ORLANDO, Fla. -- The phrase “moral victory” is not in South Carolina State head football coach Oliver “Buddy” Pough’s vocabulary.

Not surprisingly, he refused to view Saturday’s 17-0 season-opening loss to Central Florida in such a manner.

“We’re not in the moral victory business,” Pough said. “We’re a good enough team now where we’ve got to make some type of statement and we haven’t made it yet. The one thing we do know is that we can go in and play defense I think with pretty much anybody. We’ve just got to find a way to make our overall team come together.”

Even though the Bulldogs’ third contest against a Football Championship Subdivision foe was less lopsided than last year’s two contests against Air Force Academy and the University of South Carolina, to a man, the outcome was seen as a missed opportunity.

“Tough season opener,” Pough said. “When you come into stadiums like this you feel like you might have a chance to at least hang around.

“When you do for a while, you feel really bad about not getting it done.”

It was an inauspicious start to the 2008 season for the Bulldogs as they were shut out in a season opener for the first time since 1988 (a 38-0 loss to Furman) and for the first time in 156 games (an 11-0 loss to Southern in the 1993 Heritage Bowl). The offense was held to just 124 total yards, committed two turnovers and mustered only five first downs against the more experienced Knights’ defense.

In S.C. State quarterback Malcolm Long’s first game as a starter, he completed 11-21 passes for only 64 yards and threw one interception.

Preseason Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference all-star William Ford did not fare any better as he accounted for 36 of the Bulldogs’ 52 rushing yards.

“They have a very good offense in their league,” Central Florida head coach George O’Leary said. “Defensively, we didn’t have too many sacks, but we were sound on tackling and limiting what their offense wanted to do. I think they gave the offense the ball in too good of field position and that is why offensively you would like to see them come away with points when you are on their side of the field.”

“We played a real good football team,” Long said. “We didn’t execute that well on offense. Our defense played a real good game. We’ve just got to step it up this week.”

While the offense struggled, the Bulldogs got everything they were hoping for from the defense. For most of the game, they harassed Knights’ quarterback Michael Greco in sacking him three times and limiting him to 9-16 passing for 90 yards.

Greco did have two key completions to wideout Rocky Ross, which helped set up two Central Florida scores. The Knights did have success running the football, finishing the game with 228 yards on the ground.

Freshman Ronnie Weaver ran for 84 yards on 23 carries, while backfield mate Latavius Murray accounted for both rushing touchdowns for Central Florida.

“Our defense played real well for us to do something for our offense,” Pough said. “We just could not get enough done on offense. We have a lot of inexperience at some of our positions on offense and we have to work on building some continuity there. We gave up a big play or two on defense, which we should not have had. Overall, we had an opportunity to possibly take a football game here.”

Murray’s first rushing touchdown came in the second quarter as Central Florida drove downfield following an interception thrown by Long to Jason Venson. Facing a fourth and 17 at the S.C. State 33, Greco dropped back and found an open Ross down the sidelines for a 30-yard completion.

Three plays later, Murray spun his way into the endzone to give UCF a 7-0 advantage with 11:18 remaining in the second quarter.

The storyline changed little in the second half. S.C. State’s offense produced just two first downs in the second half, while the defense continued to make Central Florida work for its points. On a potential scoring drive in the fourth quarter, the Bulldogs’ Xavier Littleberry forced a Greco fumble, which was recovered at the Central Florida 2-yard line by Markee Hamlin.

Having to stay on the field for extended minutes would eventually take its toll on S.C. State. In the fourth quarter, the Knights put together two scoring drives of 11 and 12 plays, which ended with a 27-yard field goal by University of Miami transfer Darren Daley and a seven-yard run with 3:15 remaining by Murray to seal the victory.

“They were leaning on us pretty good,” Pough said. “We were worried the entire time that they may just lean on us and push us around over time. As the game went on, they eventually wore us down some up front. We had a hard time getting it under control. They were patient enough to take the three- or four-yard play time after time and that will wear you out as much as anything. That hurt us some, but I have to take my hat off to our kids. I thought that they played really fast, especially on defense.”

S.C. State will try to regroup this week at home against Benedict College. It’s the first meeting in four years between the two Palmetto State historically black colleges and first at Oliver C. Dawson Stadium since a record 24,577 showed up in 1999.

“All we can do is come back tomorrow and go to practice and practice hard for the next game and get ready for the rest of the season,” Long said.

Game notes

Saturday’s shutout win was the first-ever shutout posted in two-year-old Bright House Networks Stadium by Central Florida. It was also the Knights’ first shutout win since 2001 against Louisiana-Lafayette and seventh straight home victory ... South Carolina State’s scoring woes in the fourth quarter of losses continue. By giving up 10 points against Central Florida, the Bulldogs have been outscored 70-0 in their last 11 losses. The Bulldogs also dropped to

5-17 under Pough when trailing at halftime ... Despite attendance concerns, Central Florida drew 42,126 fans on Saturday, making it the 10th-largest home crowd in school history ... Markee Hamlin had eight tackles and one fumble recovery to lead the Bulldogs ... Jarvis Geathers, the son of former NFL lineman James “Jumpy” Geathers, was credited with two tackles.

 

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