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SPARTANBURG, S.C. – On Saturday afternoon, the Wofford football team held The Citadel scoreless in a 35-0 win at Gibbs Stadium. The Terriers held the Bulldogs to only 143 total yards of offense with ten tackles for loss for the Wofford defense.
The Terriers, ranked ninth in the nation, are 7-1 on the season and 5-0 in the conference and the Bulldogs are 2-7 overall and 0-6 in the SoCon. The Terriers were led Eric Breitenstein with 76 yards and two touchdowns, Brian Kass with 62 rushing yards and a passing touchdown, and Mitch Allen with a passing touchdown. The Bulldogs were led by Terrell Dallas with 56 rushing yards and Sam Martin with 47 rushing yards.
“We put 35 points on the board but we probable left two or three more on the field that we could have gotten,” said head coach Mike Ayers. “It was a good day. We did much better in the kicking game and it was as close to a complete game as we have had in a while. I really respect the Citadel and they came in and fought us. We were blessed today to come out on top. It is a great win and another one that we are going to enjoy tonight, but there is another one looming. We know what we have to do and we know the challenge is difficult. The thing that we were able to do was play a lot of guys and give a lot of guys a little bit of rest.”
After trading three-and-outs to open the game, on the second drive by the Bulldogs Matt Thompson was intercepted by Tommy Irvin. On the second play after the turnover, Mitch Allen found Jeremy Marshall for a 31-yard touchdown reception to make it a 7-0 score with 9:50 on the clock.
With the ball back, The Citadel was forced three-and-out again. On the punt, the ball was fumbled by the punter and recovered at the six-yard line by Alvin Scioneaux. Again, two plays were all it took for Wofford to score when Eric Breitenstein went in from two-yards out for a 14-0 lead at 7:13 in the first quarter.
The Citadel picked up a couple first downs on their next drive, but we again forced to punt. Brian Kass took over at quarterback and the seven-play drive was capped by a 30-yard reception by Brenton Bersin. The remaining twelve minutes of the first half saw the teams combine for two punts, three fumbles and two turnovers on downs before the end of the half.
To open the second half, the teams again traded punts. On the second drive of the half by the Terriers, Wofford gained two first downs before punting. The Bulldogs turned it over again on a fumble that was recovered by Keaton Thompson. For the third time in the game, it took the Wofford offense just two plays to score as Eric Breitenstein ran it in from 19-yards out for a 28-0 lead at 1:56 in the third quarter.
The Wofford defense forced another punt and the offense went to work on a nine-play, 80-yard drive that was capped by Donovan Johnson scoring from one-yard out. The Terriers had a 35-0 lead with 10:18 left in the game. The Citadel picked up two first downs on their next drive, but had to punt. Wofford went three-and-out and punted, but the clock ran out on the Bulldogs on their final drive.
The Terriers had 362 total yards, with 237 on the ground. The Citadel had 143 yards, 132 of which were rushing. The Citadel had the time of possession advantage, but Wofford was +2 on turnovers. Wofford was 3-of-10 on third downs. The Citadel was 3-of-14 on third down.
Next weekend Wofford will travel to Birmingham, Alabama to face Samford at 3:00 pm (ET). Samford defeated Georgia Southern 20-13 on Saturday and are 4-4 overall and 2-3 in the SoCon.
Wofford vs. The Citadel Post-Game Notes
The Terriers have won twelve straight in the series over The Citadel, dating back to 1999. The 35-point margin of victory was the largest by Wofford in the series and it was the first shutout by Wofford in the series since a 13-0 win in 2001.
The shutout was the first since November 11, 2006, when Wofford won 55-0 over Chattanooga.
Eric Breitenstein has at least one touchdown in each of the eight games this season and has two or more in the last seven games.
The Wofford defense held The Citadel to only 11 passing yards. The 143 total yards allowed is the fewest this season by an opponent.
Brenton Bersin has twelve catches on the season, six of which are touchdowns. The six receiving touchdowns are tied for the fifth-most in a single season.
Game captains for Wofford were Jeremy Marshall and Jordan Ingman.
Attendance was 10,466 at Gibbs Stadium.
