So much for questions about South Carolina State’s killer instinct.

The same as well in regards to whether the Bulldogs could respond without injured quarterback Malcolm Long and whether backup DeWain Clark could provide similar leadership.

Thursday night at Oliver C. Dawson Stadium, S.C. State provided more than an affirmative answer to those lingering questions in moving a step closer to the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference championship.

Racking up a season-high 541 yards of offense before 11,239 fans and a national audience watching on ESPNU, the 18th-ranked Bulldogs routed Howard 56-0 for their sixth consecutive victory.

It was a dominating performance by S.C. State (8-2, 6-0), which won for the 19th consecutive time in the month of November and improved to 16-0 in nationally-televised games. Picking up from its 35-point second-half performance in the previous home game against Hampton, S.C.

State scored a season-high 42 points in the first half.

After two brief shaky appearances against Central Florida and Clemson, Clark was near-perfect in his first career start. He guided the Bulldogs to touchdowns on their first seven possessions of the game, completed 11 of 14 passes for 175 yards and a touchdown and displayed his running ability with 89 rushing yards.

“Just about what the doctor ordered,” said head coach Oliver “Buddy”

Pough, who picked up his 55th victory at S.C. State to surpass Bill Davis for second place on the school’s all-time coaching wins lists.

“We got a chance to get DeWain some good solid work. I thought he did a really nice job of composing himself and getting us through the game in a positive manner. I liked what I saw.”

The Bulldogs balanced Clark’s passing with a dominant run game which produced 366 yards. Reserve tailback Anthony Campbell had a career game on “Senior Night” with 100 rushing yards and two touchdowns, while Travil Jamison was a scoring machine once again with three touchdowns.

S.C. State’s defense was equally methodical in dismantling the MEAC’s top-ranked passing offense. It was a tough “Homecoming” for Howard quarterback and Orangeburg-Wilkinson graduate Floyd Haigler as he was sacked five times while completing just 13 of 22 passes for 94 yards and an interception.

“Basically, they played better than us,” Haigler said. “They were bigger, faster and tougher than us.” .

The running game was equally anemic for the Bison in producing 53 yards, all primarily coming from Clemson University transfer Ray Ray McElrathbey.

With fireworks planned after the game, the Bulldogs got the offensive explosion started early on in their first scoring drive of 80 yards. Clark completed two passes for 26 yards and had a 5-yard run after which Howard was flagged for a late hit.

The penalty gave S.C. State a first-and-goal at the 10 and Will Ford zig-zagged his way through the Bison defense for the first of his two touchdown runs.

The Bulldogs’ next scoring drive of 79 yards was orchestrated with similar efficiency by Clark. He had two, 10-yard runs and completed a 47-yard pass to Phillip Morris to help set up a bruising, 1-yard touchdown run by Jamison.

Faced with a fourth-and-four from its own 40 and looking to keep within striking distance, Howard took a chance by going for the first down. Instead, Haigler’s pass sailed out of bounds and Clark quickly punished the Bison with a 21-yard play after the Bulldogs took over.

Growing in confidence, Clark completed a 19-yard screen pass to Campbell and threw a 9-yard strike in the end zone to Dusten Dubose between three Bison defenders to make it 21-0 with 12:52 remaining in the first half.

“The coaches had a good gameplan,” Clark said.

“Getting me comfortable with the short throws. I felt pretty good.”

The onslaught continued for S.C. State as Jamison’s 4-yard touchdown run with 6:21 remaining extended the Bulldogs’ lead to 28-0.

Things went from bad to worse for Bison on their next possession. On first down, McElrathbey fumbled at the S.C. State 30 and defensive lineman Matt Key made the recovery. It only took two runs of 27 and 3 yards for Ford to give the Bulldogs their second touchdown in 47 seconds.

S.C. State’s sixth and final possession of the first half ended with another touchdown, this time by Campbell from 9 yards with

54.1 seconds left.

“The fact that we didn’t really allow them back into the game and continuously moved the football and stuck it in on them, converted third down, it was probably the best game of that kind we’ve had in a while,” Pough said.

A stirring halftime performance by Grammy-winning gospel singer Marvin Sapp only seemed to further inspire the Bulldogs. Within 79 seconds of the second half, Jamison was back in the end zone from 5 yards to make it 49-0.

S.C. State’s final scoring drive turned into the longest on the season. Starting from their own 3, the Bulldogs went 97 yards on 12 plays before Campbell scored his second touchdown of the game with

11:16 remaining.

The only thing now standing in the way of S.C. State clinching the MEAC title and first playoff berth since 1982 is Morgan State. The Nov.

15 game will take place in Baltimore, Md. where the Bulldogs have not lost since 1974.

“We need to have a great week of work next week getting ready to play Morgan up there,” Pough said. “It’s pretty much an ‘all or nothing’

kind of deal for us. It’s like that every year for us. It’s either get it done or don’t get it done. So we’re at that point here.”

BULLDOG BITES

Thursday’s 56-point victory was the Bulldogs’ most-lopsided home victory since 2005 when they routed Morgan State 65-15. The game also took place on a Thursday night. This was also S.C. State’s first shutout win since 2004 when they blanked Benedict College 51-0...Howard has lost nine straight conference games dating back to last season...For the second straight game, Will Ford did not rush for over 100 yards. He finished with 86 yards to remain in eighth place on the MEAC all-time career rushing list with 3,255 yards, 18 behind Delaware State’s Reggie Barnes...Howard safety Arando Jamison led all defensive players with 17 tackles...S.C. State improved to 50-6 when leading or trailing at halftime.A total of 19 seniors were recognized with their parents prior to the game.

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