There’s plenty for South Carolina State head football coach Oliver “Buddy” Pough to smile about these days.

With three games remaining his 10th-ranked Bulldogs (7-1, 5-0) need just two wins to clinch a second straight Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference championship and Football Championship Subdivision playoff berth.

S.C. State is also coming off a season-best effort in last Saturdays’ 52-10 homecoming win over Delaware State. While Pough did not use the “P” word - peaking - during Monday’s weekly teleconference, he seemed more than pleased with the direction the Bulldogs are heading down the stretch.

“We played about as good as we could play for awhile Saturday and you saw kind of what we’ve been talking about this team could be when they execute properly and you saw that for awhile, especially defensively with us missing the amount of people we were missing,” Pough said. “I really think that we’ve got a chance to really make some real progress if we just kind of keep on improving. That’s the key for us is to keep getting better.

“The team at the end of the year that’s the best teams are those teams who don’t rest on their laurels. They work at it and try to get a little better each week.”

Along with improving themselves and their standing in the FCS polls, the Bulldogs will have some historical motivation for Saturday’s road game at Howard (2-5, 0-5). A win over the Bison, who have lost 16 consecutive regular-season games, would give the Bulldogs a MEAC-record tying 17th straight conference victory dating back to the 2007 season.

S.C. State has won six straight meetings against the Bison, the last two in dominating fashion by a margin of 114-21. Pough nevertheless expects Howard with 11 South Carolinians in the starting lineup, including senior quarterback Floyd Haigler of Orangeburg-Wilkinson, All-MEAC wide receiver Willie Carter of Denmark-Olar and linebacker Keith Pough of Scott’s Branch, to also play inspired football.

“I was telling my staff this morning that Howard is going to be somebody here pretty soon and it would be really ironic for it to be us,” Pough said. “We supposedly got it going and got all the things we’ve got going. Then, you add the fact that they’ve got all those local kids on the team. I’m sure they’ll all be aiming high to play us as best they can to show us how much they’ve improved. So, it’ll be a tough game for us, but at the same time, we’re going to treat it like any other game.”

The Bulldogs’ offense is coming off their best showing this season from a points and yardage (513) standpoint. Pough said having a healthier wide receiving corps with Tre Young and Terrance Smith enabled the team to maintain its high level of play.

Despite head injuries to leading tackler David Erby, who sat out the Delaware State contest, and sack leader Jayson Ayers, who’s been sidelined the past two games, the Bulldogs have also not missed a beat defensively. During the four-game winning streak, S.C. State has allowed an average of 11 offensive points per game and held opponents to 81 rushing yards per game, something Pough credited to having both interchangeable players and a sound gameplan developed by the defensive coaching staff.

Pough cited as an example La’Taris Douglas, who was switched from defensive back to linebacker earlier in the season. Playing in place of Erby, Douglas posted five tackles and a sack.

“It first says that we’ve got some depth,” he said. “It says that we’ve got some guys who are paying attention and, more than anything else, because we’ve played some many of those guys, when we do lose somebody, it’s not quite as obvious in the whole scheme of things because the fact that you’ve just kind of play a guy that’s been playing a little more.”

At this point last season, the Bulldogs started a run of three consecutive shutouts. Pough said while this team is capable of repeating last year’s success, it’s not a primary goal.

“I think we’re more now trying to refine ourselves to really be as good a team as we possibly can,” he said. “Statistics and that kind of stuff don’t really quite as much. It would be nice to shut people out. We’re not trying to just go out and give away points and that kind of stuff. At the same time, you don’t want to put a whole lot of stock into shutouts because one play something can go awry and then you give up a score and then you’re really broken-hearted now because you gave up a score. Generally, in this day and age, you’re going to give up some points. We’re capable of it, but whether it will come together or not, I don’t know.”

Kickoff for Saturday’s game is set for 1 p.m. at Green Stadium.

Adams named MEAC Defensive POW

A late interception return touchdown for 36 yards helped earn S.C. State defensive back Phillip Adams his second MEAC Defensive Player of the Week honor this season.

The Rock Hill native tallied eight tackles and three pass breakups in helping the Bulldogs limit the Hornets to 87 rushing yards.

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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