The Sports Arsenal

South Carolina State at The Citadel, to be played at historic Johnson Hagood Stadium (minus the yet-to-be-rebuilt East stands) in Charleston, South Carolina, with kickoff at 12:00 pm ET on September 7, 2024.

The game will be streamed on ESPN+. Dave Weinstein will handle play-by-play duties, with former James Madison quarterback Vad Lee providing the analysis. The sideline reporter will be Ainsley Clifford.

The contest can be heard on radio via The Citadel Sports Network. WQNT-1450 AM [audio link], originating in Charleston, will be the flagship station.

Brian Giffin calls the action alongside analyst Lee Glaze.

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Just a few links:

• Maurice Drayton’s press conference on Monday
• ‘Beyond the Barracks’, from Monday night
• My review of The Citadel’s win over Charleston Southern
• My preview of The Citadel-South Carolina State from last season, with some info that is still relevant, plus a bunch of stuff that isn’t
• Game notes from The Citadel
• Notes from the SoCon
• Notes from the MEAC
• The Chennis Berry Show

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I’m just tossing out a few things here. As I mentioned when I posted after the Bulldogs’ win on Saturday, I’m semi-retired from blogging, and if you’re going to do something, you need to do it right, and not just go halfway.

That’s why I am ambivalent about posting. I simply don’t have the time to do it justice.

Anyway, let’s get started with this preview, which will primarily be focused on The Citadel’s opponent this Saturday — South Carolina State.

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Here is the advanced stats box for South Carolina State’s 22-18 loss at Florida A&M on Saturday:

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A few housekeeping notes on the above:

• The statistics do not include the final three offensive plays by Florida A&M, which were kneel-downs.
• The end of the first half featured a hurry-up drive by South Carolina State which resulted in a field goal. SCSU made it to the red zone just before the half ended, but didn’t have time to run a full set of plays inside the 20 (kicking on 3rd down), and thus that drive is not included in the ‘Red Zone TD%’ or ‘Finishing drives inside 40’ categories.
• Both teams benefited from a defensive penalty on a 3rd-and-long play, leading to an automatic first down. Those plays aren’t reflected in the ‘3rd down conversions’ or ‘3rd and long passing’ categories.

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As far as the quality of South Carolina State’s opponent last week is concerned, Florida A&M was ranked in the preseason FCS coaches’ poll (25th) and is considered one of the contenders to win the SWAC (2nd in the East division in that league’s preseason poll). Of course, last season FAMU was 12-1 and won both the SWAC and the Celebration Bowl.

Random comment: I’m still not used to Florida A&M being a member of the SWAC and not the MEAC. 

I should also note that the game was the Rattlers’ second of the 2024 campaign, while it was the debut for S.C. State and its new coach, Chennis Berry.

South Carolina State held an 18-7 lead early in the 4th quarter, but the Rattlers then scored two touchdowns down the stretch to pull off the comeback.

S.C. State will rue only getting 3 points out of a 1st-and-goal from the 1-yard line situation in the first quarter, and later having a PAT blocked (which led to an unsuccessful 2-point try after another TD). Florida A&M also converted multiple 3rd-and-long plays down the stretch, which had to be frustrating for the garnet-and-blue faithful.

The Bulldogs from Orangeburg were also bedeviled by several untimely penalties, including multiple procedural infractions. That is not overly unusual for a team playing its first game for a new coach.

According to the online participation report, only 40 players took the field for S.C. State. That apparent lack of depth could have been a factor in SCSU’s inability to stop Florida A&M in the 4th quarter. (As always, participation reports should not necessarily be taken at face value.)

It was a little odd that the more rush-focused team (South Carolina State) came out on the short end of the time of possession battle by more than four minutes. Part of the late-game push by FAMU included holding the ball for 9:38 of the final period.

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Per the Massey Ratings, Florida A&M is ranked 52nd in FCS; The Citadel is 72nd; South Carolina State is 92nd; and Charleston Southern is 106th.

The Citadel jumped 29 spots after its win last week, but SC State is still favored in the matchup, according to Massey, with a projected score of 26-24. In fact, Massey still rates The Citadel an underdog in all of its remaining 2024 contests save one (next week’s game against North Greenville).

Bill Connelly’s SP+ ratings have Florida A&M ranked 53rd in FCS, with South Carolina State 78th, Charleston Southern 81st, and The Citadel 111th (only a 3-spot rise from last week). His projected score for the game at Johnson Hagood Stadium is S.C. State 26.3, The Citadel 20.6.

(Incidentally, the SP+ projected score for the Charleston Southern-Furman game is Paladins 33.4, Buccaneers 9.1.)

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South Carolina State’s starting quarterback (Eric Phoenix) is left-handed, and its placekicker (Kyle Gallegos) is left-footed. There cannot be many teams around that have a left-handed QB *and* a left-footed kicker.

Alas, punter Dyson Roberts is right-footed. You can’t have it all.

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No one on South Carolina State’s roster is a graduate of Orangeburg-Wilkinson High School. That might be unprecedented. It is certainly unwise. In my unbiased opinion, failing to have a representative of the famed maroon and orange is a recipe for disaster.

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Buddy Pough’s final team at South Carolina State included just seven transfers from junior colleges and/or four-year institutions. Chennis Berry’s current roster at SCSU has 37 such players, including 14 who played for him at Benedict.

Only 19 players who saw action against The Citadel last season (a 31-10 victory for South Carolina State) participated in SCSU’s matchup with Florida A&M. However, eleven of them started against FAMU, including four members of the offensive line and the three players (Justin Smith-Brown, Tyler Smith, and Keshawn Toney) who accounted for all four touchdowns against The Citadel.

Linebackers Zan Dunham and Aaron Smith are also returning starters; Dunham led SCSU in tackles in last year’s matchup, while Smith had two tackles for loss. Defensive back Jamare Bejamin, who intercepted a pass during the game, is back as well.

Berry has supplemented that group with several interesting players, including 6’4″, 340 lb. guard Roger Smith, wide receiver Caden High (3 receptions against Florida A&M, a 39-yarder among them), running back Deondra Duehart (74 yards on 10 rushes versus FAMU), defensive linemen Josh Barker and Jayden Broughton (who had a sack and fumble recovery against the Rattlers), linebacker Dedrick Starkes, and defensive back Diego Addison (six tackles in Tallahassee).

All of those players are transfers from Benedict; Smith and Broughton were first-team all-conference selections in the SIAC last year, while Duehart and Starkes were second-team picks. They were key cogs in a Tigers squad that went undefeated in the regular season for the second year in a row.

Without them (and Berry), Benedict lost 23-7 last week to Virginia State in its season opener.

As mentioned earlier, S.C. State’s starting quarterback is Eric Phoenix, a 6’3″, 210 lb. native of Savannah who is not going to be arm-tackled by anybody. Phoenix played for Chennis Berry at Benedict for three years, including the 2022 campaign, but spent last season at Murray State. This year, he is back with Berry, but at a new school.

In Phoenix’s career at Benedict, he appeared in 28 games at QB, completing 63.5% of his passes (8.1 yards/attempt), with 32 touchdowns against 18 interceptions. He did not run a lot, though he did compile eight rushing TDs for the Tigers. Phoenix was voted second-team All-SIAC after both the 2021 and 2022 seasons.

Against Florida A&M on Saturday, he was 12 for 25 passing for 132 yards and a touchdown. He was sacked twice and had six other rushing attempts.

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Chennis Berry was the SIAC coach of the year in both 2022 and 2023. In 2021, the SIAC coach of the year was Gabe Giardina (then of Albany State), who was on the opposing sideline last week as Charleston Southern’s head coach.

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The weather forecast for Saturday in Charleston: not great. Showers and thunderstorms are likely before, during, and after the game. The chance of precipitation is 60%.

I guess that is the tradeoff for the lack of furnace-like conditions for a noon kickoff. (The projected high on Saturday is only 79 degrees.)

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Saturday’s game is being called a “whiteout”. Fans are encouraged to wear white apparel (presumably including rain ponchos). The team, however, will not wear white jerseys, because the visiting team has the right to nix that, and S.C. State elected to exercise its veto.

I would expect the The Citadel to wear its light blue jerseys, and for SCSU to showcase its white tops.

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Per the game notes, there are apparently no changes to The Citadel’s depth chart from Game 1 to Game 2.

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The home opener will double as Hall of Fame Weekend at The Citadel. The banquet is on Friday night, and the honorees are a particularly impressive group. I would anticipate a lot of people will be in town this weekend for the festivities, and that will include a larger-than-normal cohort of football alums.

It is also a big weekend for South Carolina State’s alumni chapter in Charleston, which has organized a tailgate on Saturday that will undoubtedly be humming with activity.

In other words, the scene should be a busy one. It should be fun (and wet). Get there early.

Filed under: Football, The Citadel | Tagged: Chennis Berry, Maurice Drayton, MEAC, SoCon, South Carolina State, The Citadel | Leave a comment »