SAVANNAH, Ga. - Savannah State University football coach Steve Davenport said he expects a “tremendous game” when his Tigers play Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference rival South Carolina State University in both teams' season finale Saturday.
 
SSU (1-9, 0-7) will wrap up its second season in the MEAC against South Carolina State (4-6, 3-4)  at 1:30 p.m. at Oliver C. Dawson Stadium in Orangeburg, S.C. The game will be radio broadcast on WHCJ 90.3 FM.
 
“They're our biggest rivalry. Closest in terms of proximity, just a couple of hours up the road,” Davenport said Tuesday during the MEAC's weekly teleconference for coaches and media. “It ought to be a tremendous game. Buddy (Pough) has a tremendous program and I'm looking forward to going there and battling South Carolina State, and then getting on the road recruiting. The process doesn't stop. But we're getting ready to play South Carolina State and it will be a really good win if we can pull it out to end the season.”
 
South Carolina State is 13-1 in the series against SSU. The Bulldogs beat the Tigers, 20-10, last season at T.A. Wright Stadium. SSU beat S.C. State, 14-9, in 2001 in Orangeburg, S.C.
 
SSU is coming off a 49-7 loss to MEAC champion Bethune-Cookman University last Saturday at T.A. Wright Stadium.
 
South Carolina State is coming off a 17-7 loss to North Carolina A&T last Saturday in Greensboro, N.C.
 
“It's an opportunity to send our seniors out on a positive note,” Pough said Tuesday during the MEAC's weekly teleconference. “Savannah is improving each week. You can see them getting better. It will be a tough game for us. We've got to do a great job this week as a coaching staff of getting our guys prepared and working to make sure that our state of mind is good.”
 
Davenport said he believes SSU's state of mind is good despite its setback against Bethune-Cookman last Saturday.
 
“I think you've got to see every game as winnable,” Davenport said. “The minute you go into a game thinking you can't win, you've already sealed your fate so to speak. We're going to prepare to win the game. I'm sure Buddy is going to do the same with his team. We'll match wits.
 
“But anytime I think you've got a rivalry game, and as Savannah State stays in the MEAC this will become our biggest rivalry game, and I think anytime that's the case you've got emotions involved. And a lot of times these kids know each other. So it'll be that kind of game.
 
“We're certainly not going to work thinking we're going to lose the game. We go to work to figure out a way to go win the game, and then the kids go make the plays and, hopefully, you get an opportunity in the fourth quarter to do that. That's our thought process. But you never go into a game thinking you're going to lose.”
 
Part of Davenport's confidence stems from SSU's 42-35 victory over Edward Waters College. A 12-point loss to North Carolina Central, an eight-point loss to Hampton University and a 12-point loss to Norfolk State University also illustrate SSU's competitiveness.
 
“We've made progress,” Davenport said. “It's difficult to see that in terms of the scores but we've made tremendous progress here, and I think the program is heading in the right direction. Obviously, there are some pieces to the puzzle that need to be filled, and that's my responsibility to go and finish collecting those pieces. And that's what recruiting is all about. But the team has gotten better.
 
“We're tremendously young. We've got (five) seniors on the team so I think we would battle with youth, in terms of it and experience, with anybody in the country. We know we've got a huge junior class, a huge sophomore class, that will be juniors and seniors next year, and we've just got to go fill in some spots. But we've made progress. Obviously, nobody is satisfied with the record so far but, from a coaching perspective, I can see the program getting a lot better.”
 
Meanwhile, South Carolina State's Pough believes his Bulldogs have failed to live up to expectations this season after winning the MEAC three times and tying for second place twice in the past five years.
 
“Below par,” Pough said of South Carolina State's season. “Not up to standards. Not a very good year. We've got some things that we've got to work on getting better at, a lot better at.”
 
South Carolina State outlook
South Carolina State quarterback Richard Cue, a 6-foot-1, 180-pound redshirt junior from Florence, S.C., is 130-of-257 passing (50.6 percent) for 1,605 yards and nine touchdowns. He has thrown 12 interceptions. Cue has run for 288 yards and a touchdown on 81 carries.
 
Running back Jalen Simmons, a 5-foot-8, 205-pound sophomore from Charlotte, N.C., has run for 512 yards and four touchdowns on 131 carries. Running back Julius Pendergrass, a 5-foot-9, 191-pound sophomore from Chester, S.C., has run for 249 yards and three touchdowns on 51 carries.
 
Wide receiver Caleb Davis, a 5-foot-11, 172-pound redshirt junior from Quinby, S.C., has made 34 catches for 308 yards and a touchdown. Wide receiver Tyler McDonald, a 6-foot-3, 190-pound junior from Summerville, S.C., has made 32 catches for 485 yards and three touchdowns. Wide receiver Lennel Elmore, a 5-foot-10, 170-pound redshirt senior from Allendale, S.C., has made 24 catches for 463 yards and three touchdowns.
 
Defensively, linebacker Justin Hughes, a 6-foot-1, 220-pound sophomore from Virginia Beach, Va., has made a team-high 68 tackles, including three sacks.
 
Defensive back Cortney Ingram, a 5-foot-10, 190-pound redshirt senior from Milledgeville, Ga., has made 64 tackles, including two sacks, to go with two interceptions. Defensive back Kimario McFadden, a 5-foot-11, 197-pound junior from Riverdale, Ga., has made 50 tackles, including a sack, to go with two interceptions.
 
SSU recruiting
With players like quarterback Antonio Bostick, wide receivers Simon Heyward and Dylan Cook, and cornerback John Wilson expected to return for their senior season, the future looks bright for SSU.
 
“We've gotten pretty good in terms of our cornerback play,” Davenport said. “We have two corners (Wilson and freshman Wayne Johnson) that we think can compete with anybody in this league. I think we've gotten better in terms of our receiving corps. Simon Heyward has had a tremendous season so far for us. Dylan Cook has had a tremendous season for us.”
 
Davenport and his assistants will hit the recruiting trail after Saturday's game. They will search the high school and junior-college levels for the biggest, fastest and strongest players they can find and try to convince them to sign with SSU in February. The Tigers likely will look to add depth on the offensive and defensive lines, and also search for some powerful running backs.
 
“I think the offensive line has gotten better,” Davenport said. “We started, at the beginning of the year, four true freshmen. And, obviously, it was their first time into the fire. And two or three of those guys have gotten better each week. I'm looking forward to having them in our strength and conditioning program in the offseason to see how much progress they'll make.”
 
Davenport said he has been proud of his players' effort in all but one game this season.
“More than anything, our kids have learned how to fight for 60 minutes each game,”
 
Davenport said. “There was one game on the schedule this year, Howard, that I didn't think we did that. But the other 10, so far, I think our kids have played from whistle to whistle and horn to horn.”