Based on recent history, 11th-ranked South Carolina State would seem to hold some advantages over Saturday’s opponent 22nd-ranked Florida A&M.

Counting his days as a Bulldog assistant under Bill Davis in the early 1980s and now as head coach, Oliver “Buddy” Pough is 9-1 against the Rattlers. S.C. State has also won all six meetings during Pough’s head coaching tenure, including the last two meetings at Saturday’s game site, Oliver C. Dawson Stadium, by lopsided margins of 49-3 in 2005 and 49-14 two years later.

In addition, the Bulldogs are coming off what Pough called Monday his team’s most complete effort in a 37-10 road rout of Norfolk State.

Meanwhile, FAMU suffered its first loss of the season and had its seven-game winning streak snapped this past Saturday in a 48-16 loss at ninth-ranked University of Miami.

There’s also the specter of Saturday’s game airing nationally (via tape delay) on ESPNU, a venue on which the Bulldogs are 17-2 under Pough with no losses to historically black colleges.

Even with those favorable factors and earning its highest national ranking since 1982, Pough insisted at his weekly press conference on taking the underdog role heading into Saturday’s Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference first-place showdown.

“I guarantee you, this year is the year (FAMU) has a shot,” he said. “As a matter of fact, they may be the favorites. Everything that I’m hearing is that they’re the better football team from people who’ve seen both of us play. That worries me.”

Concern number one for Pough is slowing down preseason All-MEAC quarterback Curtis Pulley. The University of Kentucky transfer leads the MEAC in total offense (74-121 passing, 990 yards, seven TDs; 372 rushing yards) and passing, just ahead of S.C. State quarterback Malcolm Long in that category. He presents an even more dual threat than similar quarterbacks faced this season such as Grambling’s Greg Dillon and Norfolk State’s Dennis Brown.

“He is the real deal, running and throwing it,” Pough said. “He can throw the hang out of it and he really runs it well. You’ve got your work cut out for you dealing with his different dimensions of effectiveness.

“He’s very similar to (Greg Dillon). He’s a bigger, taller guy than all of those guys. He’s a better-looking guy. He’s a faster guy than all of those guys. But he is somewhat similar and their attack is somewhat similar to their attack of play.”

Concern number two comes in the form of kick return specialist Leroy Vann. Profiled recently by both Sports Illustrated and ESPN’s College Gameday, the senior Rattler leads the MEAC in punt return yards average (23.9) and touchdowns (4) and is second in all-purpose yards (170.4 yards per game).

When asked if he would employ a strategy of kicking away from Vann, something S.C. State did successfully last season against Hampton, Pough kept his plans under wraps.

“We might go back to look back at that tape and see if we can figure out what we did last year to those guys,” Pough said. “I don’t exactly know what yet, but we need to have a plan. What that plan is right now, I’m not going to say. But I can tell you that we need to have some type of plan.”

The third and biggest concern is Pough’s counterpart on the sidelines, FAMU head coach Joe Taylor is 11-6-1 lifetime against the Bulldogs dating back to his days at William and Mary and Hampton. Although he’s lost his last three matchups against S.C. State (two at Hampton and last year with FAMU), it does not take away from the quick fashion and expertise Taylor has used in reviving the Rattlers.

“He’s in the state with the most talent of any state in the county, at least east of the Mississippi River,” Pough said. “The fact that the guy has always been able to assemble people, he understands the conceptual approach of how to put his team together. He’s got his defensive package together. He knows what to do on offense. And then he gets a difference-maker at the most important position (Pulley) that you have before he even gets settled in good, I don’t know whether or not you’d expect him not to be as good as he is. I’m thinking he should have been better.”

Look for the Bulldogs to stick to developing a balanced offensive attack, albeit quick-striking one. S.C. State is sixth in the MEAC in time of possession, averaging 30-1/2 minutes a game, but is ranked second in points scored (27.2) and third in total offense (338.6).

Even as Will Ford stands just 27 yards shy of becoming the school’s all-time leading rusher and 75 yards from surpassing Howard’s Harvey Reid for second place on the MEAC career rushing list, Pough said doesn’t expect the team to digress from its main objective.

“I want Will to have a big senior year,” Pough said. “I really do. But I want our football team to win first and if we can continue to improve his statistical situation while improving our win-and-loss situation, then we’ll work at it. But right now, that’s not as big a deal right now to us. The guy is good enough football player to play anywhere. I don’t think there’s any doubt about that. Yards he doesn’t get now, he’ll get next year for somebody else.”

The S.C. State/FAMU winner will maintain a share of first place in the MEAC with Morgan State should it defeat Howard this Thursday in Baltimore. At the same time, Pough believes Saturday’s game will not necessarily determine the outright conference champion.

“I think we both still have seasons to reckon with, regardless of the outcome,” Pough said. “They’ve lost one game. We’ve lost one game. Two losses with what’s going on in our division, with all the teams getting beaten up all around now might, and I preface that might with a big highlight and underline and italics and all kind of stuff, be able to still have a possibility of getting in (the Football Championship Subdivision playoffs) at 9-2 if there’s not any good 8-3 teams out there and hopefully, they wouldn’t take a 7-4 team over us. With that being the case, I don’t think either team can afford to throw in the towel if things don’t go well this week because we both still have the possibility of still going 9-2.”

New locationFans accustomed to sitting in during the “Buddy” Pough show every Thursday at 6 p.m on WQKI 93.9 FM can do so at a new location.

for Pough Show

Starting this Thursday, Pough and co-host Steve Wannamaker will conduct the show at “The End Zone” Sports Bar and Grill on Highway 601 next to the Comfort Inn. Fans can call the show live at 803-378-7605 or e-mail prior to the show at talktobuddy@gmail.com to ask Pough questions.

Tickets still available

Time is running out for fans to purchase advanced tickets for Saturday’s game. The event is “Youth Day” and fans can take advantage of several special offers:

$10 -- A group of 10 students or more or a youngster under 18 accompanied by a chaperone.

$15 -- All youth under 18 years of age or a group of 20 or more adults.

$25 -- A group of less than 20 adults or general admission single tickets.

$30 -- Reserved tickets.

School officials are encouraging fans to make ticket purchases in advance by Friday. On Saturday, tickets will only be available at selected locations around the Game Zone and fans must have a ticket to gain entry.

For more information, call the S.C. State Ticket Office at 803-536-8579 or visit the Web site at www.scsuathletics.com to learn more about the Game Zone.

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. Read his blog, Following The Bulldogs, and other stories on-line at TheTandD.com.

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