Sept. 10, 2005

Final Stats |  Photo Gallery

Orangeburg, SC - The Bulldogs of South Carolina State University showed why they are the consensus favorite to defend their 2004 MEAC Co-Championship on Saturday evening at Bulldog Stadium in Orangeburg, SC as they handed the Rams a 52-12 defeat to drop winless WSSU to 0-3 overall.

Right from the opening kickoff, the Ram faithful could see that WSSU was in for a long night as the normally sure-handed Martin Hicks (Oxford, NC) fumbled the return, giving the home-team Bulldogs the ball on the WSSU 30-yard line.

The ensuing drive would see SCSU's Troy McFadden power his way into the end zone from one-yard out to give the Bulldogs an early 7-0 lead with 11:58 remaining in the first quarter of play.

After a failed offensive drive, the Ram defense would do its job as they forced a South Carolina State punt.  However, once again, the fumble jinx would haunt the Rams as senior wide-receiver and kick-returner Brandon Hussey (Pinetops, NC) would be snake-bitten as he fumbled the ball trying to do too much on the return, again giving the Bulldogs the ball at the WSSU 30-yard line.

The second straight fumble inside their own territory would again haunt the Rams as South Carolina State took advantage of the WSSU miscue when Cleveland McCoy, the MEAC's Offensive Player of the Week last week, scurried into the WSSU end zone from four-yards out to put SCSU up 14-0 with two-minutes remaining in the first quarter of play.

WSSU showed flashes of offensive brilliance on their next offensive possession as junior running-back and First-Team All-CIAA performer Jed Bines (Winston-Salem, NC) showed why he is the favorite to win the CIAA rushing title as he ran over and around the SCSU defense before two Monte Purvis (Winston-Salem, NC) passes fell incomplete, forcing the Rams to punt. 

The next drive saw the Bulldogs' kicking game get in on the scoring action as a stingy WSSU defense held SCSU to a 22-yard field goal by Stepehn Graham as the Rams looked to be getting themselves into the game.

However, a Monte Purvis fumble would cost the Rams dearly.  After being flushed from the pocket, Purvis took off around the left end, trying to make positive yards out of a sure-loss.  However, he was blind-sided by a SCSU defender who jarred the ball loose, a ball which was recovered by the Bulldogs.

Jed Bines (Pictured) Would Record The Only WSSU Offensive Touchdown Of The Afternoon, A One-Yard, Fourth-Quarter Run

On the very next offense play, Cleveland McCoy wasted no time in striking while the proverbial iron was hot as he hit Chris Burgess for a 51-yard touchdown strike, effectively putting the nail in the Rams' coffin as SCSU went ahead by the score of 24-0.

WSSU would muster only a 37-yard Matt Hind (Clemmons, NC) field goal in the first 30 minutes of play, which was promptly answered with another McCoy TD pass, as the Rams headed to the locker room at the half trailing the Division I-AA Bulldogs 31-3.

The third quarter of play settled down, yet the Bulldogs would again give their faithful something to cheer about on special teams.  The Rams, who scored the first points of the second half on Hind's second 37-yard field goal of the contest, would fall short on their kickoff return duties as the ensuing kickoff following Hind's FG would see Rondrieka Darby take the kick to the house as he blazed 93 yards, untouched, to the WSSU end zone to give SCSU a 38-6 lead.

The lone offensive bright spot for WSSU would come at the 6:24 mark of the fourth quarter as Jed Bines capped a 12-play, 78-yard drive with a three-yard touchdown run.

The football-savvy Bines, whose forward progress had been stopped at the goal line, smartly outstretched his arms to break the plane of the end zone and give WSSU its only touchdown of the evening cutting the Rams' deficit to 33 points at 45-13.

The Bulldogs tacked on another late touchdown in the game as back-up quarterback Dustin Dubose hit Antonio Gaffney from seven-yards out to record the game's final points, putting SCSU up 52-12.

Offensively, the Rams looked the best that they have all season as they recorded 222 yards of total offense (137 rushing, 85 passing).  On the defensive side of the ball, Defensive Coordinate Mike Ketchum's 3-5-3 defensive scheme looks to once again be paying dividends as the Rams held the offensively potent Bulldogs to only 357 total yards of offense.

The lone concern for the Rams has to be special teams as the Bulldogs were the recipients of two WSSU fumbles on kickoff and punt returns and were helped out with a 93-yard kickoff return for a touchdown.

The Rams fall to 0-3 with the loss (0-0 CIAA, 0-0 CIAA West) while the Bulldogs improve to 2-0 overall with the win.

WSSU returns to action on Saturday, September 17^th, 2005 at 6:00 pm when they play host to the Vikings of Elizabeth City State University at Bowman Gray Stadium in the Rams' first CIAA league game of 2005.

For additional information on WSSU Football, contact the WSSU Office of Sports Information at (336) 750-2143 or log on to the Official Website of WSSU Athletics at www.WSSURAMS.com