Erk Russell and Howard Schnellenberger aren’t in the College Football Hall of Fame. Why not?

Posted on February 28, 2012 by Sandlapper Spike

The ballot for the 2012 College Football Hall of Fame was released on Tuesday. There are 76 players and eight coaches on the ballot. The players’ list includes the likes of Tommie Frazier and Danny Wuerffel, both of whom probably ought to have been elected already, but at least they are on the ballot.

I’m going to post briefly about two men who aren’t on the ballot, Erk Russell and Howard Schnellenberger. Why aren’t they on the ballot, you ask?

Because, incredibly, neither is eligible to be nominated.

From the above link:

To be eligible for the ballot…Coaches must have coached a minimum of 10 years and 100 games as a head coach; won at least 60% of their games; and be retired from coaching for at least three years. If a coach is retired and over the age of 70, there is no waiting period. If he is over the age of 75, he is eligible as an active coach. In both cases, the candidate’s post-football record as a citizen may also be weighed.

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The late Erk Russell was a longtime defensive coordinator at Georgia under Vince Dooley. Russell was a significant contributor to numerous outstanding teams in Athens, culminating in the 1980 national title. He was then hired at Georgia Southern to re-start its long-dormant football program.

Russell took the GSU program from club status to I-AA (now called FCS), fashioning an eight-year record of 83-22-1 (two of those years came before GSU joined I-AA), with three national titles. The last of those championships came during his final season as coach, when the Eagles were 15-0, the first time in the 20th century a college football team played 15 games in a season without a loss or tie.

Those numbers, while remarkable enough, don’t fully describe his impact on the school.  Stories about him (including the marvelous tale about how ‘Beautiful Eagle Creek’ became so beautiful) will be told for generations.  He was already something of a legend before he even took the job, as this 1981 article from Sports Illustrated suggests.  Tony Barnhart once wrote that “with the possible exception of Paul ‘Bear’ Bryant in Tuscaloosa, no college campus in America still feels a stronger presence of one man than that of Erk Russell in Statesboro.”

Alas, Russell is not in the College Football Hall of Fame, because he was only a head coach for eight seasons, and as you can see, that makes him ineligible.  Why the National Football Foundation thinks a ten-year requirement is necessary in the first place is open to question.

What really rankles supporters of Russell is the fact that coaches like former Marshall head man Jim Donnan can be inducted into the Hall. Donnan coached six seasons at Marshall (winning one national title), but was also the head coach of Georgia for five years, and was thus deemed eligible to be enshrined as a member of the Hall’s “divisional” class, for non I-A schools, even though he didn’t last for ten years at the I-AA level (or the I-A level, for that matter).

I’m sure UGA fans are happy to know that Donnan’s tenure at their school contributed to his selection, while Russell’s history with the “Dawgs” does not matter to the Hall.

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Howard Schnellenberger, who retired after last season, falls afoul of the other major eligibility requirement, that of needing to win at least 60% of one’s games to be considered. Schnellenberger was “only” 158-151-3 as a college head coach, so he doesn’t qualify.

Obviously, it’s ridiculous to judge Schnellenberger purely on wins and losses, because he is most famous for rescuing programs in dire straits (like Miami and Louisville) or starting a brand-new operation (Florida Atlantic). His records at both Louisville (54-56-2) and FAU (58-74) are actually very good, given the circumstances, and of course, he won a national title while coaching the Hurricanes.

It doesn’t seem particularly necessary to restrict eligible candidates based on their winning percentage as head coaches. The current ballot includes Darryl Rogers (.602 winning percentage) and Jim Carlen (.604), both of whom barely qualify for eligibility. With all due respect to them, no one can claim that Schnellenberger is less deserving of consideration than they are.

Like Russell, Schnellenberger was a colorful figure (so much so that he was occasionally the subject of parody) and a program builder. Both were assistant coaches for championship teams (Russell at UGA; Schnellenberger at Alabama under Bear Bryant, and under Don Shula with the Miami Dolphins).

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The fact these two men aren’t eligible for the College Football Hall of Fame isn’t a reflection on their status as legends of the sport, for that was secured long ago. It’s an indictment of the institution itself, enough to make one question its relevance.

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CUSA, MWC, NATO, etc.: Creating a monster of a mega-conference

Posted on February 13, 2012 by Sandlapper Spike

Just a quick post on the latest conference realignment nuttiness. I couldn’t resist…

On Monday a bunch of schools in Conference USA and the Mountain West Conference (along with three schools about to join the Mountain West) announced plans to form a new, bigger league, essentially combining the membership of the two existing conferences. They also seemed interested in adding between 2-8 more schools, which would result in a league of between 18-24 members.

I’ve written before on the potential for a conference this large, back when the possibility was first raised in September of last year. Now, though, it appears it’s going to actually happen.

Some reasons for the de facto merger between C-USA and the MWC include:

1) If/when the BCS schools break away from the NCAA and form their own confederation, the CUSAMWC group (which henceforth in this post I will call the “Big Country”) wants to be in the running to crash the party. I don’t think it has much of a shot, to be honest, but it’s probably worth a try.

Being members of the Big Country also differentiates those institutions from the “leftover” FBS schools in the MAC, WAC, and Sun Belt (and any wannabe FCS schools trying to get in the action, like Appalachian State or Georgia Southern). Essentially, Big Country universities would become the middle class.

2) Big Country may have an opportunity to compete for a big-money television contract against the Big East, which when last seen was busy reinventing itself after Pittsburgh and Syracuse (and subsequently West Virginia) decided to leave the league for greener ($$$) pastures.

3) Scheduling could be a problem for some Big Country schools as the BCS leagues continue to expand. By combining forces, it may be easier for each individual school to create its yearly slate of games.

One key to making Big Country workable is noted in the above-linked release:

— Championship football game format that includes semifinal match-ups

Actually, I don’t see how the new league could function without semifinal games. Basically, we’re talking about one conference with four divisions. Without semifinal games, the league would have to split into two divisions for football instead of four, and that’s not going to work for any grouping larger than 16 (and 16 is a stretch). Those two semifinal games are also important when taking any potential TV deal into consideration.

So what would Big Country look like? Well, I’m not sure, but since this is just a blog, I’ll wildly speculate and create some imaginary divisions. There are 16 members schools already in the fold (Hawai’i is going to be a football-only member), but I think there will be at least 18 schools when the dust settles, and probably 20-22. There won’t be more than 24, and that’s the number I’m going to use for this discussion.

Teams in bold are not in the “Original 16”. They are the schools I’m adding, based on early reports and a few theories of my own. Are a couple of them a little dubious? Sure. That just makes it more fun.

— Big Country West: Hawai’i, New Mexico, Fresno State, San Jose State, UNLV, Nevada

— Big Country Mountain: Air Force, Colorado State, Wyoming, Utah State, UTEP, Tulsa

— Big Country Southwest: Rice, North Texas, UT-San Antonio, Tulane, Louisiana Tech, Southern Mississippi

— Big Country Atlantic: UAB, FIU, East Carolina, Marshall, Temple, Massachusetts

Yes, UTSA is in the Big Country despite having started its program just last year. I think the new league is going to want to tap into the Texas TV market, and grabbing large schools in big cities like UTSA and UNT might not be a bad idea. I’m not saying that either school dominates the news, or even creates that big a stir, in their respective communities, but when presenting a potential TV package to a cable/TV network, it could be a plus to have schools in big markets.

That’s also partly why I included San Jose State, Temple, FIU, and UMass.

Louisiana Tech and Utah State are both more “natural rivalry” fits for the new league. Of the eight schools listed in bold, Utah State is arguably the most likely one to get the Big Country nod. The AD at UTEP was reportedly quoted as stating that USU and FIU would be expansion candidates.

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I’m just glad we have more conference realignment discussion. It helps the college football offseason go by that much faster.

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NFL ref Ed Hochuli and the Gettysburg Address: a quick comparison

Posted on January 23, 2012 by Sandlapper Spike

Just a brief post of no importance, but since I have a blog and Twitter allows for only 140 characters at a time…

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Ed Hochuli, NFL official, attorney, and bicep exhibitionist, probably has the highest profile of any current NFL referee. It wasn’t really a shock when “Hochuli” started trending on Twitter during the Giants-49ers NFC title game, which he officiated. The Twittersphere went all-in on Hochuli following Vernon Davis’ 73-yard touchdown catch/celebration penalty. After a replay review, Hochuli ruled the TD would stand, and gave a typically long-winded reply, which included the word “uncontroverted”.

Even better for Hochuli fans was his speech at midfield after regulation play had ended. Hochuli explained the NFL’s new overtime rules, and did it in his usual fashion. Joe Posnanski posted Hochuli’s words in verse, noting that the official’s remarks lasted 57 seconds.

At the time I tweeted that I wasn’t sure whether Hochuli’s soon-to-be-famous “New Overtime Rules Speech” was longer than Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address, but that I thought it was close. As it turns out, it wasn’t that close. The Bliss Copy of Lincoln’s speech is 273 words long, while Hochuli’s address was only 183 words in length.

Hochuli’s overtime rules explanation, by my analysis, took 15 sentences, while Lincoln’s speech contains only 10 fairly lengthy (but brilliantly crafted) sentences, so Hochuli gets the edge there.

So there you have it. Ed Hochuli was unable to match the length of the Gettysburg Address last night. However, his phrase “a touchdown always wins the game” will surely go down in history in much the same way as Lincoln’s “government of the people, by the people, for the people”.

Final note: there are 277 words in this post.

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Talking stats: SoCon football and turnovers

Posted on December 27, 2011 by Sandlapper Spike

I was reading Jeff Hartsell’s review of The Citadel’s football season in The Post and Courier. In the second post of the three-part series, head coach Kevin Higgins had this to say about turnovers:

 We didn’t get as many turnovers as I would have liked. We just didn’t have that many opportunities. That’s something we’ll have to study in the off-season and address that. We need to be able to turn the ball over — one more turnover against Samford or Georgia Southern or App State could have meant the difference in any of those games.

I thought it might be an interesting idea to dig a little deeper into the statistical record to see what The Citadel could do to force more turnovers. However, that meant more than just going by the raw data.

First, I decided that it would be best to concentrate solely on Southern Conference play. Including games played against the likes of Virginia Tech and Virginia-Wise (just to name two SoCon opponents) would make the statistics something less than balanced. Besides, teams are ultimately judged on how they fare against league opponents. There is also the benefit of each team’s conference statistical summary including four home and four away games.

Another consideration was trying to account for the different types of offenses employed by SoCon teams, including three “true” triple option teams and several schools running the spread, and with varied paces of play. That is why I felt it was important to focus on certain percentage categories, rather than totals.

I compiled data (league play only) for a number of different statistics, both for offense and defense. After doing this, I put together a spreadsheet which you can access at the link below:

Southern Conference 2011 Football Statistics

I trust most of what is on the spreadsheet makes at least some sense.

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Before I get to my conclusions about The Citadel’s issues with forcing turnovers (along with observations on some other SoCon schools), I want to make a few points:

– It is generally accepted that there is no real skill in recovering fumbles. Anyone who follows any of the websites that study professional football statistics/history is aware of this. Football Outsiders puts it best:

Stripping the ball is a skill. Holding onto the ball is a skill. Pouncing on the ball as it is bouncing all over the place is not a skill. There is no correlation whatsoever between the percentage of fumbles recovered by a team in one year and the percentage they recover in the next year. The odds of recovery are based solely on the type of play involved, not the teams or any of their players.

Fans like to insist that specific coaches can teach their teams to recover more fumbles by swarming to the ball. Chicago’s Lovie Smith, in particular, is supposed to have this ability. However, since Smith took over the Bears, their rate of fumble recovery on defense went from a league-best 76 percent to a league-worst 33 percent in 2005, then back to 67 percent in 2006. Last year, they recovered 57 percent of fumbles, close to the league average.

Fumble recovery is equally erratic on offense. In 2008, the Bears fumbled 12 times on offense and recovered only three of them. In 2009, the Bears fumbled 18 times on offense, but recovered 13 of them.

Fumble recovery is a major reason why the general public overestimates or underestimates certain teams. Fumbles are huge, turning-point plays that dramatically impact wins and losses in the past, while fumble recovery percentage says absolutely nothing about a team’s chances of winning games in the future.

Although this makes perfect sense, it is understandable that longtime football fans might not be so sure. I think the best way to illustrate the randomness of fumble recoveries is to highlight Pittsburgh Steelers legend Jack Lambert, who besides being a fantastic linebacker was one of my favorite players.

In the 1975 AFC championship game against the Oakland Raiders, Lambert recovered three fumbles. In the following year, 1976, he recovered an amazing eight fumbles (in fourteen games) for a remarkable Steelers defense. Lambert had a “nose for the football”, to say the least — and yet…

Those three fumble recoveries against the Raiders were the only recoveries he made in eighteen career playoff games. Those eight fumble recoveries in the ’76 regular season? They make up almost half of his career total (17).

Not everything about the NFL applies to college football, of course, particularly in FCS play, but there is no doubt that this particular observation does hold at the college level. Basically, when a ball is loose on the ground each team has a 50-50 shot at getting it. In 2011, there were 130 fumbles in Southern Conference play. The defense recovered 69 of those fumbles, or 53%. Congratulations to SoCon defenses!

No team in league play had a particularly unusual percentage when it came to recovered fumbles, either from an offensive or defensive perspective. It may be that an individual school was luckier or unluckier by a fumble or two, but that’s about it.

That isn’t to say that fumbles aren’t important, because they are. Often a fumble is more damaging to an offense than an interception (because of lost field position). However, they aren’t predictive events.

That doesn’t mean coaches shouldn’t be training their players to use the Lawrence Taylor “chop”, or continuing to have drills emphasizing fumble recoveries. It’s just that everybody does those things.

– Another thing to remember: interceptions (from a defensive perspective) tend to be random too.

This one isn’t quite as intuitive as the fumble recovery factoid, but think about it this way. Most interceptions result from a bad pass thrown by the quarterback. However, what has (normally) happened is that the QB has thrown a bad pass that was caught by a defender, instead of a bad pass that just hits the ground; there is an element of chance to this. That is why team defense interception totals can vary wildly from year to year even with similar personnel.

That isn’t to say that defenses can’t create situations where interception-prone offenses will toss the pigskin to the wrong players. I wanted to see what teams in the SoCon did the best job at pressuring the quarterback, which seemed to me to be a good way of forcing offensive errors.

I compiled sack percentage and interception percentage to see if they correlated. Again, I didn’t use raw totals, because there is a big difference when facing a team that throws the ball seven times per game (Wofford) versus forty times per game (Elon). The “pressures” statistic isn’t readily available for the SoCon; I suspect that there would have been similarities between team pressures and sacks. At least, I hope so.

You can see the numbers in the linked spreadsheet. Some observations:

– It is no accident that the three teams to make the playoffs (Appalachian State, Georgia Southern, and Wofford) are in the upper echelon when it comes to defensive sack percentage. Furman, which finished fourth in the league, finished second in the category. Leading the category was Chattanooga (more about the Mocs later).

– Defensive interception percentage does seem to at least have some correlation to defensive sack percentage. The exceptions: Samford (which intercepted more passes than it “should” have), and Wofford and UTC (each of which intercepted fewer passes than a correlation might suggest). The Terriers, in particular, seem to have been short-changed a few picks.

The Citadel’s defense finished last in interception percentage. The Bulldogs were seventh in sack percentage, ahead of only Samford and Western Carolina. I think it’s no coincidence that The Citadel didn’t intercept many passes after having less-than-stellar sack numbers. (Admittedly, that’s a rather obvious conclusion.)

– I also examined the offensive statistics for the same categories. The Citadel finished as the worst team in the league in both interceptions thrown (by percentage) and fumbles per play. The Bulldogs fumbled 23 times in SoCon action, losing ten of them. (Curiously, Georgia Southern also fumbled 23 times in league play, losing ten.)

While I tracked fumbles per play, I elected not to go through every game account to determine whether fumbles occurred on rushing or passing plays; that would have taken more hours and more days than I have, to be honest. In the NFL, the average rushing play results in a fumble 1.16% of the time, while a pass play will end with a fumble 2.04% of the time. Interestingly, 18% of all sacks in the NFL (2000-2009 time period) resulted in fumbles.

I’m not sure those numbers are quite as relevant at the college level; for one thing, there is a lot more fumbling in SoCon play than in the NFL (2.66% vs. 1.67%). There is also a lot more running than passing in the conference (almost a 2-to-1 differential).

Those sack/fumble stats are something to think about, however.

Meaningless trivia: there was only one game in the Southern Conference this season in which neither team fumbled: Georgia Southern-Appalachian State.

– The “luckiest” team, at least on the surface, appears to have been Samford, which finished eighth in defensive sack percentage but fourth in defensive interception percentage. The Birmingham Bulldogs also had the best rates for offensive interceptions thrown (with the fourth-best sacks against percentage), so it worked out both ways for Samford.

I have to wonder if Samford’s pace of play had something to do with that. Samford ran the most plays from scrimmage of any team in the league, and also faced the second-most plays on defense (Western Carolina drew the short straw in that category).

– Balance, as always, is overrated. Samford was by far the most balanced team on offense (305 runs, 301 passes) and finished 4-4 in league play. The second-most balanced team was WCU, which was 0-8. There is nothing offensively balanced about Georgia Southern and Wofford; those two playoff teams combined for a league record of 13-3.

– I don’t know what to make of Chattanooga. Usually a team that loses so many close games (including three by the same exact score, 28-27) doesn’t do itself any favors in the turnover battle, but the Mocs tied for the league lead in fumbles recovered and led the league in forced fumbles. UTC also finished second-best in the league in offensive lost fumbles.

UTC didn’t have the rate of return on defensive interceptions that might have been expected by its league-leading defensive sack percentage, but it wasn’t bad. The Mocs did have a higher average offensive interception percentage, but it wasn’t abysmal.

I think it would take a more detailed look at Chattanooga to figure out exactly how and when things went wrong for the Mocs, but I can safely say no team in the league was unluckier than UTC — just not as unlucky in the things you usually would associate with unlucky teams.

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I guess my final conclusion, at least with regards to The Citadel, is that the Bulldogs must get more pressure on the quarterback if they expect to increase their defensive turnovers. However, it has to be remembered that defensive turnovers are an effect of good play, not a cause of good play.

I would also suggest the Bulldogs were a touch lucky on offense themselves when it came to turnovers, and need to continue to improve the consistency of execution on that side of the ball.

I admit my analysis of The Citadel (and some of the other teams in the league) may be flawed. That’s one reason I included the spreadsheet, in case anyone else wants to take a crack at what the numbers may mean.

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College Football TV Listings 2011, Week 14

Posted on November 29, 2011 by Sandlapper Spike

This is a list of every game played during week 14 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 analysts/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 2011, Week 14

Additional notes:

— I include ESPN3.com games; they are denoted as “ESPN3”.

— The local affiliates for the WAC Network game of the week (Idaho-Nevada) can be found here:  Link

— Also listed on the document in a comment are the regional nets carrying Iowa State-Kansas State.

— Included in the listings is the Army-Navy game, even though it will actually take place next week (on December 10).

— BCS Standings:  Link

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A lot of the information I used in putting together all the listings for this season came courtesy of Matt Sarzyniak’s alarmingly comprehensive and completely indispensable website College Sports on TV, a must-bookmark for any fan of college sports.  Also to be credited, as always, are the indefatigable information gatherers (and in some cases sports-TV savants) at the 506.com.

I have also been assisted on occasion by helpful athletic media relations officials at various schools and conferences. I greatly appreciate their help.

This will be the final college football TV listings post of the season. To be honest, I don’t know if I will continue to post the listings next year. I am uncertain as to the value of doing so, given the vast array of listings already available online.

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College Football TV Listings 2011, Week 13

Posted on November 22, 2011 by Sandlapper Spike

This is a list of every game played during week 13 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 analysts/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 2011, Week 13

Additional notes:

— I include ESPN3.com games; they are denoted as “ESPN3”.

— I’ve listed the satellite affiliates for the SEC Network “national” game of the week (Tennessee-Kentucky) in a comment on the document.  There are numerous local affiliates, a listing of which can be found here:  Link

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

— The local affiliates for the Big East Network game of the week (Cincinnati-Syracuse) can be found here: [link when available]

— The local affiliates for the WAC Network game of the week (Nevada-Utah State) can be found here:  Link

— Also listed on the document in comments are the regional nets carrying the following games:  Houston-Tulsa (Friday night), Colorado-Utah (Friday night), Rice-SMU, Duke-North Carolina, Kansas-Missouri, Texas Tech-Baylor, and UCLA-Southern California.

— There are comments in the document with additional information for several other games.

— ABC/ESPN2 coverage maps for the 3:30 pm ET games (Virginia Tech-Virginia, Oregon State-Oregon):  Link

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

— BCS Standings:  Link

— FCS Coaches Poll:  Link

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A lot of the information I used in putting this together came courtesy of Matt Sarzyniak’s alarmingly comprehensive and completely indispensable website College Sports on TV, a must-bookmark for any fan of college sports.  Also to be credited, as always, are the indefatigable information gatherers (and in some cases sports-TV savants) at the 506.com.  I am also assisted on occasion by helpful athletic media relations officials at various schools and conferences.

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College Football TV Listings 2011, Week 12

Posted on November 15, 2011 by Sandlapper Spike

This is a list of every game played during week 12 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 analysts/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 2011, Week 12

Additional notes:

— I include ESPN3.com games; they are denoted as “ESPN3”.

— I’ve listed the satellite affiliates for the SEC Network “national” game of the week (Kentucky-Georgia) in a comment on the document.  There are numerous local affiliates, a listing of which can be found here:  Link

—  The local affiliates for the ACC Network “national” game of the week (Georgia Tech-Duke) can be found here:  Link

— The local affiliates for the Big East Network game of the week (Louisville-Connecticut) can be found here: [link when available]

— The local affiliates for the Southland TV game of the week (Stephen F. Austin-Northwestern State) can be found here: Link

— The local affiliates for the SoCon Network game of the week (Wofford-Western Carolina) can be found here:  Link

— Affiliates for the Montana Television Network (televising Montana State-Montana) can be found here:  Link

— The local affiliates for the WAC Network game of the week (Fresno State-Hawai’i) can be found here:  Link

— Also listed on the document in comments are the regional nets carrying the following games:  Marshall-Memphis (Thursday night), Maryland-Wake Forest, Kansas-Texas A&M, SMU-Houston, and Central Florida-East Carolina.

— There are comments in the document with additional information for several other games.

— ABC/ESPN/GamePlan coverage maps for the 3:30 pm ET games (Penn State-Ohio State, Clemson-North Carolina State, Texas Tech-Missouri) and the ABC/ESPN coverage maps for the 8:00 pm ET games (Southern California-Oregon, Oklahoma-Baylor): Link

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

— BCS Standings:  Link

— FCS Coaches Poll:  Link

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A lot of the information I used in putting this together came courtesy of Matt Sarzyniak’s alarmingly comprehensive and completely indispensable website College Sports on TV, a must-bookmark for any fan of college sports.  Also to be credited, as always, are the indefatigable information gatherers (and in some cases sports-TV savants) at the 506.com.  I am also assisted on occasion by helpful athletic media relations officials at various schools and conferences.

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2011 Football Game 11: The Citadel vs. South Carolina

Posted on November 13, 2011 by Sandlapper Spike

The Citadel at South Carolina, to be played at Williams-Brice Stadium, with kickoff at 12:00 pm ET on Saturday, November 19.  The contest will be televised by South Carolina as a pay-per-view event. It is also available via the ESPN3.com platform and ESPN GamePlan. The game can be heard on radio via The Citadel Sports Network, with current “Voice of the Bulldogs” Danny Reed calling the action alongside analyst Walt Nadzak. 

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I suspect that most of the previews for this week’s game between The Citadel and South Carolina will focus on the last time the two schools squared off at Williams-Brice Stadium. That was in 1990, and the Bulldogs famously stunned the Gamecocks, 38-35, with Jack Douglas scoring the winning touchdown in the final minute of play.

That game will be discussed in considerable detail by a number of different outlets. I’ve decided that writing about it on this blog, at least this week, is probably unnecessary. Instead of writing about that contest as part of this preview, I’m going to take a look at another game from the past, one that has been lost in the shuffle in recent years. I’m talking about an even bigger upset than the 1990 game.

November 11, 1950. Johnson Hagood Stadium. The Citadel 19, South Carolina 7.

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On November 4, 1950, The  Citadel lost to Virginia at Johnson Hagood Stadium, 34-14, dropping the Bulldogs’ overall record to 3-5. The Citadel was 1-2 up to that point in SoCon play, having defeated Davidson while losing to Furman and eventual league champ Washington & Lee.

The game against UVA was, to say the least, not an impressive performance. Sportswriter Doc Baker of The News and Courier (who will be quoted extensively in this blog post) wrote that while the Cavaliers had a “strong running attack,” the Bulldogs’ own offense featured “spotty blocking”:

At…times it looked almost ridiculous as Bulldog linemen and backs got in the way of their own ball carriers.

Baker also noted that a “slim crowd” of “only 5000 (official)” had watched the game, which was “the smallest turnout to witness a collegiate football game [here] in many years, according to authorities at The Citadel.”

On the bright side, Baker did highlight the excellent play of two members of the team, linemen Jerry DeLuca and Sam Rubino, with the latter having played “almost 60” minutes of the game. Both would feature prominently against South Carolina.

The big sports news that day was the death of baseball legend Grover Cleveland Alexander, who had died of a heart attack. On the gridiron, Clemson had maintained its undefeated record with a big win over Duquesne. South Carolina had played Marquette to a 13-13 tie, the same final score of the Wofford-Furman game.

There was also a feature in the newspaper that day about The Citadel’s swim team, which was about to begin its season: “Citadel tank team loaded”.

The national news concerned General Douglas MacArthur and the situation in Korea.

The major sports story on that Tuesday was the hiring of Branch Rickey by the Pittsburgh Pirates. Alas for the Bucs, the Mahatma’s executive skills would prove to have eroded.

As the week progressed, reporting in the sports section detailed the preparation both South Carolina and The Citadel were making for the upcoming game.

While Wednesday’s papers brought news of Republican gains in the U.S. House and Senate (off-year elections were held the day before), there was also a report that coach Quinn Decker was considering some changes for the Bulldogs, specifically going to an all-sophomore backfield.

Decker, a former fullback at Tennessee, had not been able to field an all-soph backfield unit to that point in the season due to injury, but it was easy to see why he might want to plug in those players against South Carolina. The year before, the same group had played on The Citadel’s freshman team, and the Bullpups had surprised South Carolina’s frosh squad (the “Biddies”), 26-20. Players on that squad included Buddy Friedlin, Rudy Wilcox, Paul Drews, and Johnny Mamajeck. All would eventually play key roles against the Gamecocks on Saturday.

Another reason for trying out some new players would be that The Citadel was limited in personnel. While South Carolina fielded a true “two-platoon” team, the Bulldogs had several players who played both offense and defense, including four of its linemen. It made moving the ball on offense that much tougher, particularly against the Gamecocks defensive front, which was nicknamed “The Seven Sleepers”.

However, the real concern was on the defensive side of the ball, as The Citadel had to figure out a way to stop South Carolina’s great running back, Steve Wadiak. So good that he had two nicknames, “Steamboat Steve” and “Th’ Cadillac”, Wadiak (who was from Chicago) was one of the nation’s best players. To that point in the 1950 season, Wadiak had rushed for 814 yards, averaging 6.8 yards per carry.

(Highlights of Wadiak in action against Marquette can be seen here: Link)

Wadiak wasn’t the only threat out of the Gamecocks’ backfield, as Mullins native Bishop Strickland averaged 5.3 yards per rush. What South Carolina lacked was an effective passing game, so head coach Rex Enright (who had played for Knute Rockne at Notre Dame) spent most of the week working on passing plays.

That was seen as a good move in the press, as playing The Citadel was not expected to pose a challenge. The Gamecocks had beaten The Citadel 42-0 in 1949, and a similar outcome was expected in 1950. On Thursday of that week, Doc Baker wrote:

…at the risk of being called all sorts of things we will be “bold” enough to suggest there is not doubt as to the outcome of the game here Saturday…as much as we’d like to think about The Citadel staging a terrific upset we can’t help but feel the Gamecocks will win by just about any score they want.

Baker wasn’t exactly helping advanced ticket sales with those comments, although the newspaper did report that tickets could be purchased at several locations downtown, including Wehman’s Supply on King Street and the Ashley Flower Shop.

Baker wasn’t the only person not giving The Citadel much of a chance, as various sources had the Gamecocks as being 33-point favorites.

Enright was more cautious in his outlook. He told his squad, “I’m not telling you that you shouldn’t be able to beat The Citadel, but I am warning you that they have eleven hard tacklers on their team and they can make it a long afternoon for you if you’re not careful.” He also noted that the Bulldogs had played well in losses to Florida and Miami (FL). The Gators, in particular, had struggled with The Citadel, only winning 7-3 thanks to a punt return touchdown.

—

The Gamecocks were 3-1-2 at that point of the season, rebounding after an opening-game loss to powerful Duke by beating Georgia Tech in Atlanta and tying Clemson, 14-14. In the game against the Tigers, Steve Wadiak had rushed for 256 yards, still one of the all-time greatest individual performances in that series.

With the contest against Clemson ending in a tie, South Carolina was poised to win the “Big 4” state title in 1950, having beaten Furman earlier in the year (21-6). By defeating The Citadel, the Gamecocks would finish 2-0-1 among the “Big 4” and edge out the Tigers, thanks to Clemson not playing the Bulldogs.

(At the time the “Big 4” was a big deal, at least in the press. There were at least three different state newspapers that carried separate standings for the Big 4, and also standings for the “Little 4” — Wofford, Presbyterian, Newberry, and Erskine.)

On Friday, the Gamecocks arrived in Charleston, with the team staying at the Francis Marion Hotel. Things were mostly quiet. The News and Courier reported that there would be nine “sponsors” for The Citadel at the game. These were girlfriends of the regimental staff or the senior football players. The afternoon edition of the paper had pictures of five of them. It was a mild surprise that all nine weren’t featured, as newspapers of that time tended to insert photographs of young women into their pages at every opportunity.

The game against South Carolina was also designated as Parents Day, which may be the latest The Citadel has ever scheduled a Parents Day game. I am not aware of any other such contest played in November, except for the 1985 game (which was played on November 2).

Also of interest that day was news from Oslo, Norway, as the Nobel Prize for Literature was announced for both 1949 and 1950. The 1950 winner was Bertrand Russell. The 1949 prize had been delayed a year, apparently because the selection committee could not decide between Italian philosopher Benedetto Croce and English statesman/historian Winston Churchill. Eventually a compromise candidate was named, a year late — William Faulkner.

—

By gametime on Saturday, a crowd of around 11,000 had gathered at Johnson Hagood Stadium. The weather was excellent for football, with slightly overcast skies. Jack Huddle, The Citadel’s captain, greeted South Carolina co-captains Ed Pasky and Bobby Rogers at midfield for the coin toss. The Gamecocks won the toss and elected to receive.

As the two teams took the field, observers in the stands could see the disparity in size among the players. For example, The Citadel’s linemen all weighed less than 200 lbs., while no Gamecock lineman weighed less than 205 lbs.

The kickoff was returned by South Carolina to its own 44-yard line. The Gamecocks wasted the good field position, however, going three-and-out. The Bulldogs took over after a mediocre punt on their own 33, but went nowhere in two plays. On third down, The Citadel elected to “quick kick”, and Paul Chapman boomed a 62-yard punt that rolled dead at the Gamecocks’ 10-yard line.

South Carolina picked up a first down, but then lost yardage, and on third down from its own 25 decided to try a “quick kick” of its own. It would prove to be a costly decision, as an alert Sam Rubino burst through the line and blocked Tommy Woodlee’s punt. Rubino scooped up the ball himself and raced into the end zone for a touchdown. The PAT was missed, but the Bulldogs had a shock 6-0 lead with 10:20 to play in the first quarter.

Undeterred, the Gamecocks took the ensuing kickoff and proceeded to drive from their own 35 to the Bulldogs’ 12-yard line. On fourth and two from that spot, South Carolina picked up a first down — but was called for clipping. The Gamecocks went for it again, eschewing a field goal try, and didn’t make it.

The Bulldogs did nothing offensively (a theme throughout the first half) and punted. Again, South Carolina drove down the field, and again got nothing for its effort, this time losing a fumble on the Bulldogs 24.

The Citadel thus had the ball as the second quarter began. Another fine Chapman punt put the Gamecocks back deep in their own territory. The Bulldogs’ defense held, and for the second time South Carolina would be victimized by a blocked punt — and again the culprit was Rubino.

This time, Paul Drews would pick up the loose pigskin and score for the Bulldogs. The PAT was blocked, but The Citadel led, 12-0, with 11:35 remaining in the first half.

Stunned, South Carolina could do nothing with its next offensive possession. The Citadel would respond with its only sustained drive of the half (albeit on a relatively short field). The drive ended with a missed field goal.

(So, to sum up: in the first half, The Citadel blocked two punts, had one of its own PATs blocked, and missed another PAT and a field goal. Taking the 2011 season into account, I guess it’s fair to say that some things really don’t change.)

After the missed field goal by the Bulldogs, South Carolina drove to The Citadel’s 27-yard line, but got no further before the half ended. The Citadel finished the half with -14 yards of total offense, but led 12-0 thanks to the two return TDs.

—

There were two halftime performances to entertain the crowd. First, the South Carolina marching band played. At one point in its routine, the band moved into a formation so as to resemble the Confederate Battle Flag. I don’t know what is less likely to ever happen again — the Gamecocks band doing that, or South Carolina playing The Citadel in football at Johnson Hagood Stadium.

The other halftime show, however, has endured largely unchanged. The Summerall Guards performed in typically faultless fashion. It’s interesting to note that in 1950, General Charles Summerall was still the president of The Citadel.

—

The Citadel got the ball first to open the third quarter. The Bulldogs picked up one first down and then punted. South Carolina’s first possession of the half also ended with a punt, but Woodlee’s punt was downed on The Citadel’s five-yard line. The Bulldogs went three and out, and the subsequent punt went out of bounds at The Citadel’s 30-yard line. From there the Gamecocks would drive for their first (and only) score, with quarterback Pasky running for a two-yard TD. The PAT was good, and with 3:25 remaining in the period, South Carolina had cut the lead to 12-7.

The Citadel would move the ball a little on its next possession, but ultimately had to punt again, and so as the fourth quarter began South Carolina was in its own territory, trying to drive for the winning touchdown. However, the Gamecocks were victimized by a 15-yard sack, the first of three huge sacks in the quarter. After a punt, The Citadel took over on its own 41.

Bulldogs quarterback Buddy Friedlin (a native of Jacksonville, Florida) received a lot of praise after the game, and much of that came as a result of his play on this drive. First, he connected with Charles Fabian on a big 31-yard pass to get the Bulldogs near the red zone. Three more plays netted The Citadel nine yards. On a key fourth-and-one, Rudy Wilcox picked up two yards and a first down.

The next two plays did little, but on third down Friedlin scrambled nine yards for a first-and-goal on the Gamecocks 5-yard line. On first down the Bulldogs lost four yards.

On second-and-goal from the nine, though, The Citadel pulled the old “sleeper play” on South Carolina. In a maneuver that would be illegal today, Wilcox basically hid near the sideline while remaining on the field of play. The Gamecocks didn’t account for him, so Friedlin took the snap and whipped a pass to the wide-open Wilcox. The Florence resident scampered into the end zone for a TD. This time, the PAT was successful, and the score was 19-7.

Nine minutes were still left in the game, so a comeback was still possible for the Gamecocks, but those hopes were largely dashed when Hootie Johnson (yes, Martha Burk’s Hootie) fumbled the kickoff. The Bulldogs recovered. The resulting possession lost yardage, but The Citadel did manage to drain three more minutes off the clock.

Forced to abandon the running game, the Gamecocks got as far as midfield, but were derailed by a 10-yard sack by Jerry DeLuca (his second sack of the quarter). Later in the possession the Gamecocks would lose 18 more yards on another sack. The Citadel got the ball back, ran some more clock, and then punted it back to the Gamecocks with just 25 seconds left. South Carolina ran two more plays and the game ended.

—

Steve Wadiak did not have a bad day, rushing for 96 yards on 17 carries, but he was unable to break off a big gainer, something the Gamecocks sorely needed that afternoon.

The Citadel had won convincingly despite picking up just eight first downs. Friedlin was 3-7 passing for only 44 yards, but with no interceptions and that big completion to Fabian. Paul Chapman hurt the Gamecocks repeatedly with his fine punting. South Carolina was held to 130 yards rushing, low by its standards. The Gamecocks were also hurt by penalties, two lost fumbles, and those critical fourth-quarter sacks.

—

The headline of the Sunday edition of The News and Courier said it all: “Pandemonium breaks loose as Carolina is defeated by Citadel”. The A-1 story noted that it was the first win by The Citadel over South Carolina since 1926 (there had been a tie in 1928). According to the paper, Gamecock fans had planned a victory celebration at the local Hibernian hall after the game. Instead, the streets were filled with happy cadets. A group of them pushed an ancient jalopy, sans motor, up King Street, with a sign on top that read “Wadiak’s Cadillac”. Being dragged behind the vehicle on a rope was a headless gamecock.

—

Jake Penland, sports editor of The State, wrote that “the balloon of South Carolina players, pride, and overconfidence was punctured with a 19-7 bang by The Citadel.” He also stated that the game was “one of the most startling upsets in the history of this part of the nation.”

Penland wasn’t inclined to give the Bulldogs too much credit, though; in the days to come, he would blame the loss on the Gamecocks’ errant aerial attack. (Penland’s refusal to acknowledge that the Bulldogs had some good players of their own could be construed as starting a tradition among sports editors of The State.)

Doc Baker, on the other hand, was effusive in his praise for the local team, saying they had “made a liar” out of him, but that he was “the happiest liar.” Said Baker of the win: “It’s The Citadel’s greatest victory of all time.”

—

A chastened South Carolina squad would drop its two remaining contests of the season, losing to North Carolina and Wake Forest by identical 14-7 scores. Steve Wadiak would finish with 998 rushing yards and was named player of the year in the Southern Conference.

The loss to The Citadel by the Gamecocks handed the “Big 4” title to Clemson, part of a great season for the Tigers that culminated in an Orange Bowl victory over Miami. Clemson would finish the season 9-0-1, with the only blemish that tie to the Gamecocks.

The Citadel would lose its season finale to VMI, 13-7, to finish the year with a 4-6 record (2-3 SoCon). Quinn Decker would continue to coach the team through 1953, eventually returning to Knoxville to go into private business. The victory over South Carolina would easily be the highlight of his coaching career at The Citadel.

Jerry DeLuca would receive several post-season honors.

—

That was 61 years ago. What about the game on Saturday?

Perhaps it would be better if the game could be played at another location. The Citadel’s last three wins over South Carolina on the gridiron have taken place in Orangeburg (1926), Charleston (1950), and Columbia (1990). Maybe this game could be moved to Greenville…

I’m not going to say The Citadel absolutely can’t win the game, but it is unlikely. It is true that South Carolina is currently a bit challenged offensively, but it should be pointed out that the Gamecocks’ offensive line, even if not an elite SEC unit, would be a top unit in the SoCon. It will be a major challenge for the Bulldogs D to contain the Gamecocks, even without Marcus Lattimore. There is also no receiver in the league that compares to Alshon Jeffery.

Then there is the Gamecocks’ defense, which is outstanding, probably among the ten best units in the country. South Carolina has only struggled defensively when facing a team with multiple outstanding receivers and a quarterback who can get them the ball — i.e., Arkansas. That obviously does not describe The Citadel’s offense. It basically describes the exact opposite.

The only units on the field where The Citadel might have an advantage are the punt return and coverage squads.

South Carolina also won’t be outcoached. Steve Spurrier has been frustrated with his offense all season, but I have noticed in watching the Gamecocks play that he is willing to do what it takes to win a game, and if that means forgetting about passing for extended periods of time, he will do just that. Spurrier has largely been fair with his talent. That’s the sign of a good coach.

Ellis Johnson is one of the better defensive coordinators at the college level. He may not have been the greatest head coach in the world, but he excels in his current role.

That said, I expect the Bulldogs to be competitive this Saturday. This is not a “throwaway” game; it’s not a game to experiment or play a ton of freshmen, or anything like that. I trust the coaching staff understands that for alums and other supporters of The Citadel, a game against South Carolina is a little different than playing Arizona or Wisconsin or Florida.

It will be the final game of a season that has been instructive, if at times frustrating. It has had its moments, though.

It’s a rare home football game for me. I’ll be there, along with friends from as far away as Connecticut and Iowa. We want to see some snarlin’ Dogs on Saturday.

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Game Review 2011: Samford

Posted on November 13, 2011 by Sandlapper Spike

Samford 19, The Citadel 14.

—

Ugh. I’m not sure what really needs to be said about this game, which The Citadel should have won but let get away. Just a terrible loss. I’ll just make a few haphazard comments and observations:

— Fashion update for this week: The Citadel went with the navy jerseys/white pants look for Homecoming, which I guess is its postmodern traditional look. It was the first time the Bulldogs wore that combo this season; they also wore them once last season, in the game against Chattanooga. The Citadel lost both games.

— The Citadel has now lost five consecutive “celebration weekend” games — in other words, Parents Day/Homecoming contests. It’s only the third time the Bulldogs have lost five straight PD/HC games, and the first time since the 1985-1987 seasons.

I think that’s significant because those are generally the two most highly attended games of each season. Continuing to lose those contests isn’t going to engender a lot of enthusiasm among the alums and supporters at the games. Of course, attendance on Saturday dipped below 14,000, a very disappointing crowd for a Homecoming game on a nice Saturday afternoon.

— I am the first person to say that The Citadel needs to be on television more often, but after sitting through all those interminable TV timeouts, I think I might settle for just the road games being televised. (Okay, I’m joking. Sort of.)

Then there is the “TV jinx”: The Citadel has now lost 16 of its last 17 televised games (counting ESPN.com), which is ridiculous. That total includes the last seven seasons. It could rise to 17 for 18 after this week’s game against South Carolina.

While I’m ranting, put me down as someone who hates the 3:00 pm kickoff…

— Samford ran 79 offensive plays from scrimmage, exactly what the Birmingham Bulldogs wanted to do, and those plays were not completely imbalanced in terms of run/pass. While The Citadel held the time of possession edge, Samford was able to sustain a number of drives, with five of them going for nine plays or longer. Dustin Taliferro managed to throw 45 passes without being intercepted.

Samford also rushed for 113 yards, lower than it would have liked but just enough for the victory. Of course, a lot of those yards came on the game-winning drive.

— The Citadel lost two fumbles, which hurt (particularly the second one), but the loss can be attributed in large part to the two blocked field goal attempts. The Bulldogs have now had four placekicks blocked in the last two games.

From my vantage point, the problem on Saturday was a protection issue. However, I might be wrong about that. Kevin Higgins stated after the game that “”We know our operation time is slow from the center back to the holder,” but this photo does make one wonder.

It goes without saying that it is unacceptable to have four kicks blocked over a seven-kick span. It appears that Georgia Southern exploited a flaw, and that this was not adequately addressed in the week leading up to the Samford game.

The Citadel has now lost three league games this season because of placekicking unit issues. I’ve said this before (actually, last week), but the Bulldogs do not have enough margin for error to survive continued woes in this area. The SoCon is an unforgiving league; if a team has a weakness, it will pay for that weakness more often than not.

— The playcalling at the end of the drive that resulted in the second blocked field goal was…frustrating. I realize that a lot of this is predicated on QB reads, but the sequence on first-and-ten at the Samford 11-yard line went like this: Darien Robinson up the middle for two yards, Darien Robinson up the middle for a one-yard loss, Darien Robinson up the middle for no gain. Oof.

I’m not calling the plays, and everyone should be thankful that I’m not, but a little something different had to be in order there. Toss sweep, anyone?

— I am on record as saying that alums have at times been a little hard on the corps of cadets, but I was very disappointed in the corps’ performance on Saturday. The upperclassmen did not even bother to stand for the opening kickoff.

I’m sorry to be an old fogey, but that’s simply not going to cut it. If the cadets are so tired that they lack the energy to cheer on their team for three hours, then I think they are clearly too exhausted to go out on the town after the game. My recommendation to Gen. Rosa and Col. Mercado would be to let the clearly fatigued young men and women of the corps stagger back to campus immediately after the game is over and head straight to bed. There is no need to worry about overnights/extra hours of leave, as an 8 pm lights-out would be much more appropriate.

—

On to game eleven. The scene shifts to Columbia. I predict a busy week is ahead for a certain ex-QB named Jack Douglas…

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2011 Football Game 10: The Citadel vs. Samford

Posted on November 10, 2011 by Sandlapper Spike

The Citadel vs. Samford, to be played at historic Johnson Hagood Stadium, with kickoff at 3:00 pm ET on Saturday, November 12.  The contest will be televised on the SoCon Network, with play-by-play by Darren Goldwater (formerly the “Voice of the Bulldogs”) and analysis by Doug Chapman. It is also available via the ESPN3.com platform. The game can be heard on radio via The Citadel Sports Network, with current “Voice of the Bulldogs” Danny Reed calling the action alongside analyst Walt Nadzak. 

—

This is another “combo” post, with a brief review of the Georgia Southern game and a preview of the Samford contest.

—

Georgia Southern 14, The Citadel 12.

There isn’t a whole lot to add to what has already been said and written about the game. I’ll just make a few points:

— In my preview of the game I devoted the better part of two paragraphs to Brent Russell, Georgia Southern’s star nosetackle. I expected him to be a major factor in the game, so news that he wasn’t going to play gave me hope that the Bulldogs could establish themselves offensively. I thought he was that important, and I think the way the game went bore that out. The Citadel rushed for a respectable 239 yards, averaging 4.6 yards per carry.

Russell’s absence surely had an impact on the Bulldogs’ ability to gain yards up the middle, as Darien Robinson had an outstanding afternoon, rushing for 92 yards and a TD on only nine carries. Good teams take advantage of opportunities, and I felt in this respect The Citadel did just that.

— While there was some focus on the missed field goal at the end of the game, that wasn’t what bothered me (especially with the wind issues). The two blocked PATs were what bothered me. It is unacceptable to have one PAT blocked in a game, much less two. Field goals are going to be missed from time to time, but PATs should be all but automatic.

The Citadel has done a lot of good things in the area of special teams this season, most notably the Bulldogs’ punt-blocking exploits. Cass Couey has had a fine year, and even the kick return teams have improved over the last three games (including Kevin Hardy’s tone-setting 50-yard return to open up the festivities in Statesboro).

The Bulldogs are still struggling with kick coverage and placekicking, however, and that isn’t all on the kickers, not by a long shot. Those struggles are also, unfortunately, not a one-year aberration. Thinking about this game, I remembered that I had written about another game against Georgia Southern that got away from The Citadel three years ago. That one also came down to placekicking problems.

The Citadel does not have much margin for error when playing football in the Southern Conference. It cannot afford to lose a game or two each season because of a recurring problem that should be correctable.

I’m not saying it’s easy, because it’s not. Alabama probably just lost a shot at making the BCS title game because Nick Saban didn’t have a placekicker on the roster capable of making long field goals under pressure — and that’s at tradition-rich Alabama, with 85 scholarships at its disposal (not even taking oversigning into account). Bobby Bowden and Florida State lost a couple of mythical crowns in the early 1990s because of an unreliable kicking game.

Despite those examples, your typical 50-year-old male thinks he can roll out of bed and make a 35-yard field goal. That’s just the way the position (and overall placekicking unit) is perceived.

— Okay, now for something tangentially related, but still worth following (at least, I think so)…

Some fans of the Bulldogs may remember that The Post and Courier elected not to send a beat writer for The Citadel’s game at Western Carolina three weeks ago. This was the first time in recent memory that the newspaper had not covered a SoCon football game involving The Citadel. The decision was reportedly not made by the sports department.

At the time, I wrote:

Obviously these are tough times for the newspaper business, so it’s not shocking the paper would cut an occasional corner.  This time it came at the expense of coverage for The Citadel’s football team, which should be a concern for any fan of the military college.

I’m hopeful it was just a one-time thing…

It appears to have been just that, for now. Jeff Hartsell was in Statesboro on Saturday.

The reason I am bringing this up again is that I noticed The Post and Courier sent two reporters to Fayetteville, Arkansas, to cover the South Carolina-Arkansas game. Both Gamecocks beat writer Darryl Slater (a recent hire by the paper) and general sports columnist Gene Sapakoff were at that contest.

It occurs to me that Cullowhee is a lot closer to Charleston than Fayetteville…

It probably doesn’t mean anything. It’s just something to watch.

—

Pat Sullivan knew he had to make some changes to Samford’s offense after last season, one in which a good defense could not make up for a less than dynamic offense. In 2010, the Birmingham Bulldogs averaged just over 10 points per game at home and finished 4-7 (despite an upset over Georgia Southern). The final game of the season was a 13-12 home loss to The Citadel.

Sullivan brought in several new coaches, with the key hire being 28-year-old Rhett Lashlee, a protege of Auburn offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn. Lashlee has installed the hurry-up/spread system run by Malzahn, the same offensive philosophy employed by fellow Malzahn acolyte Chad Morris of Clemson.

Thus, Samford’s meat-and-potatoes attack of years past has been replaced by an offense that spreads the field and tries to run 80 plays from scrimmage per game. It has been, for the most part, successful. Samford is averaging over 30 points per game, ranking third in the SoCon in scoring offense, total offense, and passing offense. It is also fifth in the league in rushing offense, a very respectable placement considering the three triple-option attacks in the conference tend to dominate that statistical category.

Samford has scored at least 17 points in every Southern Conference game this season, a far cry from last year. However, Sullivan’s squad has not been as strong defensively, perhaps in part because of the nature of the offense (Samford’s opponents have a time of possession advantage of close to five minutes). Samford is seventh in the league in scoring defense, next-to-last in total defense, and next-to-last in pass defense (though that is misleading, as it is second in defensive pass efficiency).

Samford has allowed at least 21 points in every SoCon game this season. The second half of games has occasionally been problematic, as the team has allowed 21 second-half points to both Furman and Wofford, and 24 to Georgia Southern.

In Samford’s five wins, the Birmingham Bulldogs have rushed for 304, 160, 181, 348 (Elon), and 303 yards. In its four losses, the rushing totals have been 61, 34 (Wofford), 84, and 92.

If that’s not a key indicator, I don’t know what is.

As far as how the Samford defense has fared against the other triple-option offenses in the league, Wofford rushed for 443 yards, while Georgia Southern’s ground attack put up 263. Both of those schools controlled the running game on both sides of the ball. I think a good goal for Triple O’Higgins would be an average of those two rush totals — 353 yards.

—

If you think Dustin Taliaferro has been Samford’s quarterback for a long time, you would be correct. He’s been taking snaps for Samford since 2008. The new offense seems to be to his liking (Kevin Higgins called him “much improved”). He is completing almost 62% of his passes this season, with 12 TDs against 8 interceptions. He threw three of those TDs against Furman.

Fabian Truss also had a good game against the Paladins, rushing for 136 yards. He was even better the next week against Elon, piling up 191 rushing yards in that game. Sullivan noted that Truss was hurt last week against Chattanooga, a game in which he carried the ball ten times for 46 yards. It was the fourth consecutive game in which his rush attempts from scrimmage had declined. Despite that, Truss still leads the SoCon in all-purpose yardage (he is averaging almost 30 yards per kick return).

Taliaferro’s primary receiving targets are Kelsey Pope (56 catches, five for touchdowns) and Riley Hawkins (33 receptions, two TDs). Hawkins is also Samford’s main punt returner, and he’s a very good one, leading the league in punt return average (11.7 yards). Samford has outstanding kick return teams and also has a solid placekicker in Cameron Yaw, who has made 18 of 23 field goals.

Samford will be motivated to win this game in part because a victory would clinch a winning season for the visitors from Birmingham. If Samford loses to The Citadel, it would have to win its season finale to get that elusive sixth victory. That last game, though, is at Auburn.

—

This is going to be a tough matchup for The Citadel. It is a winnable game, to be sure. Of course, that has been the case for the Bulldogs most of the season, which in itself is suggestive of the improvement the team has made this year.

It is also Homecoming, so a fairly sizeable crowd should be on hand. I hope that a significant portion of those in attendance actually wander into Johnson Hagood Stadium to watch the game. It should be a good one.

Congratulations to all the reunion year classes, particularly the Class of 1961, which is having its 50th-year celebration.

I’ll be at the game this Saturday. I won’t be at any of the reunions, but I’ll be in the stands, rooting on the home team. The weather forecast for Charleston is promising. I hope things are just as sunny for the Bulldogs.

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