Offensive line steps up for Bulldogs

CITADEL FOOTBALL NOTES

O-line steps up for Bulldogs

Citadel offensive line coach Kevin Olecki gathered his charges around him late in Saturday's 38-28 victory over Furman and let them have it.

"You just beat your rival!" Olecki shouted with glee. "You just beat Furman!"

The moment of celebration was well-earned for a group that endured its share of criticism during The Citadel's three-game losing skid. A total of 18 rushing yards at Elon and 12 negative plays at Western Carolina will do that for a unit.

But the offensive line turned in its best performance of the season against Furman, paving the way for quarterback Miguel Starks and running back Van Dyke Jones to both go over the 100-yard mark.

Starks ran 23 times for 144 yards and four touchdowns, and Jones added 102 yards on 11 carries. Add in 47 yards on 13 tries for Terrell Dallas, and The Citadel rushed for 296 yards against Furman, its most rushing yards since 2004, when the Bulldogs piled up 357 in a 44-24 win over Chattanooga.

"The line gave us great holes, great holes," Starks said. "Those guys blocked all day, to the whistle blew. They blocked their hearts out."

Senior tackle Dan DeHaven said the line had a lot to prove.

"We wanted to prove to the world that we are a good offensive line," he said. "We need to keep working towards that. We still have some mistakes, but they were minor mistakes.

"The difference was the effort over the week in practice. People stepped up and said, 'I have problems.' And we fixed those problems, the basics, the fundamentals, the footwork, picking up blitzes and understanding blitzes."

Right before Starks' 23-yard TD scamper to ice the game at 38-21, DeHaven yelled to his teammates, "Let's go! They don't want any more of us!"

He said, "I think we wore them down. We were pushing them into the linebackers in the third and fourth quarter. They are a very good team, and I think maybe it was hotter than usual for them."

Head coach Kevin Higgins said coaches challenged the line to step up this week.

"They didn't feel like they had played as well as they could have the last couple of weeks," he said. "And they really responded. I can't say enough about what they did at the line of scrimmage today."

GAME BALL FOR ROD

Higgins awarded a game ball to sophomore safety Rod Harland, who attended the funeral of his father on Monday in Hartwell, Ga., and returned to play in Saturday's game.

Joe Harland, 52, was killed a week and a half ago in an apparent home invasion in Hartwell. Higgins and several Citadel players also attended the funeral Monday.

Rod Harland made seven tackles and split a tackle for loss with Terrence Reese against Furman.

EXTRA POINTS

In his first start, QB Miguel Starks put his name in The Citadel's record books. His four touchdowns matched a school record held now by eight Bulldogs, the latest Andre Roberts against Presbyterian this season. Other Citadel players to score four TDs in a game are Tory Cooper, Terrence Rivers, Jack Douglas, Danny Miller, Mark Slawson and Tony Passander.

Starks' 144 rushing yards are the most by a Citadel QB since Stanley Myers ran for 145 against App State in 1995 ... Starks and Van Dyke Jones (102 yards) became the first Citadel pair to each crack the 100-yard mark since Cooper had 137 yards and QB Duran Lawson 100 in a 54-51, triple-overtime win over Furman in 2007.

Cornerback Ryan Jones led The Citadel with eight tackles, while Harland had seven and linebackers Jeremy Buncum and Jordon Gilmore six each ... DE Dewitt Jones had the only sack, and DT Kyle Anderson had 1.5 tackles for loss ... Safety Joseph Boateng made his third interception of the season, and DE Erik Clanton his first, giving the Bulldogs eight picks this year.