CHARLESTON – The Citadel and Charleston Southern opened their 2024 seasons on Saturday evening under the lights of Buccaneer Field to crown the inaugural winner of rivalry game between the squads, the "Lowcountry Boil Bowl." The Bulldogs won by a final score of 22-21, overcoming a 21-3 deficit to take the initial "Battle for the Shrimp."
 
It was all Buccaneers early with transfer quarterback Rob McCoy Jr leading the squad on an 11-play, 82-yard drive on their first possession of the game that was capped off with a three-yard touchdown run by AutaviusI son. Charleston Southern tacked on their second of the day off a deep ball from McCoy to Jamil Bishop and was able to outrun the Bulldogs' secondary to punctuate the 64-yard connection. The Citadel got on the board late in the first half with a 49-yard conversion by Ben Barnes to put the score at 14-3 going into the break.
 
In the second half, Charleston Southern received the opening kickoff and had another methodical drive that Tyson Greenwade carried the final two yards for the team's third touchdown of the day. This marked the final time the Bucs scored during the evening, as The Citadel ended the game on a 19-0 run. Johnathan Bennett had a one-yard TD carry to score the first with 6:20 left followed by Johnny Crawford III punching it in from one-yard out. The Bulldogs were stifled on their two-point conversions on each attempt to have the score stand at 21-15.
 
The final 15 minutes of action, saw both teams make it come down to the wire with both teams capable of sealing the game. The Bulldogs got the ball into the red zone with less than six minutes left in the game, but they botched the snap and the Bucs recovered it to end their possession. However, on CSU's first offensive play following the turnover, they coughed up the ball themselves as DaVonyae Pettis recorded a strip sack and the Bulldogs fell on the ball and taking over from the 13-yard line.
 
The Bulldogs were able to eventually get the ball into the endzone with a one-yard rush up the middle by Garrison Johnson and took their first lead of the game on the PAT to put the score at 22-21.
 
Charleston Southern did not give up as Rob McCoy was able to engineer a drive that started at their own ten-yard line and eventually made it to The Citadel's 27-yard line. The drive included a pair of fourth-down conversions which included a 4^th and 16 conversion where McCoy found Chris Rhone over the middle and hurdled a defender to ensure the chains would be moved. However, a missed kick by Patrick Fisher-Butler from 44 yards out dashed the Buccaneers hopes of the victory.
 
McCoy had a tremendous debut game leading the Buccaneers offense with fresh faces all around. He went 20-25 throwing for 290 yards and a touchdown. He also added 40 yards on the ground. His 290 through the air mark the most by a CSU quarterback since the season opener of the 2022 season.
 
In the receiving room, McCoy completed passes to seven different players with four of them hauling in three or more passes. Rhone lead the team with five receptions and 90 yards. Bishop had three catches for 86 yards with Jaden Scott adding three catches for 44 and Noah Jennings with four catches for 27 yards.
 
Steve Zayachkowsky had a breakout game for the Buccaneers on defense as he earned a starter role at linebacker for the team. He finished the day with a career and team high in tackles with eight while included a sack and forced fumble.
 
The Buccaneers will return to action this weekend with a trip to the upstate to take on #12/9 Furman (0-1). Kickoff is scheduled for 6:00 p.m. with the game to be broadcast live on ESPN+.