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2017 Football, Game 2: The Citadel vs. Presbyterian
Posted on September 7, 2017 by Sandlapper Spike
Columbia, October 27 — Special: The Citadel struck a tartar in the light but aggressive Presbyterian College eleven when they met on the gridiron at the State Fairgrounds to-day, and could only manage to carry off the victory by a score of 14 to 0.
The entire Citadel team seemed to be experiencing an off day. The backfield was slow in getting into action and the heavy Blue line failed time and time again to break through the stubborn defense of their lighter opponents.
The cadets made their initial touch-down in the first quarter. After a forward pass had failed, [Johnny] Weeks punted out of bounds and the ball was put into play at Presbyterian's 20-yard line. [Presbyterian quarterback] Galloway took one yard around left end. On the next play [Henry] Switzer pulled down a Presbyterian forward pass and sprinted twenty-five yards for a touch-down. Weeks kicked goal…
…Citadel scored her final touch-down in the third quarter…Galloway punted to Weeks, who gained forty yards. Weeks made 10 around left end. [Chesnee Cogswell] took 6 through centre, Bolton smashed the line for three more, and Weeks and Switzer got 5 yards over tackle in two bucks.
On the next play, Bolton was thrown for a loss of two yards, but Weeks carried the ball across for a touch-down and then kicked goal.
– The News and Courier, October 28, 1915
The Citadel vs. Presbyterian, to be played in Bailey Memorial Stadium at Claude Crocker Field in Clinton, South Carolina, with kickoff at noon ET on September 9, 2017.
The game will be streamed on the Big South Network. Presbyterian's radio team of Ryan Clary and John Orck will provide the audio for the stream.
The contest can be heard on radio via the various affiliates of The Citadel Sports Network. WQNT-1450 AM [audio link], originating in Charleston, will be the flagship station.
Mike Legg (the "Voice of the Bulldogs") will call the action alongside analyst Lee Glaze.
The Citadel Sports Network — 2017 Affiliates
Charleston: WQNT 1450 AM/92.1 FM/102.1 FM (Flagship)
Columbia: WQXL 1470 AM/100.7 FM
Greenville: WLFJ 92.9 FM/660 AM
Sumter: WDXY 1240 AM/105.9 FM
More TV/streaming information: the contest will be not streamed on ESPN3, though it will be available on the Big South Network (as noted above).
Scott Eisberg of WCIV-TV in Charleston tweeted that the game would be televised on WCIV's "MeTV", which is one of that station's digital subchannels. As of Saturday morning, the game does not appear in any online TV listings, though it is quite possible (if not likely) that those listings could not be updated in time.
I'm going to guess that the game will be televised on MeTV in Charleston (WCIV's digital subchannel 3) and that the production is via the Big South Network feed.
Links of interest:
– Game moved from Charleston to Clinton and rescheduled for noon on Saturday (school release)
– Back to Lookup Lodge
– Grant Drakeford is profiled after an excellent performance against Newberry
– Solid debut for some new Bulldog starters
– Game notes from The Citadel and Presbyterian
– SoCon weekly release
– Big South Conference weekly release
– Presbyterian "quick facts"
– FCS Coaches' poll (The Citadel is ranked #13)
– STATS FCS poll (The Citadel is ranked #14)
– Brent Thompson's 9/5 press conference, with comments from Grant Drakeford and Aron Spann (video)
– Brent Thompson's 9/6 radio show (video)
– Presbyterian preview in The Post and Courier
– Presbyterian preview from the Big South (video)
Another year, another game moved out of Johnson Hagood Stadium. In 2016, The Citadel played a "home" game at North Greenville.
This time, due to the impending threat of Hurricane Irma, the Bulldogs will travel to Clinton, South Carolina, and face Presbyterian at Bailey Memorial Stadium. PC's home facility seats 6,500 and is fairly new, having made its debut during the 2002 season.
In front of the stadium is a 15-foot bronze statue called "Cyrus". He seems to be rather moody.
In the next section, I'll reference an unrelated "Cyrus"; they are two of the three times that name has appeared in the entire history of The Sports Arsenal.
The game referenced in the blurb at the beginning of the post was the first meeting on the gridiron between Presbyterian and The Citadel. It was played during the State Fair in Columbia, at the central fairgrounds.
The Bulldogs were not at their best, possibly due to the hot weather, but managed to prevail anyway. Presbyterian's offense never advanced the football past The Citadel's 40-yard-line.
A few other notes on that 1915 contest:
The game was played on Wednesday, October 28 (not the 23rd, as listed in The Citadel's record book)
The first and third quarters were 15 minutes long, while the second and fourth quarters were 12 minutes long
Each team used 14 players during the game
The Citadel's players were back at the barracks by 8:00 am the following morning, having taken a 3:00 am train back to Charleston
Other attractions at the fairgrounds on that Wednesday: horseracing, a "Lady high diver", a bicyclist named "Dare Devil Doherty", and "Cyrus and Mandy and their hay rack".
Presbyterian was one of three Palmetto State colleges The Citadel defeated in 1915. In addition to wins over Newberry and South Carolina, the team also beat Porter Military Academy and the Charleston 6th Naval District squad en route to laying a claim to the state championship
Incidentally, for anyone who thinks the current trend of coaches not allowing fans/media to observe practice is something new, this tidbit was mentioned in the newspaper during a preview article on the game:
Secret practice has been the rule at Hampton Park this season. No one but those on the squad and those directly interested in the team have been allowed within the grounds during practice hours. Would-be visitors were politely informed that the cadets could not be seen.
This rule will be waived a little after this week. Coach Rogers announced yesterday that vistors would be welcomed at the park on Wednesday afternoons to the scrimmages. On other days the grounds will not be open to anyone.
How long has it been since The Citadel played a football game at Clinton?
That year, the Bulldogs defeated the Blue Hose (called the "Hosemen" in The News and Courier) 19-0, with the game taking place at Johnson Field. Two of the three touchdowns scored that day by The Citadel came off of blocked punts.
Both of those punt blocks came courtesy of the team captain, Francis King. The native of Georgetown was hailed by the newspaper for playing "superlative ball".
King scored one of the two punt-block TDs himself; Tom Huguenin fell on the ball in the end zone for the second. The Bulldogs' third touchdown was scored on a run by Clough "Mutt" Gee.
Gee went to The Citadel for three years, and then transferred to the United States Military Academy. He was killed in action during World War II when his airplane crashed in Lisieux, France. Gee is buried in the Normandy American Cemetery.
A few other notes on game locations in the series between The Citadel and Presbyterian:
– The last time The Citadel played PC somewhere other than Johnson Hagood Stadium was on October 12, 1963, when the contest was held in Savannah; the matchup was called the "Georgia Peach Shrine Game", and was a benefit for the Greenville Shriners Hospital.
The Bulldogs won 24-0 behind 121 yards rushing from Jim Parker (on only 7 carries). Parker, Bruce Whitney, and Vince Petno all scored touchdowns for the Bulldogs, with Petno's TD coming on a 5-yard pass from Wade St. John. Attendance: 7,000.
– The 1950 game between the two schools was played at the Orangeburg County Fair.
The Citadel won 7-0, scoring the game's only touchdown in the first quarter. Deep in its own territory, Presbyterian tried a "quick kick" on third down. It was not successful, as Bulldogs safety Bobby Carter corralled the pigskin at the PC 25-yard line and returned it 20 yards.
Rudy Willcox raced around the right side of the line for 5 yards and a TD on the next play, with Don Davis adding the PAT. Jerry DeLuca was the defensive star that afternoon for the Bulldogs.
As was the case for the 1963 game, estimated attendance was 7,000.
– In 1948, The Citadel played PC at College Park, as the "new" Johnson Hagood Stadium was not quite ready to open. The Blue Hose won that game 7-0, as The Citadel did not run an offensive play from scrimmage in PC territory during the entire contest.
– Presbyterian and The Citadel played at the Sumter County Fair in 1940 and 1941, splitting the two matchups. In the 1941 game, won by the Bulldogs 21-13, PC's entire student body traveled to the game, only to see the Bulldogs rally from a 13-7 halftime deficit to win the game 21-13.
Team captain Mike Newell scored two touchdowns for The Citadel, with Andy Victor adding a third and also successfully converting all three PAT attempts.
In 1955, The Citadel played Presbyterian at Johnson Hagood Stadium. It was Homecoming, and that week was chronicled by Life magazine as part of a profile of Mark Clark.
The photos taken by the magazine (specifically, photographer Robert W. Kelley) are now part of an archive created by Google. I've linked to them before, and I'm going to link to them again, because A) The Citadel is playing PC again, and B) they are endlessly fascinating.
Many of these pictures are football-related, but I've also linked to some "general" shots (pun intended). The first few linked photos are in color, but the vast majority of pictures in the archive are black-and-white. This is just a small sampling of what is available for viewing; try this link to get started if you want to see more of them.
If you haven't seen color photos of The Citadel's 1955 uniforms before, you're in for a surprise.
Why are Presbyterian College's varsity athletic teams nicknamed the "Blue Hose"?
…probably the true story lies in a letter dated June 15, 1935, written by then athletic director Walter Johnson to an inquiring English professor in Virginia…[quoting from Walter Johnson's letter] 'It was about the second or third year, 1915, if I remember right, Stockings. I think it happened this way: I changed uniform colors to blue, wearing blue stockings and jerseys, and some sports writer started calling in his articles the Presbyterian College teams the Blue Stockings.' …In later years "Stocking" became abbreviated to "the Hose," particularly in newspaper headlines, and was more or less officially adopted by the student body in the late 50's.
…"Johnson always insisted on the fact that his players wore long blue socks similar to stockings (after all, there were White Sox and Red Sox in baseball). Coach Johnson's explanation may simply be coincidental to the fact that the phrase "Blue Stocking Presbyterian" goes back informally quite a few years in the denomination's history."
This particular Walter Johnson was not the great pitcher of the same name, but a former football player at Michigan who was a coach and administrator for many years at Presbyterian. He was the head football coach at the school from 1915 to 1918, and then from 1920 to 1940.
Johnson finished his football coaching career with 102 victories, more than any other PC coach except Cally Gault (who won 127 games between 1963 and 1984). Both Johnson and Gault are enshrined in the NAIA Hall of Fame.
In 2005, Presbyterian won the Division II South Atlantic Conference title, finishing with a 10-2 overall record. It was the first conference title for PC since winning the SAC in 1979.
The following year, the Blue Hose went a solid 7-4. However, as Presbyterian began the transition from D-2 to D-1, wins became a lot tougher to come by. The first all-D1 slate for the Blue Hose, in 2009, resulted in an 0-11 record.
Under former head coach Harold Nichols, Presbyterian won just 11 games over the next four seasons, but then pulled off a surprising 6-5 campaign in 2014 (despite playing three FBS teams).
The Blue Hose had a truly outstanding defense that year. PC beat Furman 10-7, Charleston Southern 7-3, Western Carolina 19-14 (with two defensive touchdowns), Monmouth 18-12, and Gardner-Webb 14-7 (Presbyterian's first score coming on a blocked field goal). The sixth victory was an early-season walkover against Bluefield of the NAIA.
Unfortunately for Presbyterian, the next two years ended in identical 2-9 records, and Nichols elected to resign. His replacement is the man who was the head coach of that 2005 team and the defensive coordinator for that 2014 squad.
Tommy Spangler is a Georgia alum who compiled a 42-24 record as PC's head coach from 2001 to 2006. He left to become the defensive coordinator at Louisiana Tech, but returned to Clinton as the Blue Hose defensive coordinator in 2013.
His mission is to guide Presbyterian to consistent respectability in FCS. It won't be an easy task, but Spangler's prior success at the school has to be encouraging to PC supporters.
Spangler's first game back at the helm of the Blue Hose was last week's 51-7 loss at Wake Forest. It was not pretty for PC. On the other hand, it wasn't really supposed to be.
Presbyterian did have the edge in time of possession by almost five minutes, in part because only nine of the Blue Hose's 54 offensive plays from scrimmage were pass attempts. Two were completed; one was intercepted.
On the other side of the ball, Wake Forest rushed for 248 yards and passed for 239, averaging 6.8 yards per play.
The bright spot for PC was freshman running back Torrance Marable, who gained 162 yards rushing on 16 carries, including one scamper for 58 yards.
Statistics of note for Presbyterian's 2016 season (11 games):
PC Opp
Points/game 8.9 30.9
Rushing yardage 1105 2670
Yards/rush 2.9 5.9
Rush TDs 4 28
Passing yardage 1551 2077
Comp-Att-Int 168-302-11 126-277-7
Average/pass att 5.1 9.1
Passing TDs 6 15
Total offense 2656 4747
Total plays 682 678
Fumbles/lost 18/7 13/7
Penalties-pen yds 66-551 71-686
Pen yards/game 50.1 62.4
Net punt average 39.1 39.7
Time of poss/game 30:43 29:17
3rd-down conv 42/159 42/121
3rd-down conv % 26.4% 34.7%
Sacks by-yards 13-86 23-125
Red Zone TD% 7-25 (28%) 23-35 (66%)
Um, ouch. There is not a lot to say about those numbers. PC obviously had trouble putting up points in 2016, being shut out twice (by Chattanooga and Liberty) and scoring 10 points or less in six other contests.
The Blue Hose finished last in all of FCS in scoring offense, and also finished in the bottom 10 of the following categories: offensive first downs, offensive 3rd down conversion rate, passing offense, total offense, yards per rush, yards per pass attempt, yards per pass completion, red zone offense, rushing defense, tackles for loss (last nationally), and punt returns (also last in FCS).
I guess there is nowhere to go but up.
Presbyterian returned seven starters from last year's offense.
Ben Cheek (6'0″, 190 lbs.), a redshirt junior from Franklin, Georgia, started eight games for the Blue Hose last season at quarterback. Cheek completed 54.9% of his passes, averaging 4.8 yards per attempt, with two touchdowns and eight interceptions.
Against Wake Forest, Cheek carried the ball 22 times (though 3 of those were sacks credited in the rushing statistics).
As mentioned above, freshman Torrance Marable (5'10", 185 lbs.) had a good game versus the Demon Deacons. Marable originally signed with Arkansas State out of high school. The native of Decatur, Georgia enrolled at PC in January of this year.
Although he did not return a kickoff last week, Marable is listed on PC's two-deep as one of the starting kick returners for the game against The Citadel.
Wide receiver DaShawn Davis (5'9″, 155 lbs.) was a second-team All-Big South selection last season. The junior from Inman caught 42 passes last season, averaging 10.8 yards per reception. Davis also handled the majority of punt and kick return duties for the Blue Hose in 2016.
Presbyterian's projected starters on the offensive line average 6'2″, 282 lbs. Right guard Thomas Hughes (6'3″, 275 lbs.), a senior from Cordova who went to Edisto High School, has 17 career starts, most on the team.
PC's defense normally lines up in a 4-3, but that obviously could change against the triple option.
Linebacker Grant Beidel (6'1″, 230 lbs.) led Presbyterian in tackles last season, with 75. The former walkon from Roswell, Georgia also intercepted two passes and had two sacks.
Fellow linebacker Nick Moss (6'0″, 225 lbs.) mans the middle for the Blue Hose. The sophomore finished second in tackles last season.
Starting DT Michael Branch (6'3″, 285 lbs.) is the largest defensive player on the two-deep. The native of Pleasant Garden, North Carolina is a sophomore.
Junior cornerback Rock Ya-Sin (6'1″, 190 lbs.) has more career starts than any other defensive player, with 14. His 61-yard fumble return for a TD against South Alabama was PC's only defensive score last season.
Brett Norton (6'0″, 185 lbs.), a junior from Walhalla, serves as both the placekicker and punter for Presbyterian. He was 7 for 13 last season on field goal attempts, with a long of 36 yards. Three of his tries were blocked.
Norton had an impressive season punting the football, with 23 punts being downed inside the 20-yard line, and only one touchback.
Worth noting: Norton made a 57-yard field goal in high school, a game-winner. He is not the kickoff specialist for PC, however. That would be Tim Hartshorn (6'1″, 170 lbs.), a redshirt junior from Cumming, Georgia.
Brandt Cameron (6'3″, 195 lbs.), a native of Suwanee, Georgia, is in his third season as the Blue Hose long snapper.
In last week's game program, five current Bulldogs were asked the following question: "What if your favorite day of the week?"
Here are their responses.
Jonathan King — Saturday
Ja'Lon Williams — Saturday
K.J. Simpson — Saturday
Jay Howard — Saturday
Noah Dawkins — Saturday
In related news, all of them are college football players.
Odds and ends:
– The weather forecast for Saturday in Clinton, per the National Weather Service: sunny, with a high of 79 degrees.
– Per one source that deals in such matters, The Citadel is a 24-point favorite over Presbyterian. The over/under is 38.5.
– Other lines involving SoCon teams: Furman is a 17-point favorite over Elon; Wofford is a 7-point favorite at Mercer; VMI is a 24-point favorite over Catawba; Samford is a 23-point favorite over West Alabama; East Tennessee State is a 40-point underdog at James Madison; Western Carolina is a 35-point favorite over Davidson; and Chattanooga is a 42-point underdog at LSU.
Around the Palmetto State, South Carolina is a 2.5-point underdog at Missouri, while Clemson is a 5-point favorite over Auburn. Coastal Carolina is off this week.
– Massey Ratings: The Citadel is ranked 18th in FCS, a drop of two spots from last week. Presbyterian is ranked 96th. Overall (all college teams ranked), The Citadel is 130th, while Presbyterian is 292nd.
Massey projects a final score of The Citadel 31, Presbyterian 7. The Bulldogs are given a 96% chance of victory.
Other FCS rankings in Massey of note: Wofford is 10th, Chattanooga is 14th, Charleston Southern is 15th, Samford is 21st, Furman is 31st, Mercer is 35th, Western Carolina is 66th, VMI is 70th, South Carolina State is 81st, and East Tennessee State is 87th.
The FCS top five in Massey's rankings, in order: James Madison, North Dakota State, Jacksonville State, Youngstown State, and South Dakota State.
– Among Presbyterian's notable graduates are three well-known football coaches: Art Baker, John McKissick, and Bob Waters. PC's other alums include Medal of Honor recipient George L. Mabry, Jr. (who played football for the Blue Hose), author/journalist and Peabody award winner Douglas Kiker, and influential political strategist Harry Dent, Sr.
– Former Bulldog tight end Taylor Cornett is the tight ends coach at Presbyterian. Cornett is in his second year at PC, and his first as a full-time assistant coach.
– The game notes roster for Presbyterian includes 42 players from South Carolina. Other states represented on its roster: Georgia (32 players), Florida (10), North Carolina (9), Alabama (4), and one each from Maryland and Minnesota.
– There are Blue Hose players from 37 different South Carolina high schools, including three from Strom Thurmond High School, and two each from Silver Bluff, Greer, Richland Northeast, Seneca, and Lewisville. However, no players from historic power Orangeburg-Wilkinson are on the Presbyterian roster, which is clearly a major recruiting misstep for the program.
– The Citadel's geographic roster breakdown (per the school's website) is as follows: South Carolina (47 players), Georgia (29), Florida (6), North Carolina (5), Alabama (4), Texas (4), Pennsylvania (3), Tennessee (2), New York (2), and one each from Louisiana, Michigan, Virginia, and West Virginia.
The Citadel is favored to win this game, and rightly so. However, the change of venue (and time) will add a degree of difficulty for the Bulldogs, particularly in their game preparations.
The good news is that the coaching staff and players went through almost the same situation last year with the game against North Greenville. They will know how to maintain focus.
I'm mainly rooting for three things this week: a decent number of Bulldog supporters to make their way to Clinton; a victory for The Citadel; and that Hurricane Irma suddenly veers to the northeast and stays away from shore.
I'm reasonably confident that two of those three things will happen…
Filed under: Football, The Citadel | Tagged: Aron Spann, Bailey Memorial Stadium, Ben Cheek, Big South, Brent Thompson, DaShawn Davis, FCS Coaches Poll, Grant Beidel, Grant Drakeford, Ja'Lon Williams, Jonathan King, Newberry, Noah Dawkins, Presbyterian, SoCon, STATS FCS poll, Taylor Cornett, The Citadel, Tommy Spangler, Torrance Marable |	Leave a comment »
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