CHARLESTON, S.C. - Charleston Southern hits the road to Braly Municipal Stadium on Saturday evening as the Buccaneers take on North Alabama in the first-ever matchup between the two programs. Kickoff on ESPN+ is set for 7 p.m. ET.
Charleston Southern at North Alabama
Date/Time: Saturday, October 19 at 7 p.m. ET
Tickets: General Admission
Location: Florence, Ala. | Weather | Radar
Stadium: Braly Municipal Stadium (14,125 Capacity)
TV: Big South Network on ESPN+
Live Stats: RoarLions.com
History: First Meeting
More Information: Follow us on Twitter @CSUSports and @CSUGameDay for up-to-date information on Game Day
Charleston Southern (1-5, 0-1 Big South): Head Coach Autry Denson | Roster | Schedule | Statistics | Game Notes
North Alabama (2-4, NCAA Independent): Head Coach Chris Willis | Roster | Schedule | Statistics | Game Notes
Game Notes
First Time Opponents
Saturday marks the fourth first-time opponent Charleston Southern will have faced this season as the Buccaneers line up on the field against North Alabama. The Bucs previously took on first-timers in Furman, South Carolina, and North Carolina A&T over their first three games of the 2019 season. CSU fell on the road to both the Paladins (46-13) and the Gamecocks (72-10), while also dropping a home game to the Aggies (27-21). The Bucs wrap up non-conference play with the matchup against the Lions on Saturday in their first trip to Florence, Ala. and Braly Municipal Stadium.
Welcome to the Big South
North Alabama follows a similar path to 2019 Big South newcomer Hampton as the Lions will join the Big South Conference as a football-playing institution in 2022. The Lions made the jump from NCAA Division II as full members of the Gulf South Conference on their way to joining the Atlantic Sun Conference. Due to the nature of the Big South-Atlantic Sun football partnership, the Lions will join fellow Big South/A-Sun member Kennesaw State amidst the Big South rankings. North Alabama is playing a full Big South schedule this season, even though the Lions are not eligible for the conference title or postseason berth.
Back on the Road Again
Charleston Southern is back on the road again this weekend for the fifth time over the first seven weeks as CSU makes the trip to North Alabama. The Buccaneers are still searching for their first road win of the 2019 campaign after falling at Furman, South Carolina, The Citadel, and Kennesaw State. CSU will be on the road for seven of their 12 games this season as the Buccaneers also have road trips to Presbyterian (Nov. 2) and Gardner-Webb (Nov. 19) on tap for the remainder of the season.
Unranked Foe
It took until the seventh game of the 2019 season for the Buccaneers to finally take the field against an unranked FCS opponent. Furman (No. 8/8), North Carolina A&T (No. 11/10) and Kennesaw State (No. 4/6) are currently all still among the top 25 teams in both of the major FCS polls, while The Citadel was ranked No. 25 in the media poll when the Bucs and Bulldogs took the field back on September 21. Currently, CSU does not have another ranked opponent on schedule for the remainder of the 2019 season.
1000-yard passer
Charleston Southern redshirt sophomore Jack Chambers entered into rare company for the Buccaneers quarterbacks as he eclipsed the 1,000 single season passing yard mark on Saturday afternoon. Chambers enters Saturday's game against North Alabama after going 98-of-173 for 1,115 yards and six touchdowns on the season. The Lilburn, Ga. native has currently posted the 15th-best passing total in CSU history heading into the game against the Lions and posted the Bucs' first 1,000-yard passing season since Shane Bucenell eclipsed the mark in 2016. His 1,359 career passing yards are also good for 13th all-time in program history after surpassing Danny Croghan (1,268, 2013-15). Chambers is coming off a career-best 298-yard performance through the air against Kennesaw State – CSU's best passing performance since Austin Brown threw for 301 yards against Liberty back in 2015.
Hitting the Running Game
After posting back-to-back 100-yard rushing efforts against The Citadel and Savannah State, the Buccaneers were limited again on the ground this past weekend against Kennesaw State. The Bucs were held to 30 carries for 84 yards as CSU was stymied in the rushing game against the Owls' top-ranked defensive front. Terrence Wilson led the Bucs' rushing efforts for the first time this season with 15 carries for 44 yards, while Jack Chambers added 11 carries for 29 yards against KSU. Ronnie Harris leads the Bucs' rushing efforts this season after posting his first career 100-yard effort against Savannah State (18 carries, 120 yards). Harris has posted 354 yards and is averaging 4.8 yards per carry on the year, while adding 59.0 yards per game on the ground. North Alabama is surrendering 167.5 yards per game on the ground this season to sit fourth in the Big South in the run defense category on the season.
Schwarting-Time
Garris Schwarting recorded a career day for the Buccaneers as the senior captain attempted to help the Bucs post a comeback against Kennesaw State. Schwarting finished with a career-high six catches for 131 yards and a touchdown, as well as adding a 54-yard punt return to pace the Bucs. After a quiet first half that saw Schwarting held to one catch for six yards, the senior wide receiver took over the game in the third and fourth quarter. In his first collegiate punt return attempt, Schwarting weaved his way 54 yards to the KSU 18 to set up CSU's first touchdown of the game and cut the lead to 28-13. On the Bucs' next drive, he posted a 43-yard reception tiptoeing down the sidelines to end the third quarter and set the Bucs up near midfield. He followed up with a 40-yard touchdown reception two plays later to cut the KSU lead down to 31-20. He added a late 18-yard reception for a first down on CSU's final drive of the game. Schwarting is second on the Bucs with 224 receiving yards and two touchdowns on the season and has posted the Bucs' two-longest receptions of the year at 43 and 40 yards.
Kameron Brown – Measure of Consistency
Charleston Southern's leading wide receiver this season, Kameron Brown has been the measure of consistency for the Buccaneers this season. After recording just four catches over the first two games of the season against Furman and South Carolina, Brown has exploded onto the Big South scene with 26 receptions over the last four games, including a career-best nine catches against North Carolina A&T. The Graniteville, S.C. native has posted at least five receptions in each of the last four games and has touchdowns in three of the last four, including a three-yard snag this past weekend against Kennesaw State. Brown sits fourth in the Big South with five receptions and 67.2 yards per game through the air and is tied for third in the conference with four receiving touchdowns. The redshirt senior became just the sixth CSU wide receiver in program history to eclipse 1,500 career receiving yards on Saturday and sits just 170 yards behind Nathan Perera (1,684, 2010-2015) in the career column heading into the matchup against the Lions.
Converting On Command
The Buccaneers have figured out the third down as CSU continues to find ways to move the ball offensively in the 2019 season. Charleston Southern is coming off a season-best 10 third-down conversions against the Owls as the Buccaneers went 10-of-20 in the road game at Fifth Third Bank Stadium. CSU has posted at least four third-down conversions in five of the six games this season and sits fifth in the conference with a 37.4% conversion rate (34-of-91) on the season. The Bucs found ways to move the ball consistently against the Owls top-ranked defense with CSU converting five third downs in each half, including three on their final drive. Chambers targeted Kameron Brown and Garris Schwarting for four of the second half conversions, while the redshirt sophomore quarterback also picked up one conversion on the ground. The Lions are allowing opponents to convert 38.4% of their third downs on the season.
Spreading the Wealth
Charleston Southern's offensive shift has been showcased throughout this season as the Buccaneers continue to hit through the air in the "Air Raid with an Attitude" offensive philosophy as encouraged by head coach Autry Denson. In 2018, the Bucs connected on passes to 13 different wide receivers for 79 completions and 913 yards. Already in 2019, the CSU quarterbacks have completed 128 passes for 1,351 yards and eight touchdowns to 16 different receivers. Five different receivers have recorded at least 13 catches on the season passed by Kameron Brown's 30 catches, while Jaquan Williams (17), Garris Schwarting (13), Isaac Ross (13), and Geoffrey Wall (13) have also hit double-digits on the year. The Bucs are averaging 10.6 yards per reception and have picked up at least 200 receiving yards in each of the last four games. The passing attack will look to keep rolling on Saturday as North Alabama currently sits last in the Big South in allowing 258.8 yards per game through the air.
Salley Can't Be Stopped
Redshirt senior BUC Nick Salley has been nigh unstoppable this season as the Walterboro, S.C. native currently sits atop the Big South standings in tackles for loss and tackles by a defensive lineman heading into Saturday's matchup. The 2019 captain has posted at least four games with multiple tackles for losses on the year and has recorded 6.0 tackles for loss over the last three games to move ahead of Kennesaw State's Kareem Taylor (8.5) and Presbyterian's Colby Campbell (8.5) with 9.5 tackles for loss on the season. Salley wreaked havoc over the opening game of the season with 3.0 tackles for loss against Furman and continued to progress with 2.0 TFL against Savannah State and 2.5 this past weekend against Kennesaw State. Salley has come into his own after lining up behind former All-American Solomon Brown over the last two seasons and posted a career-high 15 tackles (12 solo) against the Owls. Salley currently sits sixth overall in the Big South with 7.3 tackles per game.
Anton on the Attack
Since lining up in his first game of the 2019 season against North Carolina A&T, Anton Williams has been on the attack for the Bucs on the opposite defensive end position. Williams has posted 6.5 tackles for loss over his four games and posted a trio of 2.0 TFL games against North Carolina A&T, The Citadel, and Savannah State. The Owls ran away from the Marianna, Fla. native this past Saturday, but the junior defensive end still made his presence felt with a fumble recovery against Kennesaw State. Williams posted a career-high 12 tackles against The Citadel back on September 21 and is tied for the team lead with a pair of sacks. The defensive end duo of Salley and Williams have combined for 15.5 tackles for loss on the season to tie with Kennesaw State's Kareem Taylor (8.5) and Joel Parker (7.0) for the most by a teammate duo in the Big South this season.
Sosebee Making Adjustments
With injuries leading to slight attrition among the CSU linebacker corps, J.D. Sosebee has found yet another way to continue to build on his skill set this season. The redshirt senior linebacker made his starting debut at middle linebacker this past weekend against Kennesaw State University and helmed the group that featured Justin McIntire and Kyle Syvarth on the field. The Gainesville, Ga. native has been among the conference's and team's tackling leaders with 7.3 tackles per game on the season and has posted at least four solo tackles in each of the last five games. Sosebee has also recorded 5.0 tackles for loss over the last four games and tied his career-high with 13 tackles against The Citadel. Sosebee added eight tackles (six solo) against Kennesaw State to move into a tie for 12th all-time in the CSU annals with 234 tackles – equaling the mark achieved by Chris Kuzdale (234, 2008-11).
Cline Continues Attacking
Even with being held mostly silent over the last two games, freshman safety Cody Cline continues to pace the Big South's freshmen on the year with 6.3 tackles per game. Cline burst onto the scene in the opener at Furman with seven tackles (six solo) and led the Big South in solo tackles through the first three games of the 2019 season. The only CSU freshman to start every game this season, the Concord, N.C. native posted a career-high nine tackles and 1.5 tackles for loss against North Carolina A&T back on September 14. Cline is fifth overall in tackles among Big South defensive backs and helps lead the top-ranked pass defense in the conference this season.
No. 1 Pass/No. 1 Pass Defense
It's a measure of strength against strength with the Lions offense and the Buccaneers defense hit the field on Saturday night. Paced by Big South passing leader Christian Lopez (272.2 ypg), the North Alabama passing attack is tops among the conference through the first seven weeks of the season. The Lions have thrown for at least 240 yards in five of their six games this season and have eclipsed 200 yards in all six. North Alabama also eclipsed 300 yards (345) in their loss against Montana this season. The Bucs have limited the opposition to under 150 passing yards in four of the six games, including two games under 100-yards. The most passes CSU has faced this season is 31 (South Carolina), while North Alabama is averaging 32 pass attempts per game. The Bucs are allowing just 137.3 yards per game through the air to sit first in the FCS standings in the pass defense category.
Getting The Sack
Charleston Southern's defense will need to find a way to get after the quarterback on Saturday evening as the Buccaneers hit the field against North Alabama. The Bucs have picked up seven sacks on the season paced by Nick Salley (2.0) and Anton Williams (2.0) in the category on the season. CSU posted a season-high four sacks against North Carolina A&T on September 14 thanks to the efforts of Williams, Sosebee, and Shaundre Mims. North Alabama has surrendered 14 sacks on the season allowing multiple sacks in four of the six games this year, including 4.0 against Alabama A&M. The Bucs will be looking to the interior resurgence of Eishuan Funnye this past weekend to help provide the rush up the middle after the senior defensive tackle picked up a career-high 3.0 tackles for loss against Kennesaw State.
Launching Usry
Charleston Southern redshirt sophomore placekicker Alex Usry earned Big South Special Teams Player of the Week recognition following his performance this Saturday against Kennesaw State. The McDonough, Ga. native went a perfect 3-for-3 from field goal range in Fifth Third Bank Stadium, and added a pair of extra points to lead the Bucs against the Owls. Usry connected on a season-long 49-yard field goal in the second quarter to put the Buccaneers on the scoreboard. He followed up with a career-long 50-yard field goal in the closing minutes of the half. His first two field goals put him tied for fourth (49) and second (50) all-time for the longest field goals in CSU history. He added a late 31-yard field goal conversion in the fourth quarter.
Reighard – 50's and Climbing
It will only take one more 50-yard punt for Kyle Reighard to reach the rarified air of sitting atop the Big South's all-time leaders in 50-plus yard punts for a career. The redshirt senior is currently in a three-way tie for third all-time with 28 career 50-yard punts following his 51-yard book on Saturday against Kennesaw State. Reighard trails just Gardner-Webb's Michael Hanna (29, 2005-08) and Presbyterian's Patrick Morgano (29, 2009-12) in the career category heading into Saturday's contest against North Alabama. The Salem, Va. native is currently second in the Big South with a 42.7 ypk average and boasts a Big South-long 72-yard punt that he connected on in the win over Savannah State. The 72-yard punt tied for the longest in CSU history and was the fourth-longest in the Big South annals.
