KENNESAW, Ga. - Charleston Southern is headed to the FCS Playoffs. The Bucs clinched a share of the Big South Conference title and the program's first-ever national playoff berth with a 28-14 win over Kennesaw State on Saturday at Fifth Third Bank Stadium.

CSU (8-1, 5-0 Big South) can claim an outright conference title with a victory over Liberty next week, but is already assured of a spot in the 24-team playoff field. The Bucs' only other Big South championship came in 2005.

CSU fell behind 6-0 sixteen seconds into play, but roared back with 28 unanswered points - 21 in the first half - to coast to its seventh straight win. Jamey Chadwell earned his latest Gatorade bath in an impressive three-year run, and the jubilant Bucs were awarded the Big South trophy postgame.

"Special day," Chadwell said. "It wasn't pretty at times and there were a lot of emotional ups and downs throughout that game. We showed persistence and perseverance, and to be able to clinch a share of it and our first playoff bid is pretty special. I feel real good about our team and the way they've handled themselves all year long."

CSU took control of the Big South race with a win over top-ranked Coastal Carolina last week, and wanted to make sure the championship didn't elude them. Chadwell talked about locking down a Big South championship ring with his team prior to kickoff.

"We talked about filling the box, and how you fill the box with what you want is doing what you've done all year long," said Chadwell, holding a ring box. "To fill the box, you've gotta play for each other, you've gotta strike the stone, continue to believe. I think that's what our team showed."

Sophomore defensive end Anthony Ellis turned in a dominant first half performance to help the Bucs rebound from a sluggish start. Ellis forced a fumble and returned it 61 yards for a touchdown to give CSU a 21-6 lead. He had a sack and four tackles for loss overall. CSU held Kennesaw State (6-3, 2-2 Big South), the nation's number three rushing offense entering play, to just 113 yards on 3.1 yards per carry.

Austin Brown hit Colton Korn for a 23-yard touchdown to give the Bucs the lead for good. Darius Hammond finished with 69 yards and a score on ten carries, and set up the Korn touchdown with a 53-yard punt return.

Kennesaw scored on the game's first play from scrimmage when Trey White found a wide open Chaston Bennett for a 79-yard touchdown down the left sideline. CSU went three-and-out on its opening possession, and had its second series end when KSU safety Taylor Henkle intercepted a pass at the 29-yard line. KSU went backwards with a short field, though, due to two penalties and an Ellis sack.

Hammond then sprung a 53-yard punt return to swing the momentum in CSU's favor. The junior backtracked to his own 10-yard line and made several KSU defenders miss. Ben Robinson ripped off a first down run, and Brown connected with Korn on a 23-yard strike down the right sideline, giving CSU a 7-6 advantage.

"I think that was a huge sequence because the momentum could have really went their way," Chadwell said. "We yanked it from them, scored, scored again and then scored right before halftime."

Hammond broke two tackles on a 12-yard touchdown run to stretch the CSU lead to 14-6 early in the second quarter. A 15-yard third down strike from Brown to Nathan Perera preceded that score.

Sparked by a 39-yard fourth down run by Darnell Holland, Kennesaw moved to the CSU 4-yard line on the ensuing series. The Bucs defense stiffened and generated a fourth down stop when Zack Johnson knocked back White for a four-yard loss, forcing a turnover on downs.

Ellis made the play of the day on Kennesaw's next series. He broke into the backfield and deflected White's option pitch to the turf. Ellis scooped up the football, turned his attention upfield and ran through a White tackle attempt at the 35 on his way to the end zone.

"Number eight, he's pretty good," Chadwell said. "Anthony is pretty good. He's a beast during practice, and he's capable of doing things like that. What was most impressive is he was able to break the tackle of the quarterback. That shows you how athletic he is. He's a great player. Our defense as a whole does a great job. They bent a little bit but after that first play, nobody cracked. We fought back, took the lead and took control."

CSU put the game away with a ten-play, 61-yard touchdown drive out of the halftime locker room. Brown hooked up with Nathan Prater and Kenny Dinkins to convert a pair of third and longs, the latter going for 22 yards with a blitzing defender running free. Brown scored from seven yards out on a quarterback keeper to push the Bucs' cushion to 28-6.

Kennesaw closed the gap to 28-14 on a Trey Chivers touchdown run with 11:53 remaining in the fourth, but the Owls never truly threatened. CSU forced a turnover on downs with just under five minutes left, and put together three first downs to run out the remainder of the clock.

"Just knowing the work they put in, and knowing that every one of them has a story (makes it special)," Chadwell said after watching his team celebrate. "Every one of them has a story about why they're here, why somebody told them they weren't good enough or you can't do this, you can't do that. It shows that if you come together and you believe in something, things like that can happen."

"As a coach, I think that's what goes through your mind," continued Chadwell, an assistant coach at CSU for the 2005 Big South title campaign. "You see 'em hoisting the trophy and you see the joy in their face. You know the work they put in for that and the ups and downs they went through to achieve it.  The team we had two years ago that got close, the team that had a good year last year, going through all that to get to this point, you think about all those guys. We share it with them, too. It's pretty special."

CSU hosts Liberty for Homecoming next Saturday at 2 p.m. A win would secure the Bucs' first-ever outright Big South championship.