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It should have been all smiles around South Carolina State's coaching office on Monday following the team's first road win against Hampton University.
Yet even reflecting on the historic 28-24 victory over the Pirates at Armstrong Stadium did little to improve head coach Oliver "Buddy" Pough's less than cheerful disposition. Right now, Pough's main focus is trying to change the current Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference standings which show SCSU (4-3, 3-1) trailing Norfolk State and Delaware State..
"The first thing we look for is the championship and it doesn't look good right now," he said. "But we're going to persevere. We're going to keep working."
Avenging last year's devastating 10-9 loss on a cold, windy night in Dover and getting into a three-way tie should Norfolk State lose at Howard with a Homecoming victory this Saturday against the 12th-ranked Hornets (6-1, 5-0) would more than help SCSU's cause.
When asked what the Bulldogs need to do differently, Pough gave a simple response.
"Score!", he said. "Score some points. We hurt ourselves by just making mistakes and not making more things happen offensively. They were able to score just enough points to win under the circumstances and they played under the same conditions as we did. We just need to score more points.
"In college football today, if you get beat 10-9, then you didn't score enough. People are going to score some points. You're not going to beat people three and four to nothing. We didn't score enough."
Despite his offense's revival in more than doubling their points per game average the past two games compared to the previous five, the Bulldogs will be challenged by a Hornets' defense which is allowing 15.3 points per game and only 145 yards per game on the ground.
SCSU will also have to contend with the dual threat presented by quarterback Vashon Winton who when not running the football has the preseason MEAC Offensive Player of the Year wide receiver Shaheer McBride at his disposal.
"They're a good football team," Pough said. "They've got these two guys on offense that are supposed to be the best in the league. The quarterback (Vashon Winton) and Shaheer McBride, who is possibly the best player in our conference. So you've got a situation here where we've got to really play our very best to have a chance to play with these guys.
"Defensively, they're about as good as anybody. They've got good upfront personnel. Their defensive lines are really good players and their linebackers run all over the place and their secondary can knock people out. It's going to be a tough football game."
Pough also noted the similarities between the two teams, not surprising since he and Hornets' head coach Al Lavan have become close friends.
"He and I talk two to three times a week and we share a lot of ideas and I see a lot in him in us and us in him," Pough said. "He's probably one of the most respected guys in the coaching profession. The guy's been everywhere. Heck, he coached with (former Dallas Cowboys' head coach) Tom Landry for eight or nine years. You can imagine the kind of just encyclopedia information this guy is. I respect the guy and enjoy having him as a friend."
All frie-ip aside, Pough understands the importance of a victory with four weeks remaining. Getting another heroic effort from quarterback Cleveland McCoy, who -- after scoring two fourth quarter touchdowns to provide the margin of victory over Hampton -- was singled out by Pough as having put forth one of the best performances in his career.
"It was a road game, we were behind, we had to have it and he put the team on his shoulders and carried us to victory," Pough said. "We had about as good upfront on the offensive line as we had here in the whole time I've been here and I'm really excited about the fact that our offensive line, the facts that we made the changes and that kinds of stuff, have started to pay some dividends for us and we're starting to get some good play there.
"But Cleve McCoy was magnificent there for a quarter. His reads were great, he pitched the ball well. He did a lot of things that made me proud to see his development at this time and I'm thinking and hoping that he's going to continue to play really well the next four games."
Distractions may be a concern during Homecoming week, although the Bulldogs have won their last four, including a 20-3 victory over Delaware State in 2005. Pough does not foresee distractions being a problem this week with what's riding on the outcome.
"I think this team is driven to a certain point where they want to show that they were what we thought they were and what we'll do is depend on them to be a little mature about the situation."
A PASSING GRADE
Plenty of attention was paid to the matchup upfront involving SCSU offensive tackle James Lee and Hampton's preseason MEAC Defensive Player of the Year Kendall Langford.
If Lee's pro prospects were riding on his showing, then Pough believes his All-MEAC lineman sent his stock soaring. The University of Georgia transfer not only allowed no sacks and no pressures, he also scored the highest grade ever given by offensive line coach Joe Blackwell by scoring 84 percent to go with seven cut blocks, five domination blocks and two knockdown blocks.
"He was great," said Pough about Lee. "He put this guy on his back a couple of times. Blocked him the whole game. The guy never got close to making a sack. He played his best game during the time he's been here. It was a time when a guy is challenged to do something, came in and did it about as good as he did. He was really good."
SOURCE OF MOTIVATION
For most of Pough's tenure, the Bulldogs have fared very poorly when trailing at halftime. As printed in Saturday's game notes in the T&D, SCSU was 3-15 when behind after two quarters. In fact, the Bulldogs have not come back from a halftime deficit to earn a win since a 28-14 victory over Bethune-Cookman in October 2004..
With his team trailing 10-7 at halftime, Pough challenged his team to prove the numbers wrong.
"I told them that at halftime," he said. "I'll be honest with you, it's time for that to change. So it was a part of my motivation for the second half."
SURPRISED ABOUT TRICK PLAY
Among the biggest plays of Saturday's win was made in the third quarter by BANDIT Rafael Bush. As Hampton attempted a fake 50-yard field goal, Bush intercepted the backward pitch by holder Daniel Brooks to place-kicker Carlo Turavoni and scampered untouched 58 yards for the score.
The play was reminiscent of LSU's successful fake attempt against the University of South Carolina earlier this season, although Pough was quick to remind people that SCSU employed a similar play against Morgan State two years ago.
Pough also admitted having thoughts of running the same trick play, but decided against it in light of the national exposure given to LSU after pulling it off.
"I had the idea to run it ourselves," he said. "We didn't put it and the reason I didn't put it in was because LSU had run it. Generally, what happens is you fall into a trap that way because of the fact that it was such a big deal when they ran it, that everybody sees it.
"It surprised the heck out of me. I'll be honest with you. We were kind of being careful because it was such a long field goal - a 50-yard field goal. But the wind was blowing, howling in that direction. So it was a makeable field goal for them. It was surprising to say the least and it turned out to be a big play for us."
SCSU Extends Ticket Office Hours for Homecoming Week
South Carolina State has extended its Ticket Office hours throughout the week to accommodate persons wishing to purchase football tickets for Saturday's 1:30 p.m. Homecoming contest against Delaware State.
The office will be open from 8:30 a.m. until 6 p.m. through Friday of this week.
Advance tickets may also be purchased at the Campus Bookstore, Goldstein's in Orangeburg, and in the Upstate at the BMW plant in Greer.
Gameday tickets will be available Saturday at the Student Center on campus from 8:30 a.m. until 10:30 a.m., and will be on sale after that time at the stadium ticket booth. All tickets for the Homecoming contest are $35.00 each.
Tickets for other Homecoming events may be purchased at the campus ticket booth throughout the week.
For additional ticket information, call 803-536-8579 or toll free at 800-298-9157.
HORNETS vs. BULLDOGS
WHO:12th-ranked Delaware State (6-1, 5-0) at South Carolina State (4-3, 3-1)
WHEN: 1:30 p.m. Saturday
WHERE: Oliver C. Dawson Stadium in Orangeburg
RADIO: WQKI 102.9 FM