Much has changed in the two years since South Carolina State lost 38-3 to the University of South Carolina in the first meeting between the two Palmetto State schools.

The Bulldogs have gone on to win a Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference championship outright, compete in a Football Championship Subdivision playoffs, rank as high as 14th in the latest FCS Top 25 polls and are currently the number-one team in black college football.

For all the success, S.C. State returns to Williams-Brice Stadium still very much an underdog for tonight’s 7 p.m. game against South Carolina. Some sports betting lines, have the Gamecocks (3-1, 1-1) listed as a 37 1/2 point favorite over the Bulldogs based on the previous meeting, the momentum from defeating previously fourth-ranked Mississippi and the long odds an FCS team faces in defeating a Division I opponent.

Even if examples this season alone are available of FCS teams pulling off such a feat (i.e. William and Mary over Virginia and Richmond over Duke), Pough acknowledges the tall order his team faces on the road. Against Division I teams, the Bulldogs are 0-4, have been outscored 143-6 and have yet to score a touchdown.

“It’s a tough matchup for us,” Pough said. “South Carolina is about as good as anybody I’ve seen on defense ever here. They’ve got a bunch of guys who really run around and strike you and they give you an unusual number of looks on defense. Lots of times, when you’ve got people like that, they play vanilla and make their players make plays.”

All week long, Pough has sung the praises of Gamecock linebacker Eric Norwood. The senior captain became South Carolina’s all-time career sack leader in the victory against Mississippi, earning SEC Defensive Player of the Week honors for his efforts.

Adding to Pough’s concern about the Gamecocks defensively is the shaky, inconsistent play of his offensive line. He started this week challenging the group to grow up after they struggled against Winston-Salem State.

While running back Will Ford achieved his first, 100-yard game to move into fourth place all-time in MEAC career rushing yards, Pough was not pleased with the offensive line’s effort. The snapping difficulties of center Sam Timothy, who’s starting his second career game, especially magnified following Wednesday’s subpar practice.

S.C. State rebounded with a strong effort on Thursday and the players believe they can give the Gamecocks a competitive game.

“The big thing between (Football Bowl Subdivision) and Division I-AA, they say we don’t have the athletes,” S.C. State defensive back Dominique Ellis said. “The only thing they have on us are the numbers. They’ve got more scholarships (85), therefore they’ve got a little more depth. There’s no such thing as a warm-up game for us.”

Defensively, the Bulldogs will not have team sack co-leader Patrick Washington to place pressure on quarterback Stephen Garcia. The redshirt sophomore has thrown for 903 yards on 80 of 136 passing for 903 yards and four touchdowns and is ranked fourth in the Southeastern Conference in total offense (241.5 yards per game).

“Stephen Garcia is a player who can hurt you with both his arm and his feet,” Pough said. “He does tend to run around a little bit from time to time. I think though they’ve beginning now to rein him in a little bit. He’s staying in the pocket a little bit more now than he did previously and he’s also beginning to get rid of some of those balls as opposed to taking sacks as he did early in his career that tended to be a problem for him. So you can see him developing as you go through the film chronologically from week to week and getting better as he goes. So he’ll be a much improved player than he was earlier in the year and what you saw last year and you can tell that they’re doing a nice job getting him to the next level.”

S.C. State quarterback Malcolm Long is coming off a career game against Winston-Salem State, throwing for 274 yards and a touchdown. He’s also 3-0 as a starting quarterback at Williams-Brice Stadium, all three occurring in the Class 4-A championship.

Wide receiver Tre Young of Charleston was the recipient of most of Long’s throws with nine catches for 148 yards and a touchdown. For all the offensive weapons, Pough understands a contest of this nature could have a negative effect on the team heading into what he called a “Murderer’s Row” of conference games against Norfolk State, Florida A&M, Hampton and Delaware State.

“We’ve got to do our best to play well in this situation so we can feel good about our upcoming opponents,” Pough said.

T&D Senior Sports Writer Thomas Grant Jr. can be reached by e-mail at tgrant@timesanddemocrat.com or by phone at 803-533-5547. Discuss this and other stories on-line at TheTandD.com.

You must be logged in to comment.