leads the team with 38 catches for 445 yards.

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DSU learning painful lesson, Lavan says

DOVER, DE -- There is no class at Delaware State that can teach its football team how to finish games. That, according to Hornets coach Al Lavan, has to be learned through difficult lessons. Those lessons don't get much more painful than DSU's 34-24 loss at Morgan State last Saturday, when the Hornets allowed 13 points in the final 20 seconds of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference game.

Lavan remains confident in his team's ability, even as the Hornets (1-6 overall, 1-4 MEAC) prepare to host two-time reigning conference champion South Carolina State (5-2, 3-1) at Alumni Stadium at 1 p.m. Saturday.

Delaware State coach says team has to make plays ‎

DOVER, Del. - Former NFL head coach Bill Parcells once famously said, "You are what your record says you are."

At 1-6 overall and 0-4 in the MEAC heading into Saturday's home game against 17th-ranked South Carolina State, Delaware State head coach Al Lavan was inclined to agree on Tuesday. Although pleased with the Hornets' resiliency shown throughout the season, Lavan has seen too many missed opportunities and mental mistakes to try to sugarcoat his team's record.

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Bethune-Cookman KOs 2-time MEAC champ South Carolina State Bulldogs

ORANGEBURG, S.C. -- Bethune-Cookman football coach Brian Jenkins said he compared Saturday's game against two-time defending Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference champion South Carolina State to a heavyweight boxing match.

If so, it was Cassius Clay versus Sonny Liston in 1964. And just as Clay (before he was known as Muhammad Ali) claimed he "shook up" the world in '64, the Wildcats shook up the MEAC world Saturday by beating the seemingly unbeatable Bulldogs 14-0 on their home field.

"We tabbed this game a heavyweight fight, and we said we're going to take it 15 rounds," Jenkins said. "And if it came down to the last round and we had to go toe-to-toe, we were willing to do that. It just so happened we were able to win 14 of the 15 rounds."

'Cats coach shares moment

ORANGEBURG, S.C. -- How big was Bethune-Cookman's 14-0 upset of defending Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference champion South Carolina State on Saturday? Count the ways.

· No team has beaten the Bulldogs in conference play since 2007; B-CU's win snapped a 21-game conference win streak and a 13-game home wining streak for South Carolina State.

· It was B-CU's first road shutout in 10 years -- the last at Howard in 2000.

· It left B-CU as one of only two unbeaten teams in the MEAC. The Wildcats and Hampton are both 4-0, and the two teams will meet at Hampton on Nov. 6.



Shut down and out: Bethune-Cookman blanks Bulldogs, 14-0
The atmosphere at Oliver C. Dawson Stadium Saturday in the closing seconds was like nothing seen at a South Carolina State football game in three seasons. Fans who were initially expressing their frustration with boos started quietly exiting the stands. On the sidelines, the Bulldog players were throwing their helmets down with confused looks on their faces.

Meanwhile, the opposing sidelines and visitors' section were a sight of uninhibited celebration as the Bethune-Cookman players showered head coach Brian Jenkins with Gatorade and carried him off the field like a conquering hero.

The 23rd-ranked Wildcats had defeated 9th-ranked South Carolina State 14-0 before a stunned 10,077 fans. The loss saw an end to the Bulldogs' Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference record 21-game winning streak and 13-game home-winning streak, both dating back to a 17-16 defeat to Delaware State on Oct. 27, 2007.

Pough sees B-C coach as rising star

The announcement of the 2010 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Coach of the Year is still weeks away. As far as head football coach Oliver "Buddy" Pough of 10th-ranked South Carolina State is concerned, it's a foregone conclusion who will win this year's honor - Bethune-Cookman's Brian Jenkins.

"He is definitely the Coach of the Year in our league," said Pough during Monday's press conference. "They're the most improved team I've seen in this league and it's a good thing. It's good for the fact that it will help the strength of our league in the fact that he'll go out and beat some people outside of our league. ... So he'll be a force in this league for years to come."



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Attendance: 10,077

ESPNU to air S.C. State/Hampton Football on Oct. 23rd.

Fans who'd hope to see ESPN trucks in Orangeburg for Saturday's Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference contest between South Carolina State and Bethune-Cookman will apparently will have to wait an additional seven days.

The network declined to make the critical contest between two Top 25 teams the 'wild card' addition to its HBCU schedule. Instead, the network and a S.C. State official confirmed Monday it will air another possible MEAC contest with first place on the line at Oliver C. Dawson Stadium taking place Saturday Oct. 23 when the Bulldogs play host to Hampton.

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SCSU Bulldogs extend win streak with 34-13 win over Norfolk State

A special teams' snafu ended South Carolina State's season last November in Boone, N.C.
Almost a year later, a similar surreal miscue enabled the Bulldogs to rally from an early deficit and extend their Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference-record winning streak Saturday at Oliver C. Dawson Stadium.

Reserve defensive back Josh McFadden recovered an errant punt by Norfolk State's Troy Muenzer and returned it 47 yards to tie the game at 7-7. S.C. State added 17 more points in the first half and pulled away for a 34-13 victory. "I've never been involved in a play like that," McFadden said. "First time I've ever seen something like that."

After 30-plus years, ’76 and ’80 Bulldogs receive National Black Championship rings

SANTEE, S.C. - Slowly but surely, they entered the dimly lit ballroom at the Whitten Inn Friday night. They shook hands, exchanged greetings and shared a laugh or two from memories past. They were Black College National Champions, former South Carolina State Bulldogs brought back together in Santee to receive an honor long overdue - their national title rings.

It was one last chance for the Bulldogs 1976 and 1980 teams to share memories from their playing days.

"It's like the Reverend said earlier," former Bulldogs outside linebacker R.V. Brown said. "For us to receive this 34 years later, we would have not realized the impact that we had being the first school in the state of South Carolina to win a National Championship. We didn't know the value of it at the time, but right now, we know that and we've got that."



Special teams miscue ruins Norfolk State's day

ORANGEBURG, S.C - The opening minutes played out to perfection for Norfolk State on Saturday in its game at No. 9 South Carolina State.

Just 59 seconds into the game, Spartan defensive back Ricardo Volcin stepped in front of a sideline pass by Bulldog quarterback Malcolm Long and raced 39 yards into the end zone. After S.C. State was forced to punt on its next possession, Norfolk State appeared on its way to winning for the first time in seven tries at Oliver C. Dawson Stadium.

With 10:24 remaining in the first quarter, one bizarre special teams miscue turned the momentum and contest quickly back in South Carolina State's favor. A low snap was mishandled by punter Troy Muenzer who, in the process of trying to retrieve the football, illegally kicked it off the ground.

NSU report: New TE coach can't shake his passion

Mackinley Jane Blackwell loves to watch the Ducks. The 5-year-old isn't so much into lakes or ponds, or the Donald and Daisy kind. She takes after dad. So last Saturday, on Norfolk State's bye week, Spartans tight end coach Joe Blackwell went home to Myrtle Beach, S.C., scooped up Mackinley Jane and settled in for what qualifies as quality time in the Blackwell household.

" We sat up and we watched Clemson together," Blackwell said. "Then we watched Oregon" - the Ducks. "For some reason, she really likes Oregon." A first-year tight ends coach at Norfolk State, Blackwell travels back to his home state again today, this time for the Spartans' game at South Carolina State.

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Attendance: 21,971

Coach Buddy Pough Show: SCSU vs. FAMU