Perhaps South Carolina State teammates erred when they initially gave then-freshman quarterback Malcolm Long the nickname ‘fatboy’.

Had they used some more imagination, a more fitting moniker for Long would be ‘The Kingpin’. The Marvel Comics’ character is a highly-skilled, efficient strategist with a killer instinct often overlooked by enemies distracted by his girth.

Every time Long leaves the playing field after another efficient performance like Saturday’s career-best 316 yards, two touchdowns and one rushing score in a 52-10 rout of Delaware State, it’s clear the Gaffney native plays bigger than his 257-pound size.

“As far as having a multidimensional guy, a guy who gives you a chance to do more things with this offense. I think he might be as good as anybody that’s been here,” S.C. State head football coach Oliver ‘Buddy’ Pough said. “The one thing that we’ve done over time as that we’re always going to run the football at South Carolina State and play defense. I don’t know if you’ve ever had an offense that’s been as prolific as this offense is and the different ways it is. I take a lot of pride in the fact that we throw it as well as run it.”

Few S.C. State quarterbacks have ever been as efficient passing the football than Long. For the season, he’s completed 67.2 percent of his passes (129-192) and seems poised to shatter the school’s single-season team record for completion percentage (57.2 percent) he set last year.

With 1,583 yards, Long is on pace to become S.C. State’s first-ever single-season 2,000-yard passer. He’s also 159 yards shy of 4,000 career yards in just two full seasons and could own the school career yardage record currently held by Reese McCampbell (5,230 yards) after his senior year.

Yet Long’s conditioning and weight remains as much a topic of conversation than his game performances. Even Pough broached the topic during the post-game press conference.

“The guy is what I thought he was,” Pough said. “He’s always had the kind of potential that I’ve always known that he could do what he does. If Malcolm would clean up his body stuff a little bit, Malcolm could be a pro. He could be an NFL pro. But what’s going to hold him back is the discipline part of him and his body.

“It’s not like I don’t tell him this. I call him all types of names. Heck, I lost weight trying to get him to lose weight. So if he ever decides that he’s going to clean his body up, he’s an NFL guy.”

If there’s a set of numbers which really defines Long is his 17-4 record as a Bulldog starting quarterback. Add his 31-5 record in three seasons at Gaffney, where he posted three wins over J.F. Byrnes with Willy Korn and Summerville with A.J. Green and you have a quarterback who’s won 84.2 percent of his games over the past six years.

In a conference where the most touted quarterbacks rely more on their legs than arms, Long does not need to take a backseat to anyone.

“The guy has been winning enough to kind of maybe change people’s perceptions of that,” Pough said two weeks ago. “Let’s hope so. At the same time, let them just keep thinking that’s the way it works and we’ll just got to keep hoping that Malcolm gets his thing done. As long as he does, it will dawn on everybody about his effectiveness.”

FINISHING STRONG

Having completed the challenges of October, the road to a repeat conference championship looks favorable for S.C. State.

Winners of a school record 16 straight Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference games, the Bulldogs travel to Washington D.C. this Saturday to face a Howard team which has done the reverse with 16 consecutive conference losses. The Bulldogs then close the regular season with home games against Morgan State (Nov. 14) and North Carolina A&T.

S.C. State has won 21 consecutive conference games in November since 2002 and are 21-4 during that same span.

“We feel pretty good, but we’ve still got to go out and perform,” S.C. State wide receiver Tre Young said. “You’ve still got to go up and win games and that’s what it’s going to take.”

BULLDOG BITES

Saturday’s crowd of 21,257 fans at Oliver C. Dawson Stadium was 9,040 more than last year’s ‘Homecoming’ attendance. Through three home games, South Carolina State is averaging 20,552 fans per game - an increase of 53.5 percent from last year and fourth among Football Championship Subdivision schools...Delaware State dropped to 2-4 lifetime in games on Halloween, with three straight defeats at the hands of S.C. State. The Hornets also fell to 6-14 against the Bulldogs in Orangeburg...Wide receiver Tre Young is within striking distance of another school receiving record. With 109 career receptions, he needs eight to surpass Tavarus Morgan’s mark of 116...S.C. State improved to 59-6 when leading at halftime under head coach Oliver ‘Buddy’ Pough. Pough also improved to 5-3 against the Hornets and owns a winning record over every team in the MEAC...S.C. State is now 21-6 in conference home games.

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