TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Charleston Southern had almost nothing to gain, but had everything to lose, by putting up a fight against No. 2 Alabama on Saturday at Bryant-Denny Stadium, and the Crimson Tide made the Buccaneers pay the price. Alabama rolled up 49 first half points end route to an 56-6 win as CSU rested its starters for the majority of the afternoon and looked ahead to its first trip to the FCS Playoffs.  

SELECTION SHOW: CSU will hold a watch party on campus at 11 a.m. in Lightsey Chapel as the Bucs learn their playoff trek. The show can be seen live on ESPNU.  

CSU finishes the regular season at 9-2 with both losses coming to FBS opponents. The Bucs earned the Big South's automatic berth into the FCS Playoffs and will find out their postseason road on Sunday.  

Alabama improves to 10-1 and remains on track for its second-straight appearance in the College Football Playoff. In all, CSU head coach Jamey Chadwell was happy to be headed back to Charleston healthy.  

"We didn't play some people," CSU head coach Jamey CHadwell said. "We got banged up throughout the season and we were in a unique situation where we don't know if we're gonna get a bye or have to play this week, so we wanted to make sure. We knew our chances of winning this game were slim to none." 

Alabama's Derrick Henry had two touchdown runs in the first quarter and Cyrus Jones returned two punts for touchdowns in the first half to lead the Crimson Tide to a big lead.  

CSU's defense, ranked No. 1 in the FCS, was solid throughout, slowing the Tide to 403 total yards. The Bucs pieced together only 134 yards of offense, with starting quarterback Austin Brown playing only a handful of snaps.  

CSU's best drive came in the third quarter as Kyle Copeland led the Bucs on a 7-play, 74-yard drive and dove in from two yards out to give the Bucs' their only score.  

"We just continued to compete in the second half," Chadwell added. "We drove the ball, obviously scored and then I thought our defense held them there on a short field in the third quarter and held a couple of times there on fourth down. We continued to fight and scrap which was important for us." 

Corner Troy McGowens led the Bucs with six tackles and safety D.J. Curl added a sack.  

Henry finished with nine carries for 68 yards and two touchdowns. Bo Scarbrough added 10 carries for 69 yards and a score for Alabama. Jake Coker was 11-for-13 for 155 yards and two scores in the first half.  

CSU's Kelan Fraise led the Bucs with seven carries for 39 yards.  

CSU will learn its playoff destiny at 11 a.m. on Sunday morning on the FCS Playoff Selection Show, televised live on ESPNU. The Bucs are one of three FCS teams unbeaten against FCS opponents this season and are hopeful their first playoff berth results in a first-round bye and national seed. 

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