TIGERVILLE, S.C. - The Charleston Southern (2-3) offense returned to form as they tallied 546 yards of total offense in a 46-33 victory over North Greenville (1-4), Saturday night at Younts Stadium.

Sophomore quarterback Eli Byrd was hot from the beginning, completing 10-of-11 pass attempts, including his first six. He finished the first half 21-30 with two touchdowns, one interception, and 258 yards. The Bucs added 78 yards on the ground as they out-gained the Crusaders 336-261 in the first half.

"We had a great game plan going into this game," said Byrd. "We watched a lot of film on them and knew what we needed to do. Our offensive line did a great job controlling the line of scrimmage, and guys just made plays."

Byrd continued his trend as he rewrote the record books in the victory completing a record-setting 34 passes on 54 attempts for 398 yards. His 54 attempts falls one short of the school record, while his 398 yards through the air is also the second-best in CSU history. The Bucs added 139 yards on the ground as they turned in the most complete offensive performance of the season, much to the pleasure of Head Coach Jay Mills.

"We have a lot of movable parts with guys out, and injured, all over our team," said Mills. "It was great to be able to find that balance offensively, even with the injuries and youth at both the skill, and line positions. The second half was the best complete display of a total team effort that we have had all year."

Despite a 2-3 record, things are looking up for the Bucs, as they got their first road win of the season, and finally return home after playing four of the first five games on the road. The victory also served as the first time in 2007 that CSU has come from behind, having scored 22 points in the fourth quarter. The team is drawing on past experiences for motivation.

"This team is very reminiscent of the (Big South Champion) 2005 team, who turned the corner on the season at the same location with a 35-28 victory over North Greenville, in a similar circumstance," said Mills. "When we needed a play, all three phases came through at one time or another to put us in position to win. We hope to build on this effort, and I believe with the character and makeup of this team, that we can do just that."

The Bucs wasted no time putting points on the board, as a pair of passes to Vernon Huger and Markus Murry set up a 20-yard Nick Ellis Field goal. It took just six plays, 68 yards, and 3:06 for CSU to go up 3-0.

Charleston Southern's lead was short-lived though, as missed tackles resulted in big plays, including a 41-yard reception for a touchdown by Travis NeeSmith to put NGU on top 7-3.

The second CSU drive also moved down the field before stalling, and a 44-yard field goal attempt by Ellis sailed wide left. It was the first miss of the season for CSU after starting the year 3-3.

Again the big plays of North Greenville and missed tackles by the Bucs hurt CSU as Travis Talbert scrambled 49-yards on a reception to set up the Crusaders in the red zone on their second-straight drive. An eight-yard connection between Moeller and Brandon Dobbins put NGU up 13-3 after a missed PAT. The Crusaders took just five plays, and 1:16 to go 73 yards to pay-dirt.

Charleston Southern answered back with a big play of their own to start the next drive, starting with a screen-play to Dee Brown that went 25 yards out to midfield. A fourth-and-inches conversion set up another big play, with Byrd again finding Huger for a 28-yard touchdown. The drive covered 78-yards in eight plays, taking 3:00 off the clock.

Through the first 15 minutes of play, the Bucs controlled the ball for 9:48 of it, and held a 63-23 edge on the ground, but found themselves trailing by three and in trouble again as NGU had the ball on the 30 and driving.

A holding penalty, combined with a personal foul on the Crusaders, backed them up across midfield with a second and 38, and a heave into the endzone was broken up by Josh Warrior to force the first punt of the game. Fielding the punt deep in CSU territory, C.J. Hirschman had the ball knocked out and the Crusaders were back in business on the 14 yardline.

It took just one play for Moeller to find Matt Moore for the touchdown and put North Greenville up 20-10.

The Bucs put it on the ground again as a long pass across the middle to Dee Brown resulted in the second fumble of the game, giving the ball right back to the NGU offense. CSU's defense was up to the task, this time, forcing a field goal attempt that sailed wide left, keeping it a 10-point deficit for the visiting Bucs.

Both teams were forced to punt on their next offensive possessions, giving CSU the ball back with 5:30 to go in the half. Byrd found Murry again on the sidelines, and after a nice cutback, Murry went 32 yards to put CSU in the redzone again. Dee Brown put six on the scoreboard as he escaped from the defensive back to get in the endzone and an Ellis PAT cut the NGU lead to 20-10 with under three minutes to go in the half.

A quick three-and-out forced by CSU's defense gave the Bucs the ball back with plenty of time left in the half. The Bucs drove down the field, but faced decision time on fourth-and-three on the NGU 24 yardline and 1:01 on the clock.

Coach Mills elected to go for it and Byrd completed the seven-yard pass to Ryan Ard to pick up the first down. After an apparent touchdown reception by Huger was called out of bounds, Byrd threw one up for grabs in the endzone and Derrick Miller came down with it for the Crusaders.

After an onside kick to start the half failed, the Crusaders started with good field position. A personal foul on the Bucs set them up inside the 20 yardline, and Matt Moore was able to capitalize on the gift with a five-yard touchdown carry to extend the North Greenville lead back to 10.

North Greenville returned the favor as they were flagged for a personal foul on the ensuing kickoff to set CSU up at midfield. CSU also used the good field position capping a seven-play, 49-yard drive with an eight-yard strike from Byrd to Clayton Coffman.

The Buccaneer defense got a much-needed stop with 8:03 left in the third-quarter of an offensive battle, and gave the Bucs another chance to tie or take the lead. CSU couldn't take advantage of the opportunity, but a good punt by Ellis backed the Crusaders up to their own 12 yardline.

After a near-safety, the field position game paid off for CSU as they got the ball back in NGU territory after a Justin Jones punt got the ball to the 46 yardline.

Byrd completed a 21-yard pass to Murry to start the drive, and knowing they needed points, Coach Mills pulled out the stops. Byrd completed a pass to Tim Jones, who pulled the hook-and-ladder, flipping the ball to DeMarcus Moon, who took it inside the 20 yardline. It came down to another fourth-down call, as the Bucs went for it, fourth-and-goal on the one yardline, but the NGU defense read the play perfectly and Byrd was forced to throw it away, giving the ball back to NGU without putting any points on the board.

The Bucs got the ball back, but a 47-yard field goal attempt by Ellis, his longest attempt of the season, again sailed wide, keeping it a 27-24 Crusader advantage.

On the move, the NGU offense pushed the ball across midfield before Moore fumbled the ball back to CSU, NGU's first turnover of the game.

A three-and-out by CSU gave the ball back to the Crusaders, and Moeller found Brandon Dobbins down the sidelines for a 71-yard touchdown pass making it 33-24, NGU, after CSU blocked the extra point.

The Buccaneer offense wasn't finished, though as they drove 52 yards down the field in seven plays and :50 making it a two-point NGU advantage with 8:07 to go.

A fake punt with 6:00 on the clock was read perfectly by the Buccaneers. As Warrior drug down the punter, Jones heaved the ball up in the air, and into the endzone where the Bucs recovered for the touchdown, putting them up by four. The Bucs elected to go for two and a fade pass to Huger made it 39-33 in favor of the Bucs, their first lead since the opening drive of the game.

A gutsy fourth-and-long conversion attempt with under three minutes to go was picked off by Jon Carmon after bouncing straight up in the air off the intended receiver. Carmon returned the ball to the NGU 17 yardline, where the offense put it in with the legs of Alexius Ferguson who found a hole on the left side, making it 45-33 and virtually locking up the first road win of the season for CSU.

The Bucs will return home for the next two games, starting with a 1:30 tilt with Savannah State for homecoming and hall of fame weekend on Oct. 6. CSU is currently riding an 11-game home winning streak dating back to an Oct. 1 match up with Howard in 2005.