MEAC title, FCS bid in sight

ORANGEBURG -- Win and get in.

It's the approach S.C. State is taking toward Saturday's game against Morgan State at Oliver C. Dawson Stadium. A victory by the Bulldogs would clinch a share of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference title for the third time in eight seasons and set a MEAC record for consecutive conference wins (18).

More important for S.C. State coach Oliver Pough is the chance to get in the FCS playoffs for the second straight year with a win.

"This is our 'get in the playoffs' week," he said Monday. "We don't quite win the league because of the fact that (Florida A&M) is still sitting there with one loss. If we do win this week, then we are pretty much assured of the fact that we get the (automatic conference) playoff berth."

S.C. State (8-1, 6-0) could also claim its first back-to-back outright MEAC titles since the 1981-82 campaigns with a win and a Florida A&M loss to Hampton. Standing in the way is a Bears team which has lost 25 of the last 26 meetings to the Bulldogs and the last six in succession.

While Morgan State (5-4, 3-3) has not beaten S.C. State in Baltimore since 1974, it has played more competitively in Orangeburg. The Bears snapped a 19-game losing streak in the series in 2002 and have rallied from 20-point plus deficits to force overtime in two recent meetings at Oliver C. Dawson Stadium.

In each case, S.C. State pulled off a memorable play in the extra period to earn the victory. Kicker Michael Gaston spoiled a comeback effort spearheaded by Bradshaw Littlejohn with a career-best 45-yard field goal in a 38-35 victory in 2004.

Two years ago, it was the one-handed "Centennial Catch" made by Terrance Smith in the end zone which lifted S.C. State to a 28-21 overtime win after squandering a 21-0 advantage. Despite the Bears' current three-game losing streak after a 5-1 start, Pough expects another tough effort which may require another miraculous play.

"We might need that again," he said. "At least I hope we don't. It's that kind of deal. They just seem to always play us better here than they do up there. I told (Morgan State coach Donald Hill-Eley) one time I thought it had something to do with their process on the road than at home. But heck, I don't know exactly what it is. We seem to always get out ahead and then, from that point on, we battle for dear light and can't seem to stop them."

"So, we'll have probably our work cut out for us again and we just need to go out here with a killer instinct to end these guys. But it never seems to quite happen."

All season, the Bulldogs have shown a tendency to score early and often. They have outscored the opposition 86-13 in the first quarter and have scored on the first drive of every game this season except in two games.