Bulldogs turn thoughts to Swamp

Andre Roberts' punt return was just a few minutes old when Citadel players started getting the question.

What about The Swamp?

Saturday's 24-21 win over Chattanooga would have provided a heartening end to what has been a trying year for the 4-7 Bulldogs, who entered the season with high hopes and a national FCS ranking.

Instead, The Citadel travels next Saturday to Florida, to take on the mighty Gators in "The Swamp."

The Bulldogs profess to be happy about the prospect, despite the Gators' destruction of South Carolina on Saturday.

"It's going to be fun, very fun," said quarterback Bart Blanchard. "It's an experience we've never had. We played at Clemson, but I think the Swamp is a little bit different than that."

The Citadel will earn a $450,000 paycheck for the game, but this is no early season warmup for the Gators. Florida is in a battle for BCS position, and the Gators will be looking to impress the pollsters and computers.

"No question, coach (Urban) Meyer will do everything he can to put points on the board and not allow us in the end zone," Citadel coach Kevin Higgins said. "But it will be a good afternoon in terms of an environment that will be electric."

At least, the Bulldogs will go to Gainesville with a win instead of a seven-game losing streak.

"We did not want to go out this season with all losses," Blanchard said. "This gives us something to build on for next season, for incoming recruits to see that we can win and we can build on this."

Senior moments

Saturday's game was the final home game for 12 Citadel seniors. Among them were:

-- Left guard Jacob Bryant, who overcame a knee injury and switched from defense to offense this season.

-- Center Clay Muirhead, who moved over from guard this season.

-- Tight end Taylor Cornett, who caught three passes for 28 yards in his last home game.

-- Receivers Joshua Haney and Scott Flanagan.

-- Defensive tackle Kevin McCaskill, who had three tackles and recovered a fumble; linebacker Jonathan Vest, who had one tackle; strong safety Dwight House; and punter Mark Kaspar, who averaged 43.6 yards on five punts.

Extra points

-- WR Andre Roberts set the school record for receiving yards in a season with 1,268, breaking Brian Baima's record of 1,230 set in 1971. Saturday's game was the 17th straight in which Roberts has scored a TD. Roberts' 1,268 receiving yards is No. 4 in SoCon history.

-- Roberts has 15 100-yard receiving games in his career, tying the SoCon record. He has seven 100-yard receiving games this season, including the last three in a row.

-- The victory was No. 450 for The Citadel, and the fourth homecoming win in five years.

-- Chattanooga's 64-yard blocked field goal return for a TD was the first against The Citadel since 1975, when App State's Quincy Bethea blocked a Tim Cook field goal and ran 69 yards for a score in a 22-17 App State victory.

-- Defensive end Dewitt Jones had nine tackles and recovered a fumble ... Freshman linebacker Tolu Akindele made seven tackles, and LB Jordon Gilmore had six ... Tackle Erik Clanton and LB Jeremy Buncum each had sacks, and Gilmore and Clanton forced fumbles. DT Kevin McCaskill and CB Tillman Millhouse recovered fumbles.

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