S.C. State gunning for MEAC mark

ORANGEBURG -- A rain-filled week could conclude with ninth-ranked South Carolina State reaching the end of the rainbow.

Plenty of team and individual accomplishments are possible when the Bulldogs (8-1, 6-0 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference) host Morgan State (5-4, 3-3) at 1:30 p.m. at Oliver C. Dawson Stadium. A victory would clinch a second straight Football Championship Subdivison playoff appearance for the first time since the 1981-82 seasons and a share of the MEAC title for the third time under coach Buddy Pough.

The 18th consecutive conference victory would also set a MEAC record, breaking the mark S.C. State shares with Hampton (2004-06) at 17. S.C. State also owns the MEAC record for most consecutive games without a loss (19), going 18-0-1 between 1976-79.

Standing in the way is Morgan State, which ironically snapped the Bulldogs' conference record streak without a loss in 1979. Since then, the Bears have dropped six straight meetings, 26 of the 27 meetings and 12 of 13 at Oliver C. Dawson Stadium against S.C. State.

The last two meetings in Orangeburg, however, had been decided in overtime in favor of the Bulldogs. In 2004, it was a career-best 45-yard field goal by Michael Gaston which lifted S.C. State to a 38-35 victory and helped it earn a share of the MEAC title with Hampton.

Two years later, Morgan State rallied from a 21-0 deficit to force overtime, only to lose 28-21 on receiver Terrance Smith's memorable one- handed touchdown reception.

A trio of Bulldog players will try to make school history today.

Quarterback Malcolm Long needs just 228 yards to become the first S.C. State player to throw for 2,000 yards and 20 completions to surpass his own single-season record of 171.

One of Long's primary targets, wide receiver Tre' Young, will set another school record with his next catch. The Charleston native is tied with Tavarus Morgan for most career receptions (116) and broke Charlie Brown's career receiving yards record three weeks ago.

Then there's running back Will Ford and his season-long quest for the MEAC career rushing record. With two regular season games remaining, Ford needs 262 yards to surpass Hampton's Alonzo Coleman's mark of 4,648 yards.

For all the attention gained by the offense, the Bulldogs' defense has held their last five opponents to a total of 52 points. As a team, S.C. State leads the MEAC in points allowed (16), total defense (256.1), interceptions (12) and sacks (23).

"It's pretty obvious we've got a lot of guys doing a lot of good things and you can attribute most of that to our defensive staff doing a good job of preparing a lot of guys to play and I think that means that you have good team morale over there because all of those guys know that they are going to get an opportunity to play," Pough said. "It's a defense which is coming into its own now. They've seen that they can pretty much stop people and we're not necessarily that kind of defense where people can't keep any yardage at all. We give up some yardage from time to time. But, in the crunch time, we do a nice of job of keeping people out of the end zone."