DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - Two games, seven days, over 1,400 miles of back-and-forth travel from South Carolina to Florida.

That was the itinerary this past week for the South Carolina State football team. Opening with the MEAC/SWAC Challenge against previously-ranked Grambling in Orlando, Fla. and a conference-opener in Daytona Beach against Bethune-Cookman six days later, the Bulldogs faced a daunting opening week to the 2009 season.

To the relief of head football coach Oliver “Buddy” Pough, his team made it through the stretch by pulling out victories in both games. The reward is now a welcomed two-week respite in hopes of healing up injured linebacker Donovan Richard and center Casey Fortune as well as correcting some of the inconsistency shown by the offense.

“It’s a great time to have a bye,” Pough said. “I’m looking forward to tomorrow afternoon off.”

Having such a short turnaround between games and playing in humid conditions tested the Bulldogs’ depth and resiliency. In both games, that resiliency was exemplified by two, touchdown-saving plays first by running back Will Ford when he ran down Grambling defensive lineman Christian Anthony to make a one-handed trip tackle despite an injured left shoulder.

On Saturday, it was redshirt freshman Lennel Elmore’s turn to play “Superman.” Bethune-Cookman linebacker Ryan Lewis was about to turn an interception into a 54-yard touchdown when Elmore caught him from behind to swipe the football through the end zone for a touchback.

“We’re just trying to make play,” Ford said. “Everything counts. Coach told us don’t take the play off. Even if we’ve got to go down and make the tackle, you’ve got to do what we’ve got to do.”

The Bulldogs’ special teams through the first two games have made a habit of coming off with big plays. Against Grambling and Bethune-Cookman, the special teams helped set up S.C. State’s first two scores and the defense has collected six sacks and eight turnovers and held the ‘Wyattbone‘ attack to 14 rushing yards.

What left Pough somewhat displeased was the play of his offense. After getting off to a fast start in each of the victories, the offense failed to execute on several opportunities which could have given the team a more comfortable margin of victory.

“We struggled a little bit upfront,” he said. “We have a hard time blocking the edge a little. All I know right now...that’s why I hate to talk about some things that I’m not sure about until I see the tape.

But I do know that we’ve got some things we’ve got to figure out because we do too good for a couple of plays, but then somehow or another, our consistency falls off and we’ve been a pretty systemic pocket-style offense and I think we’ve still got it. I just can’t quite put my finger on it.”

Fortunately for the Bulldogs, they have four weeks to figure it out before resuming Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference play Oct. 10 at Norfolk State. In between that time is a home-opener Sept. 26 against Winston-Salem State and a trip to Columbia to face the University of South Carolina.

BULLDOG BITES: S.C. State has won 12 consecutive conference games for the first time since accomplishing the feat between the 1981 and 1982 seasons. Ironically, Pough was the defensive coordinator for the Bulldogs under head coach Bill Davis...With 149 yards in two games, running back Will Ford is 860 yards shy of surpassing Hampton’s Alonzo Coleman for career rushing yards in the MEAC. With 3, 789 yards, he needs 50 yards to move past Hampton’s Montrell Coley in fourth place and 294 yards to pass Michael Hicks for third place all-time in the conference and first place in school history...S.C. State improved to

54-6 when leading at halftime...Bethune-Cookman has committed 11 turnovers in two games....S.C. State improved to 5-3 against Bethune-Cookman under Pough and has won four of the last five meetings.

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