Bulldogs aim to salvage winning mark

There was no hiding the hurt in the eyes of Citadel seniors as they reflected on their final home game at Johnson Hagood Stadium -- a 43-17 loss to Wofford on Saturday.

"It's not what I expected," said All-America receiver Andre Roberts. "It's real tough, our final game as seniors. It's a tough way to leave this stadium."

But the Bulldogs can still salvage something from this up-and-down season, which has included two two-game win streaks and a three-game losing skid. Wins at Chattanooga and Georgia Southern in the final two games would give the 4-5 Bulldogs a 6-5 finish, and just their second winning season in 11 years.

"There's nothing else left to do," said senior tackle Dan DeHaven. "I'm never going to quit and I know my teammates are never going to quit, so that's all we have left to do."

Chattanooga is 5-4 overall and 3-4 in the SoCon after a 35-20 loss to Appalachian State on Saturday. Georgia Southern is 4-5 and 3-3 in the SoCon after being hammered by Samford, 31-10.

"That's the goal, that's what we talked to our team about after the game," coach Kevin Higgins said. "We've been down before and came back. Heck, Wofford had only won two games and they came in here and executed.

"That's what we have to do. We have to come back now and get No. 5 next week and then have a chance for a winning season."

Winning on the road will present its own challenge -- the Bulldogs are 1-3 on the road this season and 1-9 dating back to last year.

Andre's No. 2

Citadel receiver Andre Roberts caught eight passes for 50 yards against Wofford, enough to move him to second place on the SoCon's all-time receiving yards list.

Roberts now has 270 catches for 3,555 yards in his career, behind only Elon star Terrell Hudgins in the SoCon record book.

"Unfortunately, and Andre would say the same, it's about winning football games," Higgins said. "But it's a great accomplishment for Andre, to stay healthy, to play the way he has every game. He's made a lot of big plays at Johnson Hagood Stadium, and we're going to miss him."

Cutting back

Sensing his team was tired, Wofford coach Mike Ayers cut back on contact in practice this week. The Terriers certainly looked fresh, piling up 320 rushing yards. Quarterbacks Stev Davitte and Mitch Allen had 96 and 79 yards, respectively, and running back Michael Scott added 79.

"We were smart this week in cutting back on contact," said Ayers, whose team leads all of FCS in rushing offense. "Our team had been fatigued the past few weeks, and I think we came down here with a fresh football team."

Extra points

--Before the season, Higgins said he hoped sophomore Kevin Hardy could do for the kickoff return team what Roberts has done for the punt-return team. It hasn't turned out that way, and with The Citadel seventh in the SoCon in kickoff returns, the Bulldogs have turned to redshirt freshman cornerback Keith Gamble.

--Gamble returned five kicks for 165 yards, including a long of 46, against Wofford to give the special teams a boost.

--"He's athletic and has a little knack for that," Higgins said. "He's also our backup punt returner, and that was a bright spot to see him break some returns."

--The Citadel returned to a variation of its "Vegas" formation on Bart Blanchard's 6-yard TD pass to tight end Alex Sellars. Lincoln Kling, a 6-6, 290-pound tackle, split out wide to the left with three receivers on that play.

--Third-team QB Tommy Edwards did have his name on the back of his jersey Saturday. He had no name plate when he rallied the Bulldogs to victory over Samford last week ... LB Jordon Gilmore led the Bulldogs with 10 tackles ... Ends Dewitt Jones and Erik Clanton shared the Bulldogs' only sack. Jones recovered a fumble and might have run for big yards, but officials ruled that his knee was down when he scooped up the ball.

--Wofford's 130 passing yards marked its second-highest total this season. Quarterbacks Stev Davitte, Mitch Allen and Chris White combined to hit 9 of 12 passes, including first downs on third-and-8 and third-and-10 on their first two scoring drives.