Bucs outgun Blue Hose

CLINTON -- Charleston Southern won a shootout with Presbyterian College on Saturday, outscoring the winless Blue Hose, 46-32, on the road.

CSU (4-5, 2-2 Big South) won consecutive road conference games for the first time in school history.

The game featured more than 1,000 total yards, including 530 by the Blue Hose. Despite the yardage, CSU's defense had plenty of bright spots, forcing five turnovers and picking up five sacks. The defense scored once, on Antwan Ivey's school record 100-yard interception return, and set up CSU's last touchdown with a forced fumble and return to the Presbyterian 7-yard line.

However, the defense also allowed Presbyterian freshman running back Lance Byrd to rush for a school record 274 yards on 33 carries.

"I think many people in our league and elsewhere are surprised that Presbyterian has not won a game, and today it was easy to see why," said CSU coach Jay Mills. "They are a lot better football team than their record and I commend their players for their effort today.

"We had some breakdowns today, but the bottom line is we won the game."

CSU quarterback A.J. Toscano had his best game of the season, completing 18 of 32 passes for 290 yards and four touchdowns. Toscano added 61 yards rushing and a touchdown.

Junior Gerald Stevenson had career highs in receptions (10) and yards (149), scoring twice. CSU finished with 485 total yards, 195 on the ground.

"We had good balance, and I thought A.J. really played well today," said Mills. "We didn't have a turnover for the first time this year, and being plus-5 in the turnover battle is something we are really pleased with."

Ivey's return gave CSU a 7-0 lead, and Toscano's 33-yard touchdown pass to Stevenson made it 14-0 with 27 seconds left in the first quarter.

The Bucs carried a 20-7 lead into the half when Toscano hit Anthony Chalmers with a 36-yard touchdown pass with 1:04 left in the half.

It appeared the Bucs were in control when they scored on their first possession of the third quarter on Toscano's 2-yard scoring pass to Ryan Ard to push the lead to 26-7.

Presbyterian added a field goal, but Toscano answered with an 11-yard run with 3:56 to play in the third quarter, giving CSU a 32-10 lead.

The Blue Hose, however, would not go quietly. Less than a minute after Toscano's run, Webb hit Sean Adegbola on a 24-yard touchdown pass, cutting the lead to 32-17.

Byrd added a 26-yard run with just under 6 minutes left in the game, pulling the Blue Hose to within eight at 32-24.

PC attempted an onside kick, which CSU recovered. The Bucs needed only four plays to score again as Toscano hit Stevenson from 16 yards out.

The defense came up big again when Chris Patrick forced a Byrd fumble. Joel Walton returned the ball to the Blue Hose 7, and after a penalty, B.J. Hackworth scored on a 12-yard run to put the game away, 46-24.

The Blue Hose tacked on a touchdown with 1:01 left, but the Bucs were already focused on Stony Brook next Saturday. CSU closes out the season with two home games and keeps alive their hopes of a winning season.

"We still have some goals ahead of us that are reachable and that will help our team focus on getting better this week in practice," said Mills.