SAVANNAH, Ga. - Savannah State University's football team poses a threat to South Carolina State, according to S.C. State head coach Oliver "Buddy" Pough.
 
Pough, during his weekly news conference earlier this week in Orangeburg, S.C., said he is concerned about SSU's offense under the guidance of first-year head coach Earnest Wilson III.
 
"Savannah's got some fast guys," Pough said. "They throw some dink-and-dunk kind of stuff and they'll take that to the house on you. I saw one of their guys go maybe 60, 70 yards against Bethune on a ball that was thrown maybe 2 or 3 yards down the field. It's a concern, but at the same time, we'll get ourselves prepared to be able to deal with that, with that particular style of attack."
 
SSU (1-8 overall, 0-5 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference) will play South Carolina State University (5-3, 3-1 MEAC) at 2 p.m. Saturday at T.A. Wright Stadium. It will be Future Stars of Tomorrow/Senior Day. The game will be radio-broadcast on WHCJ 90.3 FM and BMQ 630 AM..
 
S.C. State is 14-1 in the series against SSU. The Bulldogs lost, 14-9, to the Tigers in 2001, when Bill Davis was Savannah State's head coach. What followed were lopsided victories by S.C. State over SSU in 2002 (50-12), 2003 (53-0) and 2004 (55-20).
 
The programs did not meet again until 2011, when SSU was a MEAC member, but S.C. State's two most-recent victories over the Tigers were not nearly as one-sided. The Bulldogs beat SSU, 20-10, in 2011 in Savannah. They won, 27-13, last season in Orangeburg, S.C.
 
"We match up kind of the same," Pough said. "They've got some of the same kind of athletes that we have. Hopefully, they won't match up so good against us this year but they always seem to.
 
"I can tell you, when we played them when I first got here, when they weren't in the league, it didn't seem to be quite as tough a task. But the last few years that we've played them, I can remember the last time we went down there, and last year at home, that was awfully, awfully hard. Let's hope that we can be better prepared for them this year because they do, generally, give us a tussle."
 
SSU is coming off a 24-10 Homecoming loss to North Carolina State last Saturday at T.A. Wright Stadium.
 
S.C. State is coming off a 14-3 loss to Bethune-Cookman last Saturday in Daytona Beach, Fla.
 
SOUTH CAROLINA STATE OUTLOOK
The Bulldogs lead the MEAC in total defense, allowing 236.5 yards per game. They also lead the conference in sacks, taking down quarterbacks 22 times for minus-146 yards.
 
"Defensively, they run well," Wilson said. "They play a 3-3 or 3-4, and sometimes go into a 4-2. They play tough defense. They only lost 14-3 to Bethune-Cookman and held them to two touchdowns. You have to work to get it.
 
"They like to get up in your face a little bit, play a little man (coverage). They run extremely well so we're going to have to keep running, get in space and make people miss."
 
Defensive end Andrew Carter, a 6-foot-1, 240-pound redshirt junior from Hamlet, N.C., leads the MEAC in sacks with four. Linebacker Joe Thomas, a 6-foot, 230-pound redshirt senior from Blackville, S.C., has made a team-high 80 tackles.
 
"Offensively, they throw the ball well," Wilson said. "They have a big screen game as far as running downhill. They run a pistol-type offense. They're a big team on offense."
Quarterback Richard Cue, a 6-foot-1, 180-pound redshirt senior from Florence, S.C., is 97-of-176 passing (55.1 percent) for 1,145 yards and eight touchdowns. He has been intercepted six times.
 
Wide receiver Tyler McDonald, a 6-foot-3, 190-pound senior from Summerville, S.C., has made a team-high 34 catches for 641 yards and five touchdowns. In MEAC play, McDonald leads the league in receptions per game (5.5).
 
Running back Justin Taylor, a 5-foot-10, 215-pound redshirt freshman who transferred from the University of Kentucky, has a team-high 411 yards and six touchdowns on 125 carries.
 
SSU RECRUITING
Wilson said SSU has offered scholarships to 24 football players throughout the area.
 
"We want more than that but we've offered 24 kids in the area," he said. "We're going to have a full class. I see us signing 25 to 30.
 
"We've had a couple of guys verbally commit to us. Both of them are local. We have 24 recruits in the area that we have extended an offer to. Most of the schools in the area are represented."
 
REMAINING POSITIVE
After finishing 1-10 in each of the past three seasons, SSU has three more games remaining to try and earn multiple victories. After playing S.C. State, the Tigers will travel for games at Howard (Nov. 9) and North Carolina A&T (Nov. 16).
 
Obviously, a losing season is difficult for SSU's senior class to accept but Wilson said he is optimistic about the program's future.
 
"We've got youth on our side," he said. "A lot of guys are returning next year. We've got two sophomores and two freshmen on our offensive line. We've got a sophomore running back. We've got a potential sophomore and redshirt freshman coming back at quarterback. We've got a group of young receivers. I think only one or two will leave.
 
"Our linebackers, they're all freshmen and sophomores. Defensive line, I think all except one return next year. And they're mainly freshmen and sophomores. And then at DB we've had a lot of young guys who have been playing."