Charleston Southern 14, The Citadel 6
CHARLESTON, S.C. – The Citadel football team dropped its second-round playoff game at No. 8-seeded Charleston Southern on Saturday 14-6.
The Citadel was only able to muster two field goals offensively and totaled 267 yards, 199 of which were on the ground, for the entire game. Eric Goins broke The Citadel's single-season field-goals made record. His two in the game gave him 16 for the year, breaking the previous record of 14.
The Bulldogs (9-4) took a 3-0 lead on their second possession of the game after Goins drilled a 43-yard field goal with 3:54 left in the first quarter to break the record. That would be the only lead The Citadel would have in the first half as CSU (10-2) scored at the 6:33 mark in the second quarter on a 41-yard run and then again five minutes later on a 32-yard run.
Mike Holloway tallied both scores in the first half to give the Buccaneers a 14-3 heading into the half. The Bulldogs were plagued by turnovers in the first half, coughing up the ball four times. Tyler Renew led all rushers for The Citadel with 48 yards in the first half and Vinny Miller tallied 24. The Bulldogs were 3-of-6 passing and outgained Charleston Southern in the first half of play 150 yards to 141.
The Citadel continued to struggle taking care of the ball as it fumbled on its first possession of the second half on third down. That would give the Bucs the ball on The Citadel 36-yard line, but the Bulldogs' defense continued to play extremely well and forced CSU to punt with 10:52 left in the third quarter.
With 3:53 remaining in the third quarter, The Citadel defense forced another three-and-out and took over on its own 45-yard line. The Bulldogs moved the ball well on the ground but after a penalty and a sack, the Bulldogs were forced to attempt their third field goal of the day. Goins nailed the 39-yarder to make the score 14-6 with 12:14 remaining in the game.
The Bulldogs got the ball again at the 5:58 mark on the 6-yard line. On the fourth play of the drive, Dominique Allen found Alex Glover 26 yards downfield to give The Citadel the ball on its own 42-yard line. A targeting penalty a play later moved the Bulldogs up 15 yards and put the ball on the CSU 43-yard line with 4:04 left, but The Citadel was unable to convert on 4th-and-3 and the Buccaneers took over on downs.
CSU took over with 2:30 left in the game and ran the ball five times before being forced to punt with two seconds left on the clock. The Bulldogs snapped one last play and tried to lateral multiple times as time expired before the ball was eventually fumbled and the Bucs fell on it, sealing the win for Charleston Southern.
Goins moved into a tie for second on The Citadel's career field-goals made list. The junior has 25, passing Travis Zobel (24, 2000-03) and tying Jeff Trinh (25, 1992-95). Goins also moved into fourth on The Citadel's career kick scoring list with 150 points, passing Sam Keeler (146, 2008-10).
James Riley moved into fifth on The Citadel's all-time career tackles list. With a career-high-tying 12, Riley finished his career with 260, passing James Greene (254, 2001-04) and Shawn Grant (258, 2002-05).
The Bulldogs' nine wins this season are the second-most in a season in school history, and their first-round win last week at Coastal Carolina was the program's first road playoff win.
Jacksonville 41, Chattanooga 35 (OT)
JACKSONVILLE, Ala. – The Chattanooga Mocs' comeback story ended in disappointment with a 41-35 overtime loss at No. 1 Jacksonville State on Saturday. It was an offensive explosion as the two teams combined for 1,084 yards.
Jacob Huesman and Derrick Craine led the way with 97 and 95 yards rushing, respectively. They each broke Eldra Buckley's single-season rushing record of 1,233 yards in 2005. Craine ended with 1,251, while Huesman had 1,244.
Huesman also passed for 161 yards completing 11 of 18 with two scores and one interception. He accounted for five touchdowns on the day, ending up with 108 career touchdowns and ranking third in FCS history with 4,051 rushing yards by a quarterback.
JSU amassed 640 yards, with 432 on the ground. Troymaine Pope had 234 yards on 17 carries and three touchdowns, while quarterback Eli Jenkins added 195 and another three scores. Jenkins threw for 208, completing 13 of 26 with one interception.
The top-seeded Gamecocks led 21-7 in the second quarter on Eli Jenkins' 10-yard run with 1:23 to go in the half. With JSU opening the second half with the ball, the Mocs needed a big play.
It happened quickly. Huesman hit James Stovall for a 20-yard gain. On the next play, he darted down the right sideline 45 yards for the score and a 21-14 deficit at the break.
Troymaine Pope's 49-yard run to start the third quarter looked to put the hosts in firm control. A Mocs three-and-out was followed by another deep drive from the Gamecocks. JSU seemed to go up 35-14, but the completion in the back of the endzone was overturned on replay.
Connor Rouleau lined up for a 39-yard field goal attempt, which flew wide left. That open the door for the Mocs, who took advantage.
Huesman had back-to-back scoring passes to Stovall (7 yards) and Alphonso Stewart (15). The second tied the game at 28-28 less than a minute into the fourth quarter.
JSU drove deep into Chattanooga territory on its ensuing possession. Jenkins looked into the end zone, but C.J. Fritz was on the scene, intercepting the offering.
The Mocs' next drive was kept alive when Huesman found Stovall across the middle for 27 yards to the JSU 39. The next play featured a little razzle dazzle. Huesman threw a backwards pass to Alejandro Bennifield on the right sideline. He looked deep to a receiver running a post, then tossed it back to Huesman, who followed his blockers down the left sideline into the end zone for the 35-28 lead with 8:35 to go.
The squads exchanged punts but Pope made a game-changing play. On 2nd-and-10 at his own 25, he burst down the left sideline for 75 yards, knotting the game at 35-all. Both teams drove to midfield on their final possessions, but the contest went to overtime.
The Mocs started with the ball. Runs by Huesman and Craine netted a first down at the 14. Huesman then looked for the junior running back with a pass into the end zone. Brandon Bender cut in front of Craine and made the interception.
Jenkins took over as JSU took its possession at the 25. He ran 11 yards to the 14 and then capped the win with a 14-yard scamper to his left.
Keionta Davis had two sacks for a school-record 13.5 for the season. Cedric Nettles had a career-high 14 tackles, while A.J. Hampton added eight stops.
Bender was the star of the Gamecocks' defense. He made 11 tackles, including 1.5 for loss, adding the interception. The JSU defense accounted for nine total tackles for loss.
Chattanooga, 9-4, ends its season. The 2015 senior class tied the 1980 class for the most wins by a group of seniors with 33.