College Football TV Listings 2014, Week 6

Posted on September 30, 2014 by Sandlapper Spike

This is a list of every game played during week 1 of the college football season involving at least one FBS or FCS school.  All games are listed, televised or not.  For the televised games (only live broadcasts are listed), I include the announcers and sideline reporters (where applicable).  I put all of it on a Google Documents spreadsheet that can be accessed at the following link:

College Football TV Listings 2014, Week 6

Additional notes:

– I include ESPN3.com games; they are denoted as “ESPN3″.

– This season, I am also including digital network feeds provided by various conferences when they are free of charge. For some of these feeds, the audio will be a simulcast of the home team’s radio broadcast. There are also online platforms that have their own announcers (a la ESPN3).

For now, the digital networks I am including in the listings are those for the Mountain West, Big Sky, Big South, OVC, NEC, SoCon, and Patriot League. Occasionally free feeds are also provided by the Atlantic Sun and WCC.

– The local affiliates for the ACC Network “national” game of the week (Virginia Tech-North Carolina) can be found here: Link

– Regional nets carrying the ACC Network “regional” game of the week (Pittsburgh-Virginia) are listed in a note in the document and can also be found here: Link

– Local affiliates for American Sports Network games: Southern Mississippi-Middle Tennessee State; New Mexico-UTSA; Hawai’i-Rice

– Local affiliates for the Southland Conference game of the week (Northwestern State-Southeastern Louisiana) can be found here: Link

– Listed in notes in the document are the regional nets carrying the following games: Florida Atlantic-Florida International (Thursday night), Marshall-Old Dominion, Stony Brook-Towson, Kansas-West Virginia

– ABC/ESPN3 coverage map for the 3:30 pm ET games: Link

– BTN (formerly Big Ten Network) “gamefinder”:  Link

– AP Poll (FBS): Link

– FCS Coaches’ Poll:  Link

—

A lot of the information I use in putting this together comes courtesy of Matt Sarzyniak’s remarkably comprehensive and completely indispensable site College Sports on TV, which simply cannot be praised enough. It’s a must-bookmark for any fan of college sports.

Also to be credited, as always, are the indefatigable information collectors (and in a few cases sports-TV savants) at the506.com. I am also assisted on occasion by helpful athletic media relations officials at various schools and conferences.

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Game review, 2014: Gardner-Webb

Posted on September 28, 2014 by Sandlapper Spike

Links of interest:

Game story, The Post and Courier

“Notes” section, The Post and Courier

Photo gallery, The Post and Courier

School release

Game story, The Shelby Star

Video from WCSC-TV, including interview with Mike Houston

Box score

—

It’s good to win, especially when the month of September is coming to a close and you haven’t won yet. The victory over Gardner-Webb was cathartic for both the team and its fans.

The Citadel did a lot of things right on Saturday night, but the Bulldogs weren’t perfect. I’m going to discuss a few things that could stand improvement when I preview the Wofford game later in the week.

Having said that, there were a lot of positives in this game, on the field and off. What follows are a few observations (and the usual assortment of motley pictures).

—

– I wrote this at the beginning of my preview of the Gardner-Webb game:

The Citadel is averaging 3.36 yards per pass. This is obviously not good enough. Neither is a pass completion rate of 24.2%. The Bulldogs currently rank last in FCS football in passing yards per game.

Obviously, The Citadel is not going to throw the ball all over the field in its triple option offense. However, when the Bulldogs do pass the ball, they need to make it count. Not only must they complete more passes, they have to go for more yardage. The longest completion so far this season has been 24 yards.

The Citadel turned things around in the passing game by changing its approach at the beginning of the contest, throwing the ball on the first two plays from scrimmage. Gardner-Webb was caught flat-footed by the Bulldogs’ Air Raid attack, and before all the cadets had filed into the stands, The Citadel had its first lead of the season.

The Bulldogs averaged 12.4 yards per pass attempt, which will usually get it done. Aaron Miller’s second throw of the day went to Rudder Brown, who caught the ball and then crisscrossed the field for a 47-yard gain. That almost doubled the previous long reception of the season (24 yards).

Ten of The Citadel’s fifteen pass attempts came on first down. Indeed, the Bulldogs threw the ball 28% of the time on first down versus Gardner-Webb, twice as often as the first three games (14%). Breaking tendencies, anyone?

– Aaron Miller completed eight passes during the game, while his counterpart for Gardner-Webb, Lucas Beatty, completed 29. Despite that discrepancy, each quarterback completed passes to six different receivers.

I could describe that as an oddity, but it’s not. The Citadel may not throw the ball a lot, but that doesn’t mean the Bulldogs lack capable pass-catchers. There is considerable depth in that department.

– Through three games, opponents had converted 33% of their 3rd-and-long attempts against The Citadel’s defense, which was obviously too high a percentage. The Bulldogs did a much better job on Saturday, as Gardner-Webb only picked up one first down on seven 3rd-and-long situations.

G-W was 0-6 attempting a pass on 3rd-and-long (with three of those plays resulting in sacks by The Citadel). Gardner-Webb’s only successful 3rd-and-long conversion was a run by quarterback Lucas Beatty after he broke containment.

– It isn’t often a fan can be generally satisfied with his team’s pass defense when the opposing quarterback is 29-35 through the air, averages eight yards per attempt, and is not intercepted. That was the case on Saturday, however. Of course, recording ten sacks (and the accompanying 70 yards of lost yardage for G-W) does make a difference, especially when four of those sacks come on third down. Recovering a fumble on one of those sacks helps, too.

– There was one coaching decision during the game I questioned, although not for long. During the second quarter, Gardner-Webb began a possession at The Citadel’s 35-yard line after a fumble recovery-and-return (the fumble was bogus, but whatever).

After starting the drive with an incomplete pass, Beatty was sacked by the law firm of Thomas & Jeter on second down. That left G-W with a 3rd-and-18 situation.

On third down, a completed pass returned the ball to the original line of scrimmage. However, G-W was called for holding on the play.

Mike Houston then had the option of accepting the penalty, and setting up 3rd-and-28 from the Gardner-Webb 47; or declining the penalty and taking the result of the play, which would leave G-W with 4th-and-10 from The Citadel’s 35. He chose to decline the penalty.

I would have been inclined to take the penalty, myself. It was obvious Gardner-Webb would go for it on 4th down in that situation (Carroll McCray certainly wasn’t going to have his placekicker attempt a 52-yard field goal).

It would have been tough to decline the penalty, and then have Gardner-Webb pick up the first down. Ten yards wasn’t that unmanageable, either.

At least, that’s what I thought, and then on 4th down Tevin Floyd raced through the G-W offensive line and sacked the quarterback in 0.7 seconds. I immediately shouted, “Good decision, coach!”

Score one for Mike Houston.

—

– The 1960 throwbacks were a hit with the crowd. Very sharp. If you want to buy one, check out the auction.

I’ve been critical of The Citadel’s constant uniform tinkering in the past, but the helmet tweaking for Military Appreciation Day was excellent. You can see the uniforms up close in The Post and Courier‘s photo gallery.

– I also appreciated the small (and not so small) touches for Military Appreciation Day, including the red-white-blue end zone motif. I thought that on the whole, the school did a very nice job on that front.

– Hey, the band played more than twice during the game! It was noticed, too.

There are still a few things to get worked out. Twice during the second quarter, the videoboard went into sound-explosion mode just as the band started to play, so a little more coordination is still needed.

I gather the band will need time to expand its repertoire, so it may be next year before the ideal is reached, but that’s okay. Baby steps.

They did play the theme from “Hawaii 5-0”, although I’m not sure everyone heard it. The acoustics at Johnson Hagood Stadium are a bit of an issue.

– I thought the freshmen were in good form on Saturday. Some (not all) of the upperclassmen weren’t quite as spirited.

One thing all the cadets (and other supporters) did like was the placekicking contest following the third quarter. There is nothing quite as enjoyable as watching a fellow member of the corps attempt a 35-yard field goal in his shined leathers.

I would advocate more cadet-oriented contests. There should be at least three such events during the game.

– In my opinion, the cheerleading squad makes a difference, and was badly missed during its hiatus. Also making a difference: the omnipresent Spike The Bulldog, surely the hardest-working anthropomorphic mascot in college athletics.

– Attendance was low, officially announced as 8,573. I think that was an accurate total.

There were a lot of factors at play: South Carolina played a home game at the same time, Clemson was on TV at the same time, the weather was threatening, Gardner-Webb didn’t bring many fans, and the home team was 0-3. That said, it was the smallest crowd at Johnson Hagood Stadium I could recall since the Thursday night game against Benedict in 2004.

Improving home football attendance is just one of the many tasks for new AD Jim Senter, but it’s an important one. Longtime fans can remember when attendance at The Citadel’s home games was significantly higher.

In the game program on Saturday was a blurb with the headline “On This Day in Citadel Football History”, which noted that on September 27, 1980, The Citadel defeated UT-Chattanooga 29-13 at Johnson Hagood Stadium. Attendance for that game was 18,345 — almost 10,000 more than showed up at Johnson Hagood Stadium for a game exactly 34 years later.

—

Below are some pictures I took before and during the game. Some of them are actually in focus.

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2014 Football, Game 4: The Citadel vs. Gardner-Webb

Posted on September 25, 2014 by Sandlapper Spike

The Citadel vs. Gardner-Webb, to be played at historic Johnson Hagood Stadium, with kickoff at 6:00 pm ET on Saturday, September 27. The game will not be televised.

The contest will be streamed for free on the SoCon Digital Network, the league’s new streaming platform.

The game can be heard on radio via the various affiliates of The Citadel Sports Network. Mike Legg (the new “Voice of the Bulldogs”) will call the action alongside analyst Lee Glaze. It is also possible to listen to the action with a smartphone, using a TuneIn Radio application.

WQNT-1450 AM [audio link], originating in Charleston, will be the flagship station for The Citadel Sports Network. WQNT will have a two-hour pregame show prior to each home football game that will be hosted by Ted Byrne. The pregame show and game broadcast will be produced by Jay Harper, who will also provide updates on other college football action.

—

Links of interest:

– Game notes from The Citadel and Gardner-Webb

– The Bulldogs must “stick to their guns”

– SoCon weekly release

– Big South weekly release

– Mike Houston 9/23 press conference

– Mike Houston on the SoCon teleconference

– Gardner-Webb head coach Carroll McCray previews The Citadel

– American Sports Network affiliate list for two SoCon football games, worth a look for future interest (namely Chattanooga-The Citadel on 10/18)

—

Some statistics of note through three games:

– The Citadel is averaging 3.36 yards per pass. This is obviously not good enough. Neither is a pass completion rate of 24.2%. The Bulldogs currently rank last in FCS football in passing yards per game.

Obviously, The Citadel is not going to throw the ball all over the field in its triple option offense. However, when the Bulldogs do pass the ball, they need to make it count. Not only must they complete more passes, they have to go for more yardage. The longest completion so far this season has been 24 yards.

– To succeed on third down, The Citadel has to be better on first and second down. The Bulldogs have faced 3rd-and-long (5 yards or more) no fewer than 26 times this season. That’s 60% of all third downs for The Citadel’s offense.

– Mike Houston was generally pleased with the defensive performance last week, and I can understand that. However (as I mentioned in my review), The Citadel did not force a turnover in that game or any other so far this season.

The defense needs to make more game-changing plays. The lack of turnovers and sacks (just three through three games) is a little troubling.

The Bulldogs’ secondary is guarding against big plays in the passing game, which I think is a good idea with this squad. That makes it all the more important for the front seven to pressure the quarterback, particularly on passing downs.

Opponents have had 21 3rd-and-long situations this year. They have successfully converted seven times. That’s too high (33.3%). Six of those seven conversions have come via the pass.

– This may surprise some people, given the number of times penalties have affected the Bulldogs this year, but The Citadel is tied for 12th nationally in the category of fewest penalties per game. The Bulldogs’ opponent on Saturday, Gardner-Webb, is tied for 10th.

It’s not as much the number of penalties that have hurt The Citadel, it’s the timing of those infractions. The Bulldogs cannot afford drive-killing penalties. The margin of error for The Citadel is not nearly big enough to overcome those.

Speaking of penalties, while Mike Houston is restricted in what he can say about officiating, I’m not. The officials did not have a good game last week.

There were multiple bad calls, and most of them didn’t favor The Citadel. From a technical perspective, probably the most egregious error by an official was the pass interference call on Walker Smith, which appeared to have been made by the field judge. I have no idea what the official was thinking on that play.

The men in stripes were ACC/SoCon officials, so Houston is likely to see them again during the season, making it even more important that he not burn any bridges. I did like that in his press conference, Houston referred to the referee as “White Hat”.

“White Hat” was in charge for the 2012 Army-Navy game, while his compatriot with the interesting theory on pass interference worked last year’s Sugar Bowl. It makes one wonder if officials such as these who are assigned games outside the ACC don’t fully concentrate when calling FCS games.

—

Gardner-Webb started its institutional life as a high school, in 1905. By 1928 it had become a junior college; the school began offering four-year degrees in 1969. It has been known as Gardner-Webb University since 1993.

The school is named for former North Carolina governor O. Max Gardner and his wife, Fay Webb Gardner, along with their families. O. Max Gardner is the only person to have ever been captain of both football teams at UNC and NC State.

Gardner-Webb is closely affiliated with the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina. The 200-acre campus is located in Boiling Springs, North Carolina. There are around 4,300 undergraduate and graduate students at Gardner-Webb; 63% of them are women.

The Runnin’ Bulldogs play their home football games in Spangler Stadium, which is a 9,000-seat multi-purpose stadium. I mention that because The Citadel’s football team may be making a trip to Boiling Springs in the next few years, perhaps in 2016.

—

Head coach Carroll McCray is a Gardner-Webb alum with a lot of coaching connections familiar to Bulldog fans. He was an assistant under Sparky Woods at both Appalachian State and South Carolina, spent seven seasons as the offensive line coach at Samford, then took over the Austin Peay football program as its head coach for four years (2003-06).

McCray then served as Bobby Lamb’s offensive line coach at both Furman and Mercer, before replacing Jamey Chadwell as North Greenville’s head coach in 2012. After one year there, his alma mater hired him as its head coach.

Gardner-Webb was 7-5 in McCray’s first season in charge, with victories over both Furman and Wofford (along with a puzzling 27-9 loss to VMI).

This season, the Runnin’ Bulldogs are 2-2. G-W has lost road games at Wake Forest and Furman (the game in which Paladins starting quarterback Reese Hannon broke his ankle). At home, Gardner-Webb has defeated Virginia-Lynchburg and Wofford. The 43-36 victory over the Terriers came last week.

—

In his Tuesday press conference, Mike Houston described Gardner-Webb as a “60-40” team in terms of its pass-run ratio. That’s about right in terms of yardage (56% of G-W’s total yards have come via the air), but the actual play calls have been very close to 50-50 (taking sacks into account).

Gardner-Webb rushed for 126 yards versus Wofford, but struggled on the ground against Furman (69 rush yards) and Wake Forest (77).

It is interesting (or perhaps curious) that the G-W defense was excellent against the run against the Paladins and Demon Deacons, more or less matching the opposing D, but allowed 322 rush yards to Wofford. In Gardner-Webb’s world, either both teams run the ball, or neither team runs the ball.

Gardner-Webb is led by quarterback Lucas Beatty, a fifth-year senior from Charlotte who has started 32 games for the Runnin’ Bulldogs during his career. This season, Beatty is completing 59% of his passes, averaging just over six yards per attempt, with five touchdowns versus two interceptions.

Beatty’s backup is a freshman, Tyrell Maxwell, who has seen limited action thus far for the Runnin’ Bulldogs. However, he has already rushed for 173 yards, and scored touchdowns against Virginia-Lynchburg, Wake Forest, and Wofford. A native of Cordova, Maxwell attended Edisto High School and was selected to last year’s Shrine Bowl.

The star offensive performer for G-W is senior wideout Kenny Cook, an imposing (6’4”, 218 lb.) target who caught 76 passes last season for over 1,000 yards and nine TDs. Cook, a native of Cross Hill, missed the Wake Forest and Virginia-Lynchburg games with an injured hamstring.

He returned against Wofford last week, catching six passes (one of which went for a touchdown). Cook will be a very difficult matchup for the Bulldogs.

Cook’s presence also allows more freedom for Beatty’s other passing targets. They include tight end Seth Cranfill, a 6’4”, 246 lb. redshirt senior who has two TD catches this year, and Deonte Swinton, another tall wideout (6’2”) who is also a redshirt senior.

Swinton is one of seven different Runnin’ Bulldogs with five or more receptions, as Beatty likes to spread the wealth. He’s not afraid to throw to his running backs, either.

One of those backs, Juanne Blount, was a preseason All-Big South pick after rushing for 1,040 yards during the 2013 campaign. He is yet another redshirt senior.

That is a recurring theme with Gardner-Webb. This is a team with a lot of experienced, older players, particularly on offense. Six of the offensive starters listed on the two-deep are redshirt seniors.

Another Runnin’ Bulldog trait is size. It’s a very tall, rangy team. Four of the starting offensive linemen are 6’4” or 6’5”, as are Cranfill and Kenny Cook. Juanne Blount is the only offensive starter under 6’1”. In addition to their size, the word “athletic” is thrown around a lot describing the majority of Gardner-Webb players.

The offense has 15 plays from scrimmage this season of 20 or more yards, ten passing and five rushing.

—

Gardner-Webb has taken a few hits on defense, including the loss due to injury of “spur” linebacker Chad Geter, who was leading the team in tackles after two games. Another injured linebacker, two-time All-Big South selection Tanner Burch, has yet to play for the Runnin’ Bulldogs this season.

Then there is defensive Shaq Riddick, who finished fifth in the voting for last year’s Buck Buchanan Award. Riddick would have been a fifth-year senior at Gardner-Webb this season, but elected to transfer to West Virginia for his final year of eligibility.

The Runnin’ Bulldogs are hardly bereft of quality defenders, however. From The Citadel’s perspective, perhaps the key player for Gardner-Webb is noseguard O.J. Mau, a 6’2”, 308 lb. rock in the G-W defensive line. Mau was a first-team All-Big South pick last year and is expected to contend for national honors this season.

He is still developing, too, as Mau will not turn 20 years old until the day after Gardner-Webb plays The Citadel. He is from American Samoa, and played in the 2012 Oceania Bowl, helping lead his team to a 93-7 victory over Australia.

Defensive end Tyler Hough-Jenkins is yet another large (6’4”, 274 lb.) redshirt senior. The other d-line starter is junior Jebrai Regan, a converted linebacker.

Aaron Cook, who plays the “bandit” position in Gardner-Webb’s 3-4 base defense, currently leads the team in tackles with 25. Cook is a sophomore. True freshman Jeffrey Pegues will start at one of the inside linebacker positions.

The Runnin’ Bulldogs do have some linebacking experience in the person of senior Donald Buie (taking over Geter’s “spur” role) and junior Azziz Higgins. Another player who should see action is redshirt freshman Quinton Patterson, a transfer from North Carolina State.

The defensive secondary is led by cornerback Ivan Toomer, who doubles as a kick returner for Gardner-Webb. He leads the team in pass breakups with four, and also had an interception return for a touchdown against Virginia-Lynchburg.

Toomer is one of seven different Gardner-Webb players with an interception (one each). The Runnin’ Bulldogs also have a fumble recovery (by yet another defender). Gardner-Webb has a +5 turnover margin for the season, and has scored 20 points off turnovers while allowing no points off its own turnovers.

It should be noted that three of those interceptions came against an overmatched Virginia-Lynchburg team (as did four of G-W’s nine sacks). Virginia-Lynchburg had a net rushing total of -21 yards versus Gardner-Webb.

—

The placekicker for the Runnin’ Bulldogs, Paul Schumacher, is a freshman from West Palm Beach, FL. He is 4-8 on field goal attempts, with a long of 29 yards. Redshirt sophomore Dustin Holder has been the punter, though Gardner-Webb’s two-deep suggests that South Carolina transfer Andrew Komornik is an option for the game against The Citadel.

Toomer and wideout J.J. Hubbard will handle kickoff return duties, with Hubbard also serving as the punt returner for the Runnin’ Bulldogs. Hubbard returned a kickoff for a touchdown last season against Charleston Southern.

—

A few miscellaneous numbers:

– Gardner-Webb has outscored its opponents in the third quarter 33-10. I guess Carroll McCray can give a good halftime speech.

– The Runnin’ Bulldogs have a red zone offensive TD rate of just 53% (8-15), but have excelled defensively in the red zone, with a TD rate of 45% (5-11).

– I’m not sure I believe this, but according to Gardner-Webb’s statistical summary, the Runnin’ Bulldogs have picked up 15 first downs via penalty, while the defense has not given up a single first down by penalty all season.

—

Odds and ends:

– Saturday is Military Appreciation Day at The Citadel. The halftime show should be a good one, with the Charleston Police Department Pipe and Drums on hand, to be followed by The Citadel Chorale (fresh from rave reviews in Boston) singing “God Bless America”.

Players will wear a helmet sticker bearing the number “440”, representing the number of cadets who have died serving their country.

Incidentally, last Saturday was Military Appreciation Day at Gardner-Webb.

– During the first quarter, fans can have their picture taken with the coveted Silver Shako. Don’t miss the chance to get a selfie with the greatest trophy in all of sports.

– Bags and purses will be subject to search this week as part of a new security policy at Johnson Hagood Stadium. This might cause a delay in entering the facility, so keep that in mind. This may be a response to an incident at the stadium during the Sertoma Classic in August, when a teenager brought a gun to the game, then threw it in one of the end zones as he was running from the police.

– Players will be wearing 1960 replica jerseys on Saturday, honoring the 1960 team that won eight games, including the Tangerine Bowl. The jerseys will be auctioned off to raise money for the department of athletics. Let’s hope these uniforms won’t be judged as illegal, unlike last season’s uniform debacle (“Unigate”).

—

The Citadel badly needs a victory. Do I think the Bulldogs can get one this week?

It’s possible, but to be honest I’m not very confident. My confidence doesn’t matter, though. It’s the team’s self-esteem that matters.

I hope the Bulldogs expect to win on Saturday. I hope even more that they actually win.

Filed under: Football, The Citadel | Tagged: , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment »

College Football TV Listings 2014, Week 5

Posted on September 23, 2014 by Sandlapper Spike

This is a list of every game played during week 1 of the college football season involving at least one FBS or FCS school.  All games are listed, televised or not.  For the televised games (only live broadcasts are listed), I include the announcers and sideline reporters (where applicable).  I put all of it on a Google Documents spreadsheet that can be accessed at the following link:

College Football TV Listings 2014, Week 5

Additional notes:

– I include ESPN3.com games; they are denoted as “ESPN3″.

– This season, I am also including digital network feeds provided by various conferences when they are free of charge. For some of these feeds, the audio will be a simulcast of the home team’s radio broadcast. There are also online platforms that have their own announcers (a la ESPN3).

For now, the digital networks I am including in the listings are those for the Mountain West, Big Sky, Big South, OVC, NEC, SoCon, and Patriot League. Occasionally free feeds are also provided by the Atlantic Sun and WCC.

– The local affiliates for the ACC Network “national” game of the week (Western Michigan-Virginia Tech) can be found here: Link

– Regional nets carrying the ACC Network “regional” game of the week (Colorado State-Boston College) are listed in a note in the document.

– Local affiliates for American Sports Network games: Georgetown-Colgate, Western Carolina-Furman, Florida International-UAB, Samford-Chattanooga, Elon-Coastal Carolina

– Local affiliates for the Southland Conference game of the week (Nicholls State-Central Arkansas) can be found here: Link

– Listed in notes in the document are the regional nets carrying the following games: UTEP-Kansas State, Memphis-Mississippi

– ABC/ESPN2 coverage map for the 3:30 pm ET games: Link

– BTN (formerly Big Ten Network) “gamefinder”:  Link

– AP Poll (FBS): Link

– FCS Coaches’ Poll:  Link

—

A lot of the information I use in putting this together comes courtesy of Matt Sarzyniak’s remarkably comprehensive and completely indispensable site College Sports on TV, which simply cannot be praised enough. It’s a must-bookmark for any fan of college sports.

Also to be credited, as always, are the indefatigable information collectors (and in a few cases sports-TV savants) at the506.com. I am also assisted on occasion by helpful athletic media relations officials at various schools and conferences.

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Game review, 2014: Charleston Southern

Posted on September 21, 2014 by Sandlapper Spike

Links of interest:

Game story, The Post and Courier

“Notes” column, The Post and Courier

School release

Box score

—

Brief comments:

– While I wasn’t surprised the Bulldogs lost, I was disappointed in how they played. They weren’t disciplined or sharp enough on Saturday night.

Special teams play reared its ugly head again, allowing a punt return TD (and was very lucky on the field goal, as it was tipped). Defensively, The Citadel allowed too many long third down conversions, including three of nine yards or more.

On offense, the Bulldogs were just 4 of 14 on third downs, not good enough for a triple option team, and evidence of a lack of success on first and second downs. Of the fourteen 3rd-down plays, eight of them were 3rd-and-7 or longer.

There were too many penalties, including multiple drive-killers (though I thought the Bulldogs were hosed at least twice by the officials on that front). The Citadel also had two lost fumbles, both costly.

– Speaking of turnovers, through three games the Bulldog D has yet to force one. No interceptions, no recovered fumbles (and only one forced fumble).

In addition, The Citadel only has three quarterback sacks so far this season. The Bulldogs have been credited with five pass breakups in 91 opponent pass attempts (5.5%). The lack of sacks and pass breakups goes a long way to explaining why Bulldog opponents are completing 71.4% of their passes.

By contrast, The Citadel has only completed 24.2% of its passes (8-33). The Bulldogs aren’t going to complete an exceptionally high percentage of passes in the triple option, but they must be better than 24%. Much better.

– I thought Mike Houston made a mistake early in the game. On the opening drive, with 4th-and-1 on the CSU 46, he decided to punt.

That’s not the percentage play, especially for the triple option offense. He let the visiting crowd down early with that call.

I’ll delve into a few more numbers when I preview the Gardner-Webb game later in the week.

—

Now I’m going to talk about (well, write about) the game location and future scheduling, since this has been a topic of discussion. I suspect not everyone is going to be happy with what I’m going to say.

I will preface what follows by stating the obvious: I’m not an insider. There may be more to this subject than I know. I would be shocked if that weren’t the case.

So, massive caveats and all that…

First, here is my preview of the CSU game from last week, which has some background: Link

—

Apparently as part of the two-year contract, The Citadel will not pay Charleston Southern any money for playing at Johnson Hagood Stadium next year. That is not a good enough reason to have made the deal, from my vantage point.

Charleston Southern presumably wants to play The Citadel on an annual basis, and home-and-home. The announced crowd for the game on Saturday was 7,954.

I think the actual attendance was probably closer to 5,500, which is nothing to apologize about, but not really that close to the 12,000-13,000 for the previous games held at Johnson Hagood Stadium. For the attendance to have been close to 8,000 fans, that would have meant at least 3,300 people would have been lined up (or in their cars/trucks) around the fence enclosing the track.

Also, that’s assuming there were 4,700 seats available at Buccaneer Field in the first place. I suspect it was more like 4,262, based on previous information released by the school.

There weren’t 3,300 people milling about around that fence.

Charleston Southern coach Jamey Chadwell emerged from the locker room Saturday night wearing a smile and a T-shirt with a message.

“Charleston, it’s Southern’s City,” read the shirt…

…”In this city and for what we are trying to make with this rivalry, it’s big on that end,” said Chadwell.

This message was also sent in a Thursday column by The Post and Courier‘s Gene Sapakoff that might as well have been ghost-written by the CSU administration. He concluded his column by implicitly wishing for a Buccaneer victory on Saturday night, but I want to highlight this statement instead:

This is a good game for the Lowcountry and there is no reason it shouldn’t continue on an annual basis well beyond a scheduled meeting next year at The Citadel. It makes financial sense for a pair of cash-strapped programs 16 miles apart.

I think it’s debatable whether or not the matchup is a “good game for the Lowcountry”. That suggests the Lowcountry awaits the matchup with tremendous anticipation. There is nothing the Lowcountry really awaits with tremendous anticipation, with the possible exception of local school board meetings.

(It also seems at odds with Sapakoff’s insistence in recent years that what the Lowcountry is really desperate for is another Clemson-South Carolina baseball game at Riley Park, but that’s another story.)

However, let’s assume it is a good game for the Lowcountry. If that were the case, and if it “makes financial sense for a pair of cash-strapped programs”, then why would anyone want to ever play it at the much smaller stadium?

I estimate between 2,000-2,500 fans of The Citadel were at the game on Saturday. It was an exceptionally good turnout considering the circumstances (including threatening weather). If the game had been held at Johnson Hagood Stadium, there probably would have been about 9,000-10,000 Bulldog supporters.

—

I gather folks at CSU would prefer a regular, or at least semi-regular, home-and-home series (and if I’m wrong about that, I apologize in advance for making an incorrect assumption).

They would want it for recruiting, and also to erase the stigma of being “the red-headed stepchild” on a local level (Jamey Chadwell made that comment during the Big South teleconference).

I understand that. I also understand that if The Citadel tells CSU it only will play future games at Johnson Hagood Stadium, CSU may not be interested, especially if a much larger guarantee is not part of the equation. If it’s not in the best interests of Charleston Southern to play The Citadel only at JHS, then Charleston Southern shouldn’t play The Citadel there.

My position is simple. I care about what is best for The Citadel.

There are at least two major problems with playing at CSU, in my opinion:

1) Charleston Southern’s facility is simply not of Division I caliber

It does not benefit The Citadel’s football program to play a non-conference road game at Buccaneer Field. It is not beneficial to The Citadel in recruiting. It is not beneficial to The Citadel’s fan base.

The Citadel may have made a short-term financial gain by playing at CSU on Saturday, but school administrators should be thinking about the long-term impact on the football program.

I also want to repeat something I said on Twitter, which is that quite honestly Jamey Chadwell and his players deserve better than what they have right now in North Charleston.

2) The Citadel’s future scheduling is too restrictive to have an annual home-and-home series with Charleston Southern

This is something that doesn’t always get mentioned, so I probably need to explain it in some detail.

Next year, FCS schools will revert back to an 11-game regular season schedule. That will be the case until 2019 (when FCS teams can schedule 12 games, as was the option in 2013 and 2014). After 2019, there won’t be another 12-game schedule opportunity for FCS programs until 2024.

In 2015, The Citadel will play seven SoCon games and four non-conference games: home against Charleston Southern (the second game of the current contract), home against Davidson, and road games versus Georgia Southern and South Carolina.

Beginning in 2016, the number of SoCon games on the slate will increase from seven to eight, as East Tennessee State begins league play. That leaves three non-conference games per season. One of those three will almost certainly always be a “money game” against FBS opposition (unless those games come to an end, which I tend to doubt, but that’s another issue).

In 2016, the Bulldogs are tentatively scheduled to play at North Carolina. In 2017, The Citadel will play at South Carolina.

This leaves two games on The Citadel’s schedule each year. One of them has to be a “designated home game” — in other words, a game in which the opposing school does not get a return game at its place. That’s to ensure there are at least five home games at Johnson Hagood Stadium every season.

The other game is what I will call a “flex game”. It could be a non-conference home-and-home with another FCS school, or a matchup with another FBS program. While the latter possibility may not be as likely, there are scenarios in which The Citadel would gladly take a second FBS game (especially if it were against Army or Navy).

Charleston Southern could play The Citadel every year in the “designated home game” at Johnson Hagood Stadium. However, it would not be in the best interests of The Citadel to hamstring its future scheduling by eliminating the “flex game” to play an annual home-and-home series versus CSU.

The Citadel needs the flexibility of that game to pursue opportunities that could be of significant benefit to the school and its football program, whether a “bonus” money game, a matchup with a service academy, or perhaps a home-and-home with a team outside the region.

While it is more expensive to play a home-and-home against an FCS school in another part of the country, there are important ancillary benefits to occasionally doing so. They include exposing the school to a wider audience, and reconnecting with certain parts of The Citadel’s far-flung alumni base.

I remember attending The Citadel’s game at Princeton. It was an excellent public/alumni relations event for the military college (even with the Princeton band’s, uh, involvement). I also remember the large contingent of Bulldog supporters who showed up for that contest, probably more than attended the game at Buccaneer Field on Saturday night.

Because of those considerations, among other things, I don’t see a home-and-home with CSU going forward as practical or beneficial for The Citadel.

Again, if Charleston Southern won’t play The Citadel without a home-and-home, I get that. I wouldn’t blame CSU at all for taking that stance.

—

I realize scheduling can be problematic. That is why ADs get paid good money — to solve those problems, and to do so in a way that is good for students, coaches, fans, and long-term program/school interests.

—

I didn’t take quite as many photos on Saturday as I usually do. I had trouble getting a good angle for the “action” shots, and of course I’m not a very good photographer as it is. Nevertheless, here are some pictures, mostly of dubious quality.

Filed under: Football, The Citadel | Tagged: , , , , , , , | 2 Comments »

2014 Football, Game 3: The Citadel vs. Charleston Southern

Posted on September 18, 2014 by Sandlapper Spike

The Citadel at Charleston Southern, a/k/a the Larry Leckonby Bowl, to be played at Buccaneer Field, with kickoff at 6:00 pm ET on Saturday, September 20. 

The game can be heard on radio via the various affiliates of The Citadel Sports Network. Mike Legg (the new “Voice of the Bulldogs”) will call the action alongside analyst Lee Glaze. It is also possible to listen to the action with a smartphone, using a TuneIn Radio application.

WQNT-1450 AM [audio link], originating in Charleston, will be the flagship station for The Citadel Sports Network. The game broadcast will be produced by Jay Harper, who will also provide updates on other college football action.

In addition, the game will be streamed by the Big South Digital Network (link).

—

This preview will be broken up into two distinct parts: a review of the Florida State game, and the fallout from that contest; and a preview of the Charleston Southern game, including a discussion about the fact The Citadel is the road team on Saturday.

There won’t be as much statistical minutiae in this post as usual. There will be more commentary, though.

First, however, the links.

—

Links of interest:

The Citadel game notes

Charleston Southern game notes

Charleston Southern roster

SoCon weekly release

Big South weekly release

Mike Houston 9/16 press conference

Mike Houston on the weekly SoCon teleconference

Jamey Chadwell on the weekly Big South teleconference

—

Some observations about the Florida State game, followed by a few thoughts about the story that developed afterwards:

– Despite a rainy afternoon (and the threat of more thunderstorms to come), Doak Campbell Stadium was packed. Florida State had announced on Friday that the game was a sellout, and FSU fans (along with a hardy band of Bulldog supporters) showed up in a major way for the Seminoles’ home opener.

During an ESPN GameDay segment in which there was discussion about the day’s relatively high number of small school/big school matchups, Kirk Herbstreit moaned about FBS schools playing FCS teams, running off a list of reasons why those games should not be played. Included in his diatribe was a comment that “fans aren’t going to these games”.

Well, they went to one in Tallahassee, Kirk — just like they went to one at Clemson last season when The Citadel played the Tigers.

– Mike Houston wasn’t all that excited about facing Florida State (as I wrote about in my game preview). However, he clearly gave some thought on how to approach the matchup with the Seminoles.

The result was, in my opinion, an exceptionally well-managed game by The Citadel’s head coach.

It was always going to be a struggle for the Bulldogs to hold back FSU’s offense. However, The Citadel did a fine job of keeping Jameis Winston and company off the field, controlling the clock throughout the contest.

Florida State finished the game with only nine offensive possessions, and one of them began with only twelve seconds remaining in the game, so in effect FSU only had the ball eight times the entire night. The Citadel had the edge in time of possession by over seven minutes, which led to the Seminoles running 67 plays on offense (contrast that with, say, the South Carolina State-Clemson game, where the Tigers ran 93 plays en route to a 73-7 victory).

On Saturday night, Aaron Miller routinely let the play clock move under five seconds before receiving the snap from center. That was excellent game management.

– The Bulldogs were unafraid to run the ball on third-and-medium and third-and-long situations (a feature of Brent Thompson’s offensive philosophy for any game, not just this one), and it paid off on more than one occasion. That said, The Citadel actually passed the ball a little more often than I expected — and with some success. There may not be many teams that register two TD passes against FSU’s defense this season.

Aaron Miller threw the ball well after a couple of errant tosses at the beginning of the game. The pass to Alex Glover was of particularly high quality.

—

Okay, about the Victor Hill situation…

I agree with the “indefinite suspension”. Hill will not play this week against Charleston Southern, and I think that is appropriate.

Mike Houston may choose to reinstate Hill after this weekend, or he may wait another week or two. I’m on board with whatever decision Houston makes on that front.

I’ll be rooting for Hill when he comes back. He’s a good player, and is also a civil engineering major. He’s smarter than his comments made him out to be.

There are Bulldog supporters who disagree with the decision, believing that Hill should not miss any games at all. After all, he didn’t do anything. No FSU players were injured by illegal blocks (as noted by, among others, Jimbo Fisher). Hill just talked (or rather, typed).

My response to that viewpoint (which I understand) is that while Hill didn’t hurt any FSU players, he did hurt his teammates, his coaches, and his school.

The Citadel’s football program (and by extension, the college as a whole) got roasted in the days immediately following Hill’s ill-advised post. Even though it wasn’t true, the less-educated elements of the mob reached a verdict: “dirty team”.

That is the kind of thing that can have a lasting effect, possibly for an entire season. If you’re Mike Houston, and you’re trying to establish a program, you cannot afford to have your offense labeled in such a fashion two games into your tenure.

Triple option teams are constantly having to defend their reputations against “cut block/chop block” naysayers. Hill’s comments won’t help. I’m sure the Bulldogs will be called for several imaginary chop blocks during the SoCon season, just because officials will be looking for penalties, even when they aren’t there.

That’s why Hill’s suspension was justified. It was based on what is best for The Citadel.

The hysterical rantings of the much-mocked “FSU Twitter” horde were not a factor. That is a good thing.

Opinions from various members of the FSU fan base ranged from laughable (demanding an NCAA investigation and the “death penalty”) to scary (a poster on SBNation’s FSU site openly wished that Hill’s family would get killed in a car accident; that comment was quickly deleted by the moderators, along with other odious statements).

There is a reason #FSUTwitter is a frequently-used hashtag (and not a complimentary one). A few wannabe trolls even tweeted at me.

Those encounters tended to confirm that a lot of fans don’t know the difference between a cut block and a chop block. One determined Seminole supporter even produced a photo, claiming it showed an illegal block (it didn’t, of course). I have to wonder how much football some of these people actually watch.

It was amusing to watch the column on my Tweetdeck application devoted to “Citadel” mentions, as seemingly desperate FSU fans would constantly tweet the same thing over and over to various college football writers and personalities, demanding attention (or a reaction) and some sort of frontier justice. One goofball even called Tim Brando’s SiriusXM program to whine, only to be more or less eviscerated by Brando and Tony Barnhart.

Ultimately, cooler heads prevailed. Jimbo Fisher’s comments probably helped in that regard, to his credit.

This week, the shoe has been on the other foot for Florida State fans, thanks to the continuing misadventures of Jameis Winston, who seems to be an unusual combination of immense talent, charisma, and complete obliviousness.

A video of Winston appearing to punch a Bulldog during the game didn’t get much traction (despite the efforts of a bunch of Clemson fans on Twitter, basically mimicking the actions of FSU twitterers from the week before). However, Winston’s bizarre (not to mention offensive and vulgar) shouting near Florida State’s Student Union certainly did. He’ll miss the first half of the Seminoles’ game against Clemson.

That may not matter, though it should be pointed out that after Winston left the game against The Citadel, the Bulldogs scored four times as many points as FSU…

—

Now, about the Charleston Southern contest:

The story surrounding the game this week is as much about where it is being played as it is the action on the field.

Will The Citadel’s fans go to the game?

…there is some question as to exactly how enthusiastic Bulldog fans are about making the trip to CSU Stadium, located in North Charleston off U.S. Highway 78 near Interstate 26. The Citadel ticket office sold just 170 of the 530 tickets it received from CSU for consignment, returning 360 to Charleston Southern. The Bulldogs also received 250 complimentary tickets for the 6 p.m. game.

“I was like, ‘Wow, I’m not sure of why that is,'” [The Citadel’s director of athletics, Jim] Senter said of the returned tickets. “I’m not sure if people were not aware we had tickets to be purchased, or if people think it’s sold out, or if people think Charleston Southern’s stadium is too small to accommodate Citadel fans.”

To answer one of Jim Senter’s questions, I think it is highly likely that most Bulldog fans did not know the school had tickets available for the game. I know a few people who bought tickets from Charleston Southern as soon as they could, not knowing that The Citadel also was selling tickets for the contest.

As for Senter wondering if people think CSU’s stadium is too small to accommodate The Citadel’s fans: yes, people do think the stadium is too small. They think it is too small because it is too small.

CSU Stadium has a capacity of 4,000 seats, and Charleston Southern announced last week that it would add about 700 seats to the visitors’ side of the stadium, expanding that side to 1,628 seats and the total capacity to 4,700. CSU Stadium can also accommodate standing-room only crowds, which explains last year’s record of 6,135 fans for a game against Coastal Carolina.

CSU athletic director Hank Small said Tuesday that there is not a “sell-out” limit on the number of tickets available for Saturday’s game.

“We had very large crowds last year for our Charlotte and Coastal games and did not ‘sell out’ due to the fact that we will continue to sell general admission tickets,” Small said in an e-mail. “We have very large standing room areas that will accommodate general admission. People need to plan to arrive early to be assured of a general admission seat or to purchase a reserved seat.”

After reading Hank Small’s comments, I’m guessing a significant number of hardcore Bulldog supporters made other plans for this weekend.

The previous games between the two schools were played at Johnson Hagood Stadium, with 12,000-14,000 fans in attendance for each of those contests. Now the game is being held at a 4,000-seat facility with a less-than-optimal parking/access setup and a brutally reviewed restroom situation. No one is going to be enthused about “large standing room areas”, either.

The administration at Charleston Southern probably anticipates (if not hopes) that many Bulldog fans will pass on making the trip. If the usual number of “regulars” (8,000-9,000) were to actually show up, it is hard to imagine the general infrastructure (and game management staff) being anything other than completely overwhelmed.

Incidentally, I’m not entirely sure the 4,000-seat capacity (to be increased to 4,700 for the game against The Citadel) is the “real” number. In a recent press release, Charleston Southern officials referred to “plans to add permanent additional seating over the next five years increasing stadium capacity from 3,562 to 5,320.” So is it 4,000 or 3,562?

That leads to another question, a fairly obvious one: why is this game being played at Buccaneer Field now? Why not at least wait and attempt to host the game after the next phase of stadium expansion is completed?

There is little argument as to what benefit The Citadel gets out of playing this game away from Johnson Hagood Stadium. It gets no benefit.

This game should have been played at a stadium capable of holding the usual number of fans who would have attended it. The fact that it is not is considered by many loyal Bulldog fans to be a metaphorical slap in the face, one administered by Larry Leckonby, the former AD at The Citadel.

The fact Leckonby left his position a few months later (giving the impression he already had one foot out the door when he scheduled the game) also doesn’t sit well with some observers.

—

All that being said:

I would urge Bulldog fans to attend this game. The reason to go to this game is to support the players and coaches who will be representing The Citadel. They deserve our support, and our presence.

Will fans have to make some adjustments? Yes. Check out the parking situation carefully before starting your drive. Make a quick trip to a place with a restroom before arriving.

(From the linked review of the facilities, which was from last year’s heavily attended game against Coastal Carolina: “On the visitor side, there are no plumbed bathrooms. Rather, the university brings in approximately fifteen port-a-johns and one larger bathroom ‘truck’…found both the [truck] toilet and faucet to be inoperable.”)

Prepare to be as patient as possible when it comes to anything and everything, especially with the threat of bad weather (bring your poncho). Keep in mind that CSU’s campus is alcohol- and tobacco-free.

Put on your light blue clothing and gear, and go to the Larry Leckonby Bowl. Go, and bring as many friends and family members as you can, and cheer like crazy for the Bulldogs.

—

Charleston Southern’s starting quarterback at the end of last season was Daniel Croghan, who started the final six games of the season for the Buccaneers after Malcolm Dixon was injured. Croghan was 5-1 as a starter, including wins over Charlotte and Coastal Carolina.

This year, Croghan is the backup quarterback, with UAB transfer Austin Brown taking over as Charleston Southern’s top signal-caller. Brown started fifteen games over two seasons with the Blazers, including a win over Tulane his freshman year in which he threw for 409 yards.

Brown played the first three quarters for the Buccaneers in their season-opening romp over Point (final score: 61-9). He went the distance in CSU’s 16-10 victory against Newberry, and played all but three series in Charleston Southern’s 34-10 win versus Campbell.

In the game against the Camels, Croghan played the third series of the first half, and the sixth series of the second half.

For the season, Brown is completing 60% of his passes, averaging 10.9 yards per attempt, and has thrown six touchdown passes against one interception. Brown can also run the ball (a necessity for a QB in Jamey Chadwell’s spread option offense). He is averaging 5.5 yards per carry, and had a 50-yard run against Campbell.

Christian Reyes returns as the primary running back for the Buccaneers. Reyes had 92 yards in last season’s game at Johnson Hagood Stadium, probably more than any other native of Rogue River, Oregon has ever had against the Bulldogs.

Tangent: Rogue River is such a great name for a town/river. “Roundup at Rogue River” could be the title of a Louis L’Amour novel.

Ben Robinson is the “change of pace” back for CSU. While Reyes is a fairly big running back (218 lbs.), Robinson is 5’7″, 175 lbs.

They run behind an offensive line with a good deal of experience, led by right guard Clayton Truitt. CSU also returns last year’s starters at center and both tackle spots.

Charleston Southern has experience at slot receiver with Alex Cruz and Nathan Perera, the latter having been injured for most of the last two years. Also returning: 6’8″ tight end Nathan Prater, who already has two touchdown receptions this season.

As I did last year, I would like to complain about Prater’s jersey number (81). Prater is from Ninety Six, South Carolina. How can he not wear #96?

Talk about a missed opportunity. Bill Voiselle would be very disappointed.

The other wideouts are less experienced, but do have big-play potential (Jared Scotland has three receptions for 20+ yards, including a 52-yard TD against Newberry).

—

CSU normally plays a 3-4 base defense, but is liable to change things up against The Citadel’s triple option attack, as do many other defenses. Last year CSU used multiple fronts throughout the game against the Bulldogs.

The Buccaneers have experience and depth along the defensive line. Notable performers include end Dylan Black and noseguard James Smith (who is listed as a co-starter on the depth chart with Isaac Lowrance, the latter having started the first three games of the season).

The linebacking corps attempts to confuse its opponents by featuring linebackers Zac Johnston (the middle ‘backer, #25) and Zach Johnson (the “spur”, #22). I bet the sports information staff at CSU can’t wait until those guys exhaust their eligibility.

Zach Johnson is backed up by freshman Bobby Ruff, whose father Brian is arguably the greatest football player in The Citadel’s long gridiron history.

Weakside linebacker Aaron Brown had a very good game against the Bulldogs last season. He currently leads the Buccaneers in tackles through three games, with twenty.

The “bandit”, Gabe Middlebrook, went to West Ashley High School, where he was All-Region in tennis. There are not a lot of Division I starting linebackers who can claim to have been All-Region in high school tennis.

The secondary features veteran free safety Demaris Freeman, a redshirt senior. Freeman leads a group that in general is not as experienced as the other units for the Buccaneers. Starting strong safety Davion Anderson is a freshman.

—

Charleston Southern returns its punter from last season, Truett Burns, who did a good job last season placing kicks inside the 20. So far this season, four of his thirteen punts have been downed inside the 20, though his average yards per punt (31.9) needs to improve.

Placekicking appears to still be a work in progress for the Buccaneers, with David Kennedy now designated on the depth chart as the starting placekicker, and Bryan Jordan handling kickoffs for CSU. Both are freshmen who went to Summerville High School (though Jordan turns 22 years old in December).

Long snapper Joseph Smith is a native of Easley, but he actually started his collegiate career at Delta State, where his coach was Jamey Chadwell. When the coach took the Charleston Southern job, Smith returned to his home state to continue his football career with Chadwell.

—

It’s hard to get a handle on how these two teams compare with one another. A statistical summary of the season thus far is probably pointless, because Charleston Southern has yet to play a scholarship Division I program, while The Citadel has played Coastal Carolina and Florida State.

It must be said, however, that Newberry is a solid Division II team (winning nine games last season). Mike Houston suggested that Newberry could hold its own in the SoCon. At the very least, the Buccaneers have had one good test.

All of CSU’s games so far have been at home, and all at night under recently installed lights. Meanwhile, The Citadel has played one home and one road game and didn’t play at all last week (Charleston Southern played on Thursday night).

Those opening four home games, by the way, are a first for a Big South team. No other school in that conference has ever hosted its first four games of the season.

A few other odds and ends:

– Derrick Freeland Jr., a freshman from Charlotte, is expected to start at right tackle for the Bulldogs in place of Victor Hill. It will be the first time Freeland has seen action for The Citadel.

– The Citadel is tied with Wofford for the FCS national lead in rushing yards per game (304.0). However, the Terriers are averaging 6.08 yards per rush, while the Bulldogs are averaging 5.02 yards per carry.

One interesting note that ties into the rushing totals: The Citadel had 65 rush attempts against Coastal Carolina, the second-most in a game by an FCS team so far this season. The Bulldogs ran the ball 56 times versus Florida State.

– Charleston Southern currently leads all of FCS in total defense and is fifth nationally in scoring defense.

– In terms of time of possession, The Citadel is tied for 24th nationally; Charleston Southern is 30th. Last season, CSU led the nation in that category.

– The Citadel is one of five FCS programs that has yet to commit a turnover this season (please don’t let that be a jinx). Charleston Southern has only committed one turnover in three games.

– Somehow, the Bulldogs have fumbled ten times this season without losing any of those fumbles. It’s a freak statistic that won’t hold up over time. The Citadel has to do a better job of hanging on to the ball.

—

There are a couple of things at play for Saturday’s game.

Charleston Southern has set everything up for a showpiece victory — the home game, the rallies, the parties, the publicity generated by a potentially large crowd (at least by Buccaneer Field standards), the inevitable bandwagon column by Gene Sapakoff, etc. School officials have been targeting this game as a major event ever since the announcement was made that CSU would be hosting it.

The Buccaneers want to dominate this game, and probably expect to do so (though the players and coaches aren’t dumb enough to publicly say so). They’ve seen the Sagarin Ratings. This is a team that by the end of last season was playing better than it was at the start of 2013, when it beat The Citadel.

Mike Houston knows that. He also knows that The Citadel could use a win.

This would be a very good week to get one.

Despite everything, I think The Citadel can pull it off. It’s time for these Bulldogs to show some bite.

Filed under: Football, The Citadel | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments »

College Football TV Listings 2014, Week 4

Posted on September 16, 2014 by Sandlapper Spike

This is a list of every game played during week 1 of the college football season involving at least one FBS or FCS school.  All games are listed, televised or not.  For the televised games (only live broadcasts are listed), I include the announcers and sideline reporters (where applicable).  I put all of it on a Google Documents spreadsheet that can be accessed at the following link:

College Football TV Listings 2014, Week 4

Additional notes:

– I include ESPN3.com games; they are denoted as “ESPN3″.

– This season, I am also including digital network feeds provided by various conferences when they are free of charge. For some of these feeds, the audio will be a simulcast of the home team’s radio broadcast. There are also online platforms that have their own announcers (a la ESPN3).

For now, the digital networks I am including in the listings are those for the Mountain West, Big Sky, Big South, OVC, NEC, SoCon, and Patriot League. Occasionally free feeds are also provided by the Atlantic Sun and WCC.

– The local affiliates for the ACC Network “national” game of the week (Maryland-Syracuse) can be found here: Link

– Regional nets carrying the ACC Network “regional” game of the week (Tulane-Duke) are listed in a note in the document and can also be found here: Link

– Local affiliates for American Sports Network games: Nicholls State-North Texas, Appalachian State-Southern Mississippi, Charlotte-Elon

– Local affiliates for the Southland Conference game of the week (Incarnate Word-Abilene Christian) can be found here: Link

– Listed in notes in the document are the regional nets carrying the following games: Old Dominion-Rice, James Madison-Villanova, Central Michigan-Kansas, and New Hampshire-Richmond.

– ABC/ESPN2 coverage map for the 3:30 pm ET games: Link

– BTN (formerly Big Ten Network) “gamefinder”:  Link

– AP Poll (FBS):  Link

– FCS Coaches’ Poll:  Link

—

A lot of the information I use in putting this together comes courtesy of Matt Sarzyniak’s remarkably comprehensive and completely indispensable site College Sports on TV, which simply cannot be praised enough. It’s a must-bookmark for any fan of college sports.

Also to be credited, as always, are the indefatigable information collectors (and in a few cases sports-TV savants) at the506.com. I am also assisted on occasion by helpful athletic media relations officials at various schools and conferences.

Filed under: Football | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment »

College Football TV Listings 2014, Week 3

Posted on September 9, 2014 by Sandlapper Spike

This is a list of every game played during week 1 of the college football season involving at least one FBS or FCS school.  All games are listed, televised or not.  For the televised games (only live broadcasts are listed), I include the announcers and sideline reporters (where applicable).  I put all of it on a Google Documents spreadsheet that can be accessed at the following link:

College Football TV Listings 2014, Week 3

Additional notes:

– I include ESPN3.com games; they are denoted as “ESPN3″.

– This season, I am also including digital network feeds provided by various conferences when they are free of charge. For some of these feeds, the audio will be a simulcast of the home team’s radio broadcast. There are also online platforms that have their own announcers (a la ESPN3).

For now, the digital networks I am including in the listings are those for the Mountain West, Big Sky, Big South, OVC, NEC, SoCon, and Patriot League.

– The local affiliates for the ACC Network “national” game of the week (Louisville-Virginia) can be found here: Link

– Regional nets carrying the ACC Network “regional” games of the week: Kansas-Duke and Georgia Southern-Georgia Tech. (They are also listed in notes in the document.)

– Local affiliates for American Sports Network games: Lehigh-New Hampshire, Alabama A&M-UAB, New Mexico-UTEP

– Listed in a note in the document are the regional nets carrying the UTSA-Oklahoma State game.

– ABC/ESPN2 coverage map for the noon ET games: Link

– BTN (formerly Big Ten Network) “gamefinder”:  Link

– AP Poll (FBS):  Link

– FCS Coaches’ Poll:  Link

—

A lot of the information I use in putting this together comes courtesy of Matt Sarzyniak’s remarkably comprehensive and completely indispensable site College Sports on TV, which simply cannot be praised enough. It’s a must-bookmark for any fan of college sports.

Also to be credited, as always, are the indefatigable information collectors (and in a few cases sports-TV savants) at the506.com. I am also assisted on occasion by helpful athletic media relations officials at various schools and conferences.

Filed under: Football | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment »

2014 Football, Game 2: The Citadel vs. Florida State

Posted on September 3, 2014 by Sandlapper Spike

The Citadel at Florida State, to be played at Doak Campbell Stadium, with kickoff at 7:30 pm ET on Saturday, September 6. The game will be televised on various regional sports networks around the country (list). The TV announcers for the contest will be Wes Durham (play-by-play) and James Bates (analysis), with Hans Heiserer serving as the sideline reporter.

The game can be heard on radio via the various affiliates of The Citadel Sports Network. Mike Legg (the newly minted “Voice of the Bulldogs”) will call the action alongside analyst Lee Glaze. It is also possible to listen to the action with a smartphone, using a TuneIn Radio application.

WQNT-1450 AM [audio link], originating in Charleston, will be the flagship station for The Citadel Sports Network. The game broadcast will be produced by Jay Harper, who will also provide updates on other college football action.

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Links of interest:

The Citadel game notes

Florida State game notes

SoCon weekly release

ACC weekly release

Mike Houston’s 9/2 press conference

Mike Houston on the SoCon teleconference

ACC teleconference (Jimbo Fisher at the 12:50 mark)

Florida State practice report (with video)

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Underlying and supporting the educational experience at Florida State University is the development of new generations of citizen leaders, based on the concepts inscribed in our seal: Vires, Artes, Mores — Strength, Skill and Character…

…Florida State’s 40,000 students are dedicated to academic excellence and providing leadership in our complex world.

Florida State University’s 16 colleges offer more than 275 undergraduate, graduate, doctoral, professional and specialist degree programs, including medicine and law, covering a broad array of disciplines critical to society today. Each year the University awards over 2,000 graduate and professional degrees.

Florida State University’s origins can be traced back to a legislative plan in 1823, before Florida had even attained statehood. An academy called the Florida Institute began in 1857, and became co-educational the following year.

During the Civil War, the school was known as the Florida Military and Collegiate Institute, with a component of it dedicated to training military cadets. Some of those cadets fought in the Battle of Natural Bridge in Tallahassee.

Because of that student involvement, FSU’s Army ROTC unit is authorized to display a battle streamer with its flag. Only two other schools have authorized Confederate battle streamers — VMI (which has one for the Battle of New Market) and The Citadel (multiple streamers for various campaigns).

Tangent: some sources indicate the University of Mississippi also has an authorized battle streamer, but I have been unable to confirm this. There are two schools that have streamers for other wars — William & Mary (for the Siege of Yorktown, during the Revolutionary War) and the University of Hawai’i (for Pearl Harbor).

By 1901, the school was a four-year institution, but a big change came in 1905, when Florida’s educational system was reorganized. At that time, the University of Florida (in Gainesville) became a school for white men. The school located in Tallahassee became the Florida Female College (the same legislative act also led to the institution now known as Florida A&M).

The split also resulted in the elimination of the football program, which had started in 1902, since there were no longer any male students.

The school remained an all-women’s college until 1947, when the renamed Florida State University became co-ed again. It also re-started the football program.

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After a winless 1947 season (0-5), the Seminoles would win 30 of 34 games over the next four years, competing for three of those seasons in the Dixie Conference. Florida State played in its first bowl game during this time, beating Wofford 19-6 in the 1950 Cigar Bowl (played in Tampa following the 1949 regular season).

Teams in the Dixie Conference didn’t offer athletic scholarships. FSU left the league when it began to offer athletic scholarships after the 1950 season. Florida State would remain an independent in football until it joined the ACC in 1992.

The Seminoles were 38-34-1 from 1953 through 1959, playing in bowl games in 1954 and 1958. While FSU had a few players move on to the NFL during this era, two of the more notable football alums in this time period didn’t play pro football.

The two players to whom I’m referring are Lee Corso (a fine QB/DB for Florida State from 1953-56) and Burt “Buddy” Reynolds (an injury-plagued halfback for the Seminoles between 1954-57). You’ve probably heard of them.

By 1959, Florida State had designs on an SEC invite. The school president wrote each of the twelve SEC presidents asking for admission. It didn’t happen.

The coach for the 1959 football team was Perry Moss, who left for the CFL after only one season in Tallahassee (FSU finished 4-6 that year). Florida State hired Bill Peterson to replace him.

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Peterson had been an assistant at LSU under Paul Dietzel. He would be the first man to raise FSU’s profile in the world of college football, setting the stage (after a couple of coaching hiccups) for the sustained success the Seminoles would later enjoy under Bobby Bowden.

Bowden was an assistant during part of Peterson’s tenure at Florida State, one of a number of outstanding coaches to serve under “Coach Pete”. Bill Peterson’s first staff in 1960 included Don James; other coaches who would later become Peterson assistants included Joe Gibbs, Dan Henning, Bill Parcells, Earle Bruce (when Peterson was a high school coach in Ohio), and Bobby Ross (during Peterson’s one season as head coach of Rice).

Besides hiring and tutoring outstanding coaches, Peterson was also known as being something of a malaprop artist. His best known line is probably this one, addressed to his players at the beginning of a practice:

You guys pair up in groups of three, then line up in a circle

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Peterson would later become known for basically introducing pro-style offense to southern college football, but in 1960 he was just trying to get a handle on a team that wasn’t quite ready for prime time. One reason Florida State hadn’t been welcomed with open arms to the SEC was its record on the gridiron against league foes. FSU had only beaten one SEC team (Tennessee in 1958) up to that point in its football history.

The 1960 season began with some promise. Florida State beat Richmond 28-0, then played creditably in a 3-0 loss to Florida. The Seminoles followed that up with a 14-6 victory over Wake Forest, a bit of an upset.

The next game on the schedule for FSU was on October 8, against The Citadel.

I’m going to spend the next few paragraphs writing about that game. Why am I writing about a game played in 1960 when this is supposed to be a preview for Saturday’s contest?

Well, why not? It’s not like anyone is reading this to find out what Florida State’s 4th-down conversion rate was last season (it was 75%, by the way; the Seminoles only went for it on 4th down four times in 14 games, converting three of them).

The 1960 matchup is almost certainly the most memorable tie in The Citadel’s long gridiron history. It’s worth taking a closer look at that game.

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The Citadel had gone 8-2 in 1959, the first season of a three-year run that was up to that time the finest in school history. Included in those eight victories was a 20-14 victory over West Virginia in Morgantown to close out the campaign, perhaps best remembered for Paul Maguire’s school-record 83-yard punt.

The 1960 campaign for the Bulldogs began with a shutout of Newberry. The Citadel then lost a tough game at George Washington before slipping past Davidson the following week. Thus, The Citadel was 2-1 when Florida State came to town.

The two schools had met twice before, and neither game had been close. In 1959, FSU had beaten The Citadel 47-6. A few years earlier, in 1955, the Seminoles had shut out the Bulldogs 39-0.

Both of those games were played in Tallahassee. In 1960, however, for the first (and only) time, FSU made the journey to Charleston to play the military college.

A crowd of 11,200 on a “terribly humid” night (per The Tallahassee Democrat) gathered at Johnson Hagood Stadium to watch the action.

Bill Peterson, taking a page from his former boss Paul Dietzel, had installed “platoon” football at Florida State. The rules for substitution at the time were different than they are today; there were limitations on moving players in and out of a game.

While many of the players on The Citadel’s squad played both offense and defense, FSU had three distinct units. The first team players were known as the “Chiefs”. The other two platoons were made up of offensive specialists (the “War Party”) and defensive stalwarts (“Renegades”).

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One of the things that stood out to me while looking at the statistics for this game was the lack of possessions. The Citadel’s offense appears to have had the ball for eleven drives during the game, while FSU had ten drives. A mistake could be very costly, in that each team only had so many opportunities to score with the limited number of possessions.

The Citadel took the opening kickoff and marched down the field, getting nice first down runs from both Early Eastburn and Tommy Edwards, but got bogged down in the red zone and missed a short field goal. It would be one of two times the Bulldogs moved the ball inside the FSU 20-yard line during the contest.

Florida State answered that drive with one of its own, a 20-play marathon that included two 15-yard penalties against the Seminoles (one of which negated a TD). On fourth and three from the Bulldogs’ 8-yard line, Florida State elected to throw the ball into the end zone, but the attempt fell incomplete.

FSU’s next possession resulted in a missed field goal attempt, a 33-yarder. Placekicking was not the Seminoles’ strong suit. In 1960, FSU only attempted four field goals all season — and missed all four of them.

Later in the second quarter, The Citadel again moved into FSU territory, but a penalty stopped the drive. FSU did nothing on its ensuing possession and punted the ball back to the Bulldogs. However, the half ended just as the cadets crossed midfield.

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Florida State was the first team to mount a scoring threat in the second half. The Seminoles got all the way to the Bulldogs’ 16-yard line, but on 4th-and-2, FSU halfback Bud Whitehead (who later played in the AFL for eight seasons) was stuffed for a one-yard loss.

Another drive for Florida State was blunted by The Citadel at the Bulldogs’ 41-yard line, and the FSU punt that followed was short (13 yards). That led to The Citadel’s best offensive possession of the second half, which included big runs by Eastburn and . Edwards, and a pass from Jerry Nettles to Bill Gilgo.

The Bulldogs moved inside the FSU 20. At that point Bill Peterson changed platoons and brought in the Renegades. The Citadel promptly lost a fumble and the scoring chance was over.

With just over six minutes to play, Florida State got great field position after a quick kick by the Bulldogs went awry, taking over at The Citadel 38-yard line. A long pass play moved the ball to the 10.

A short run advanced the pigskin to the Bulldogs’ 7-yard line, but on the next play a pass into the end zone was intercepted by Nettles.

Florida State had one more chance to score, but after moving the ball inside The Citadel 40, the Seminoles were thwarted when Gilgo sacked the quarterback for a 16-yard loss. The game ended with the Bulldogs in possession, but in their own territory.

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Both teams finished the game with 16 first downs. The Citadel outgained FSU, 278-265, but committed two turnovers to the Seminoles’ one.

Bill Peterson was complimentary to The Citadel afterwards, telling The Tallahassee Democrat that the Bulldogs “deserved the tie because [The Citadel] played better” and that “the crowd inspired them”, mentioning the Seminoles had trouble hearing signals due to all the noise in the stadium.

The reporter for the Tallahassee paper said that the Bulldogs had been “hypnotized with inspiration”.

I mention the Peterson quotes in part because over the years, I’ve heard different stories about this game, including the attitudes of Peterson and some of his players. However, I have not found any documentary evidence that Peterson was rude, demanding, and/or abrasive prior to the game, or after it was over. Maybe he was, but I’ve seen no real proof.

It doesn’t matter anyway. The tie was a fine result for The Citadel, which would finish the 1960 season 8-2-1, including a win in the Tangerine Bowl, the program’s first (and only) trip to a bowl. That win in the Tangerine Bowl is also the only victory in The Citadel’s history to have occurred in the state of Florida.

The following year, the school would celebrate seven more victories and its first Southern Conference title. One of the three defeats that year came against FSU (44-8), but that game was played after the SoCon crown had already been wrapped up.

As for Florida State, the Seminoles finished the 1960 season 3-6-1. Peterson gradually built FSU into a power, culminating in the 1964 season, which saw the Seminoles finish 9-1-1, defeating Florida for the first time in school history and beating Oklahoma in the Gator Bowl.

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Some trivia about that 1960 game:

– It was the final tie game in the history of Johnson Hagood Stadium.

– The Citadel would play more than two decades of football before being involved in another tie game (28-28 at Chattanooga in 1981). At that time, the number of consecutive games without a tie was an NCAA record.

The tiebreaking non-tie game came in 1980, and any fan who wore a tie to the game could bring a friend for free.

– Eddie Teague’s only other tie in nine years as head coach of The Citadel came in his very first game in charge at the military college, the season opener in 1957 against Newberry. The score of that game? 0-0.

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When Bill Peterson first got the job at Florida State, he offered an assistant position to Bill Crutchfield, who had also been offered a job at Miami. Crutchfield took the Miami job in part because “Miami had the big schedule and Florida State was still playing The Citadel”.

Since then, almost 55 years have passed, and Florida State is the defending BCS champion and on anyone’s list of elite college football programs. And what team will the Seminoles be playing on Saturday? The Citadel…

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Mike Houston isn’t really excited about his squad being on FSU’s schedule.

At his press conference, he was asked, “For future schedules, would you like to see more big teams, big games like this one?”

His answer was, shall we say, abrupt:

No. Not unless I get 85 scholarships.

Of course, The Citadel isn’t really in a position to drop FBS matchups, as noted in Jeff Hartsell’s article the next day.

As was mentioned in the story, the programmatic differences between The Citadel and Florida State don’t stop with the disparity in scholarships. Just to mention one example, FSU spent over $250,000 per scholarship football player in 2012 (the most recent year compiled in the Knight Commission’s spending database). The Citadel spent slightly under $60,000 per scholarship player.

Houston seemed a bit more open-minded, if cautious, when asked about the subject in the SoCon teleconference:

If the game is something that is a positive for the program, then I’m all for it…right now with the program we’re kind of at the ground floor building…my hopes are that one day we can get the program where it can be competitive in games against some of the FBS opponents. That’s when I think you see more purpose from it. You get a game like this — I don’t know.

I can understand his point of view. However, the annual game or two against FBS opponents isn’t just about the money (although that’s a huge factor, of course). Most players enjoy competing in the games and measuring themselves against top-flight opponents. Travelling to FBS games can also be enjoyable excursions for fans of the program.

I look forward to the day when the program can “be competitive against some of the FBS opponents”. On the other hand, schools like Arkansas and South Carolina may not be quite as excited by that possibility.

Of course, Houston may not have to worry about playing FBS opponents in the future, if a few of the coaches and administrators at the “power five” conferences get their way. I hope they don’t, as I’ve written about before.

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Normally I would write about an opponent’s statistics, discuss its players, etc., as they relate to The Citadel. It seems pointless to do so for this game, for obvious reasons. I’ll just make a few quick comments:

– Last season, Florida State averaged over 51 points per game. As Bill Connelly of SB Nation pointed out, the Seminoles also had (at least statistically) the nation’s best defense.

– Mike Houston suggested in his press conference that, based on watching him play on Saturday, Jameis Winston appears to be even stronger and faster than he was last year. You may not know this, but last year Winston won the Heisman Trophy.

– Only twice last year did FSU win by fewer than 27 points — against Auburn in the BCS title game, and at Boston College (and the estimable Andre Williams). Florida State still won the latter game by two touchdowns.

The fact that the Seminoles were so rarely challenged in 2013 made last week’s 37-31 victory against Oklahoma State all the more surprising. It is true FSU never trailed in the game, but it still gave people something to think about.

Florida State returns a lot of the same players that helped it win a title last year, and it’s not like there is a lack of 5-star quality athletes ready to step in for the players who left, anyway. This is not a team with anything resembling a true weakness.

That said, I think if I were an FSU fan I would be concerned about three things: 1) Winston’s health; 2) trying to find a difference-maker along the defensive line who can measure up to Timmy Jernigan (not easy, despite a surfeit of DT talent); and 3) the transition to a new defensive coordinator.

Jeremy Pruitt did a great job in Tallahassee. He’ll now be doing a great job in Athens.

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Odds and ends:

– Last year, Florida State played one FCS opponent, Bethune-Cookman. The Seminoles won the game 54-6. That was the fewest points scored against an FCS team by FSU since Jimbo Fisher became head coach.

– Besides being the home opener, Saturday will be Hall of Fame day at Florida State. Included among the honorees are former football players Amp Lee and Aaron Carter.

– James Bates, the analyst for the TV broadcast of the game, was a linebacker at Florida and played for that school’s 1996 national title team. That was the year Florida beat Florida State in a rematch (in the Sugar Bowl) to claim the crown.

If the TV crew is introduced during the game, I’m sure Bates will get a warm welcome from the FSU faithful.

– Saturday’s game is officially a sellout, just like The Citadel’s game last season against Clemson. The bottom line: people all over the country want to see The Citadel in person.

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This game is not exactly a must-win for The Citadel, but it definitely is for Florida State. There is no way the Seminoles can lose on Saturday and remain in the hunt for a spot in the College Football Playoff.

A win by The Citadel in Doak Campbell Stadium would be the stuff of legends. There would be a movie, maybe a miniseries. Several books would be published about the game (at least one of them would be written by me).

Could it happen? Hey, anything can happen, even for a 52 1/2 point underdog like The Citadel. Is it likely? No.

All I really want to see from the Bulldogs in this game is on-field progress. Yes, there can be progress in a matchup like this.

Obviously, avoiding injuries would be high on the wish list too, but players can get hurt in any game, and in any setting. That’s the nature of the sport.

More than anything, I hope The Citadel’s players (and fans) at the game have some fun, and enjoy some kind of positive experience that they will always remember.

I also hope FSU’s check clears.

Go Dogs!

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College Football TV Listings 2014, Week 2

Posted on September 2, 2014 by Sandlapper Spike

This is a list of every game played during week 1 of the college football season involving at least one FBS or FCS school.  All games are listed, televised or not.  For the televised games (only live broadcasts are listed), I include the announcers and sideline reporters (where applicable).  I put all of it on a Google Documents spreadsheet that can be accessed at the following link:

College Football TV Listings 2014, Week 2

Additional notes:

– I include ESPN3.com games; they are denoted as “ESPN3″.

– This season, I am also including digital network feeds provided by various conferences when they are free of charge. For some of these feeds, the audio will be a simulcast of the home team’s radio broadcast. There are also online platforms that have their own announcers (a la ESPN3).

For now, the digital networks I am including in the listings are those for the Mountain West, Big Sky, Big South, OVC, NEC, SoCon, and Patriot League.

– The local affiliates for the ACC Network “national” game of the week (South Carolina State-Clemson) can be found here:  Link

– The regional nets carrying the ACC Network “regional” game of the week (The Citadel-Florida State) can be found here: Link

– Local affiliates for American Sports Network games: Fordham-Villanova, Rhode Island-Marshall, and Johnson C. Smith-Charlotte

– Listed in notes on the document are the regional nets carrying the following games: SMU-North Texas, UAB-Mississippi State, Missouri State-Oklahoma State, and Northwestern State-Baylor.

– ABC/ESPN2 coverage map for the noon ET games: Link

– BTN (formerly Big Ten Network) “gamefinder”:  Link

– AP Poll (FBS):  Link

– FCS Coaches’ Poll:  Link

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A lot of the information I use in putting this together comes courtesy of Matt Sarzyniak’s remarkably comprehensive and completely indispensable site College Sports on TV, which simply cannot be praised enough. It’s a must-bookmark for any fan of college sports.

Also to be credited, as always, are the indefatigable information collectors (and in a few cases sports-TV savants) at the506.com. I am also assisted on occasion by helpful athletic media relations officials at various schools and conferences.

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