BOILING SPRINGS, N.C. - Charleston Southern held off a second-half Gardner-Webb challenge on Saturday afternoon as the Buccaneers picked up a key Big South football win at Spangler Stadium, 30-27.
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The Buccaneers (3-6, 1-2 Big South) raced out to the 24-0 halftime lead thanks to a strong first-half performance from quarterback
Jack Chambers and the defensive line. Chambers put up 253 yards of total offense and a pair of touchdowns in the opening 30 minutes, while
Anton Williams,
Nick Salley, and
Eishuan Funnye combined for five sacks and 6.0 tackles for loss in building a commanding lead.
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Gardner-Webb (3-6, 1-3 Big South) steadily chipped away at the CSU advantage in the second half with Kalen Whitlow connecting on four touchdowns, two to Jameson Turner, to cut the Bucs lead down to 30-27.
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The Runnin' Bulldogs had one final possession with 31 seconds remaining on the clock and advanced the ball to midfield on a 32-yard pass from Whitlow to Izaiah Gathings. However, the drive stalled at the CSU 48 as the Runnin' Bulldogs threw four consecutive incompletions to turn the ball over on downs and essentially end the game in favor of the Bucs.
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Chambers was 25-of-37 for 191 yards and two touchdowns through the air, while adding 99 yards and a touchdown on the ground.
Isaac Ross (seven catches, 64 yards) and
Garris Schwarting (seven catches, 62 yards) led the Bucs receiving efforts, while
Kameron Brown added a pair of touchdown receptions in the game.
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Cody Cline led CSU's tackling efforts with 11 stops and added his first interception of the season.
J.D. Sosebee added 10 tackles, while
Nick Salley posted two sacks and 3.0 tackles for loss. Overall, the Bucs had six sacks and 9.0 TFL in the win.
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Whitlow finished 33-of-52 for 316 yards and four touchdowns, along with two interceptions. Izaiah Gathings was the primary target finishing with a game-high 14 catches for 172 yards and a score.
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Gallery: (11/2/2019) Football at Gardner Webb (11/2/2019)
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Key Drive
Ethan Ray came up with several key plays for the Bucs in the game, but none was bigger than the fumble recovery that led to CSU's final touchdown of the game. It was the first of two fumble recoveries for the redshirt junior long snapper and set CSU up with the ball at the GWU 11-yard line with 7:15 to play in the third quarter.
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Jack Chambers ran the ball down to the GWU 1 on the second play of the drive. Three plays later, Chambers found
Kameron Brown just inside the left end zone boundary marker for the one-yard touchdown pass to put CSU ahead 30-14. The touchdown came up crucial as CSU held off the GWU late run in the fourth quarter.
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How They Scored
- Terrence Wilson capitalized on a Jack Chambers-to-Isaac Ross 42-yard connection midway through the first quarter and capped the drive with a 13-yard touchdown run to put CSU ahead 7-0 with 6:25 on the clock.
- Following a Nick Salley strip-sack, Alex Usry drilled his 13th field goal of the season through the uprights as the redshirt sophomore converted from 40-yards out to put CSU ahead 10-0 with 3:53 remaining in the first quarter.
- Jack Chambers put the Bucs ahead 17-0 with 5:45 remaining in the second quarter as the redshirt sophomore quarterback called his own number on the 70-yard touchdown run to cap the 5-play, 88-yard drive.
- Kameron Brown hauled in the 10-yard fade pattern in front of the back left pilon from Chambers to cap a 7-play, 51-yard drive to put the Bucs ahead 24-0 with 1:48 remaining in the first half.
- Gardner-Webb cracked the scoreboard with 10:24 remaining in the third quarter as the Runnin' Bulldogs took advantage of a CSU fumble to capitalize with Kalen Whitlow's nine-yard touchdown pass to Jameson Turner to put the score 24-7.
- CSU took advantage of a muffed punt return with Jack Chambers finding Kameron Brown for the two-yard touchdown connection to cap the five-play, 11-yard drive and put the Bucs ahead 30-7 with 6:03 remaining in the third quarter.
- GWU was back on the scoreboard at the start of the fourth quarter as Whitlow found Izaiah Gathings for the one-yard touchdown pass to cap a 12-play, 80-yard drive that spanned 6:38 and cut the CSU lead down to 30-14.
- Whitlow and Turner connected for the second time of the game with 4:42 remaining as the GWU quarterback targeted his receiver for a 13-yard completion on the slant route to cut the CSU lead down to 30-20 to end the eight-play, 67-yard drive.
- Gardner-Webb took advantage of a late CSU penalty and capitalized on the next play as Whitlow targeted Devron Harper with a three-yard fade pattern in the back of the end zone with 1:35 remaining to cut the CSU lead down to 30-27 following the touchdown pass.
Inside the Numbers
- Gardner-Webb held the 27-14 advantage in first downs and the 371-339 advantage in total offensive yards in the game.
- Charleston Southern limited the Gardner-Webb rushing attack holding GWU to just 55 yards on 26 carries (2.1 ypc).
- Gardner-Webb was the first team to crack the 300-yard passing mark against the Buccaneers this season as the Runnin' Bulldogs threw for 316 on Saturday afternoon.
- Charleston Southern was penalized a season-high 10 times for 95 yards on Saturday.
- The Bucs defense controlled the line of scrimmage against the Runnin' Bulldogs with a season-high six sacks and 9.0 tackles for loss.
- GWU held the 31:44-28:05 time of possession advantage.
- The Bucs were 7-of-17 on third downs in the game, while limited GWU to 4-of-14.
- Kyle Reighard finished with 40.3 yards per punt attempt and added two more 50-yarders in the game on Saturday.
- Isaac Ross and Garris Schwarting both posted season-highs with seven receptions
- Terrence Wilson led the Bucs with 17 carries for 48 yards.
- Garrett Sayegh made his first collegiate kickoff return with an eight-yard return on a fourth quarter onside kick attempt.
- Anton Williams and Cody Cline both had interceptions for CSU.
- J.D. Sosebee added 10 tackles, while Darin Smalls and Jarrod Stanley both finished with a pair of pass breakups.Â
News & Notes
- Charleston Southern hit another receiving mark as Buchi Nwaubi became the 19th different Buccaneer to post a reception this season with an eight-yard catch in the second quarter.
- CSU's six sacks in the game marked an Autry Denson-era high for sacks and moved into a five-way tie for the fourth-most in a Bucs' single game.
- Kyle Reighard connected on a 53-yard punt in the first quarter and added a 50-yard attempt in the fourth quarter to advance his Big South record to 33 career 50-yard punts.
- J.D. Sosebee's 10 tackles moved him into eighth all-time in CSU's career tackling standings as he moved past Quentin Lee (257, 1993-96) with 264 career tackles over his four-year career.
- Saturday marked Nick Salley's second 3.0 tackle for loss game this season and first since the season-opener against Furman. Salley leads the Big South with 14.0 tackles for loss on the season.
- The Bucs had three players finish the game with 2.0 sacks apiece as Anton Williams, Salley, and Eishuan Funnye all recorded two quarterback takedowns in the game.
- Salley also added a career-high two forced fumbles on Saturday afternoon.
- Jack Chambers connected on a career-high 25 completions in the win.
- Cody Cline and Anton Williams both recorded their first collegiate interceptions on Saturday.
- Long snapper Ethan Ray was credited with two fumble recoveries as the redshirt junior recovered a pair of Gardner-Webb muffed punts.
Key Play #1 - Nick Salley with the Blindside Strip-Sack
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Key Series #1 - Anton Williams shuts down Gardner-Webb by himself late in the second quarter
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Key Play #2 - Ethan Ray jumps on his second loose ball fumble in the fourth quarter
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Coach's Comments
Up Next
Charleston Southern returns home for North Charleston Appreciation Day and Military Appreciation Day on November 9 as the Buccaneers welcome Hampton University to Buccaneer Field. Kickoff on ESPN3 is set for 6 p.m.
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