A weary Malcolm Long would have rather put off a day talking about this Saturday’s nationally-televised game against the University of South Carolina.

The Gaffney native and junior quarterback had just posted his best statistical game as a college player, throwing for 274 yards on 22 of 33 passing in a 27-10 victory over Winston-Salem State Saturday.

Instead of just celebrating the win as the Palmetto State’s only undefeated team, he took rapid questions from the media about the second game in three years between the two in-state schools.

“We really haven’t been focused on this game, but there will be some talk next week,” Long said. “Hopefully, the guys will come around mentally focused and ready to play.”

Long played sparingly behind Cleveland McCoy in the 2007 game won by the Gamecocks 38-3. The Bulldogs took a 3-0 lead following an interception by Markee Hamlin and field goal by Aaron Haire, but quickly surrendered the lead back when Nathan Pepper returned a Cleveland McCoy interception for a touchdown.

Head coach Oliver “Buddy” Pough was already thinking about the game against his former employer. He acknowledged the challenge S.C. State faces in trying to slow down a motivated Gamecock defense orchestrated by coordinator Ellis Johnson..

“Our focus is trying to get ready for (Eric) Norwood and daggone (d efensive end Cliff Matthews),” Pough said. “It’s sad to hear about Travian

(Robertson) being hurt (torn ACL) and it looks like he’s going to be out. Their defensive line is going to be as salty as anybody that we’ve seen since Clemson last year. We had our problems sometimes against those guys and we were pretty good upfront last year.

So this year, the fact that we’re not pretty good upfront maybe we might have somewhat of a mismatch. We’ve got our work cut out to prepare for those guys.

“And then they’re starting to play better offensively now. So (quarterback Stephen) Garcia and that crowd seem to be getting their act in order. If that’s the case, then we really need to get our act in order or those guys will embarrass us.”

S.C. State is 0-4 against Division I teams since scheduling such opponents starting in 2007. They also must contend with a Gamecock defense riding high following a strong performance against fourth-ranked Ole Miss. .

Nevertheless, Long believes the Bulldogs will head to Columbia a more prepared, less intimidated team.

“Our confidence is pretty high,” Long said. “Guys are going to be pumped up for this game because it’s a big in-state rivalry. I think we’ll be alright.

“We’ve got more depth this year than we did two years ago and I feel like if we go up there and do our assignments, we’ll play those guys pretty tough.”

Two years after rushing for 112 yards against South Carolina and coming off his first 100-yard, two-touchdown game this season, tailback Will Ford is also ready for the challenge of the Gamecocks’ defense.

“South Carolina has one of the best defenses in the nation, so you play good against them, you can pretty much play at any level,” he said.

Although the offensive line has struggled with consistency and continuity due to injuries, Ford believes this is the “best” group he’s played with during his four years at S.C. State.

“They’re a great offensive line,” Ford said. “We’ve just got to get consistent more and just get more drive and just come out hard and fast every play.”

Along with the defensive pressure South Carolina presents, overcoming the crowd noise will also be a factor.

“We’re going to practice silent count all next week and be ready for it” Long said. “Like Coach Pough said, you can’t hear the next person to you talking in the stadium. We’re just going to do signals and do a silent count.”

Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. and the game will be aired by ESPN Classic (Channel 161 on Digital Time Warner Cable).

n INJURY UPDATE

The Bulldogs will be missing their sack leader for the South Carolina game.

Pough said on his Sunday

television show redshirt sophomore defensive lineman Pat Washington suffered a leg injury late in the first half against Winston-Salem State. It occurred on a highly-disputed play in which Antuanne Kerr was whistled for roughing the paser following a hard hit on Rams’ quarterback Jarrett Dunston which forced a fumble.

Washington entered last Saturday leading the team in sacks with 2.5.

Pough said the team is hopeful Washington will be ready for the Norfolk State game on Oct. 10. Also injured on Saturday was BANDIT Devonne Quattlebaum who was carried off the field favoring his left knee.

Quattlebaum is expected to return to action this Saturday, as well as linebacker Donovan Richard who sat out the game with a knee injury suffered two weeks ago against Bethune-Cookman.

n RAMS’ BLUES

The run of bad news continued on Saturday for the Winston-Salem State program.

Already stinging from school’s decision to abandon pursuit of Division I status for athletics, Winston-Salem State cited budget constraints last week in citing its decision to no longer carry radio broadcasts of sporting events Those Rams’ fans who could not hear the game not only missed Winston-Salem State dropping its sixth consecutive game dating back to last season and fell to 0-4 for the second straight year, but getting held to 10 points for the fourth consecutive game.

“We’re stuck on 10 right now,” Rams’ head coach Kermit Blount said.

“Certainly, we had opportunities to score three more additional times tonight and we didn’t get it done. When we fail on opportunities like that, that’s what happens to us.”

The Elias Sports Bureau was unable to confirm whether this was the first time a college football team had scored the same number of points to start a regular season. When told about the Rams’ distinction, Pough had his own humorous take on the matter..

“Heck, they need to figure out how to hold somebody to nine (points),”

he said.

You must be logged in to comment.