Malcolm Long stood along the sidelines in his warmups signaling in plays to backup quarterback Derrick Wiley.

Long, along with wide receiver Tre Young and offensive tackle Sterling Blunt, felt under the weather on Tuesday and were held out of Wednesday’s practice as a precautionary measure.

“We’ve got a lot of guys sick with the flu, virus or something like that,” S.C. State head coach Buddy Pough said. “We’re just trying to get through most of it.”

Wiley took all of his snaps with the first-team offense on Wednesday in preparation for Saturday’s conference showdown against Norfolk State although there is the possibility that Long could start if his health improves by Saturday.

“He’s done good,” Pough said of Wiley’s performance throughout the week. “Derrick is Derrick. You get some good. You get some bad. That’s what you get when you’ve got a freshman quarterback out there. They’re all that way. You can expect for them to be able to use their assets to kind of make you want to say, ‘That’s why I put them out there.’ At the same time, there may be some things that make you come back to the realization that they are freshmen.”

Answering the ‘Bell’

The Bulldogs were able to hold the Gamecocks to 164 yards passing despite allowing three touchdowns through the air. Still, S.C. State secondary coach Maurice Drayton feels that the experience his defensive backs gained last week from facing South Carolina’s wide receivers will benefit them when they take on the Spartans and their 6-3, 215-pounder wide receiver Chris Bell.

“He understands how to position his body, contort his body and go up above the rim on those deep balls,” Drayton said. “We got a chance to see that last week in the whole receiving corps at South Carolina. So, now it’s just one guy. Not saying that the other receivers aren’t comparable, but they’re just not that body size and that body shape. It’s hard to defend against that.”

Although the task of bottling up the Spartans’ junior standout on his home turf could prove to be tough, the Bulldogs are ready for the challenge.

“They’re definitely looking forward to it just as they were last week,” Drayton said. “For us, it’s no change. I didn’t build last week any bigger than what it was. We always do our same things every week within our fundamentals, technique and things of that nature and we’ll just go from there.”

O-Line continues to seek improvement

When S.C. State lines up against Norfolk State on Saturday, their offensive line will boast three newcomers. The offensive line, which has been riddled with injuries since the beginning of the season, had an impressive showing against South Carolina by keeping Eric Norwood and the Gamecocks from collecting a sack. Still, the Bulldogs hope to build some continuity with their current starting five.

“I think it takes time, first off,” offensive line coach Joe Blackwell said. “One of the big things was we had the open week right after (Bethune-Cookman), which I think really helped because it gave us time for that starting five that is our starting five now. They got that week together. They got the Winston-Salem week together. You saw us play last week. It’s just a comfort level.”

Will Ford was held under 100 yards rushing for the third time in four weeks. For Culbreath and the offensive line, they take pride in the work they do from whistle to whistle. Still, there’s still work to be done in order for them to be the unit the coaches expect them to be.

“We‘re new together,” Culbreath said. “So, we basically have to get on one page, get our combo blocks down, get our young guys up to par so that they’ll know what calls we’re making and which way to go. I think it’s more us than it is Will. It’s just that we’ve got to get the ball rolling and get the train moving.”

Missing in action

Defensive ends Markus James and Pat Washington as well as guard Jake Johnson are still suffering from injuries and will not play Saturday at Norfolk State. Ronell Ferguson and Devin Wherry will also miss Saturday’s game due to death in the family.

The Buddy Pough Show

The Buddy Pough Show will air live on Old Skool 102.9 Thursday from 6-7 p.m. at the All-Star Deli on Old St. Matthews Road. The public is invited to attend.

T&D Sports Writer Emery Glover can be reached by e-mail at eglover@timesanddemocrat.com or by phone at 803-533-5532. For more on the S.C. State Bulldogs, log on to thebulldogzone.com

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