BOILING SPRINGS, N.C. - No shutouts this year as the Charleston Southern (5-4, 1-1) offense found their scoring ways early and continued to a 38-7 victory Saturday afternoon against Gardner-Webb (4-5, 2-2) in a Big South Conference match up.

Collin Drafts was 13-13 for 146 yards before finally throwing an incompletion as CSU ruined homecoming for the Runnin' Bulldogs, and picked up their second ever Big South Conference victory and first Big South road victory. Drafts ended up 23-28 for 247 yards, with Maurice Price being the receiver of choice again, recording 111 yards on 11 catches. Andre Copeland topped the 100-yard mark again for the Bucs, going for 114 yards on 24 rushes. The defense was the story though as they held the number one offense in the conference in check throughout the game.

"This was a team effort and by far our most complete game of the year," said head coach Jay Mills. "Our offense took control early, the defense held their offense to no points, and with the exception of one mistake on special teams, we controlled that too. It seems like we have always had one or the other, but today we put all three phases of the game together."

Gardner-Webb quarterback Nick Roberts completed just 8-23 passing for 87 yards and two interceptions. Jermaine Boston recorded 42 yards on the ground on eight carries for the Bulldogs.

Charleston Southern wasted no time getting on the board with an 86-yard drive, in which Drafts went 4-4 for 37 yards. Edsel Logan was the recipient of two passes, a 24-yard pick up and then two plays later a two-yard touchdown catch to put the Bucs up 6-0 early in the game.

After a three-and-out for GWU, the Buccaneer offense went back to work, putting together a flawless 78-yard scoring drive to go up 14-0 with 4:25 remaining in the first quarter. The drive was capped off by a 13-yard pass from Drafts to Markus Murry who carried defenders into the end zone from the four-yard line.

A first down run by Boston for GWU showed signs of life but was quickly stopped by the Bucs as they forced the second punt of the game, giving the CSU offense the ball again and the chance to put more points on the board and they did just that behind Drafts who sliced his way through the defense for a five-yard touchdown run.

The Runnin' Bulldogs got their spark, though as Kory Alston took a Hart Pearson punt back 76 yards to bring the score to 21-7 in favor of CSU with seven minutes remaining in the first half.

The Charleston Southern offense wouldn't miss a beat as after the ensuing kickoff went out of bounds, the Bucs put together a 65-yard drive to get back on the board and make it 28-7. Drafts got in the end zone with his legs again as the Bucs were backed up and facing a third and goal from the 14 yard line and after being flushed from the pocket, Drafts decided to take it himself and was able to carry a would-be tackler over the goal line.

"The past three games we have been working to get better," commented senior center Shawn Huntsinger. "We all believed that we could do this. This was a team effort and we all worked so hard to get this (victory)."

"This win is really a credit to this team and to this coaching staff," said Mills. "Our assistant coaches worked so hard to prepare the team and the did an excellent job of getting everyone ready for this game. I was very pleased with the way this staff went about preparing, and it paid off for us today."

The field position game paid off for CSU as they got a 45-yard field goal by Nick Ellis. The ensuing kick off backed Gardner-Webb up deep in their own territory and a quick pass by Nick Roberts was picked off by Okeba Rollinson and after a host of Runnin' Bulldogs formed a pile at the 10 yard line, the Bucs got in the action and forced the pile into the end zone to put CSU up 38-7.

CSU will return home to finish up the year with a pair of conference opponents, taking on Liberty on Nov. 12 and Coastal Carolina on Nov. 19. The Liberty game will kick off at 1:30 p.m.