Wofford College Athletics

CHARLESTON, S.C. – The Wofford College football team was defeated 39-12 by The Citadel on Saturday afternoon at Johnson Hagood Stadium. The Bulldogs took an early 14-0 lead and used a 16-play drive to open the second half to put the game out of reach for the Terriers.
 
The Terriers are 3-3 on the season and 1-1 in Southern Conference play, while the Bulldogs are 3-2 and 2-0 in the league. Wofford was led by Ray Smith with 58 rushing yards and a touchdown, while R.J. Taylor had five catches for 86 yards. The Bulldogs were led by Tyler Renew with 85 rushing yards, while Dominique Allen added 72 rushing yards and 125 passing yards. The Citadel defense had eleven tackles for loss in the game.
 
"We were thinking we had a good plan, but they did a nice job of defending us early," said head coach Mike Ayers. "We were our own worst enemy at times with the ball on the ground and busted assignments. A lot of credit goes to The Citadel as they executed their offense very soundly. We defending them the best we could with the guys we had. It was a very physical game and we had to put young guys who might not have been ready for the moment. We were all over the place and could not put plays together for drives. When you do that and give them the opportunity to play keep away, you don't get many chances."
 
The Terriers had the ball first and gained one first down before punting. The Bulldogs went three-and-out and punted, with Wofford taking over at the ten-yard line. Wofford lost yardage on their next drive and punted. Working with a short field, the Bulldogs picked up two first downs and Dominique Allen ran the ball in from one-yard out. The Citadel had a 7-0 lead with 6:21 on the clock in the first quarter.
 
Wofford had a 56-yard kickoff return by Chris Armfield to begin the next drive at the 46-yard line. After a first down, the Terriers had a fourth-and-one but the run was short and the Bulldogs took over on downs. The Citadel went three-and-out and Wofford took over at the 31-yard line with 58 seconds left in the first quarter. On the second play of the drive, the Terriers fumbled and the Bulldogs recovered. Dominique Allen went 24-yards on the first play for a touchdown and The Citadel had a 14-0 lead with seven seconds on the clock in the first quarter.
 
With the ball back, Ray Smith ran for 26 yards and a first down. On fourth-and-one, Evan Jacks ran for the first down. The Terriers fumbled again with a high snap and had to punt back to the Bulldogs. After a three-and-out by The Citadel, Wofford began the next drive at the 17-yard line. The Terriers needed nine plays go the length of the field and the drive was capped by a three-yard run by Lorenzo Long. The PAT was missed and Wofford trailed 14-6 with 4:28 left in the second quarter.
 
The Citadel had three first downs and added a touchdown on a 17-yard run by Reggie Williams. The lead was 21-6 with 56 seconds left in the first half. With the ball back, the Terriers gained one first down before time expired in the half.
 
To open the second half, the Bulldogs went on a 16-play drive that covered 80 yards and was capped by a three-yard touchdown run by Tyler Renew. The Citadel had a 28-6 lead with 8:17 on the clock in the third quarter. On Wofford's next drive, the Terriers were helped by two personal foul penalties and then converted a fourth-and-seven with a 33-yard pass to R.J. Taylor. Ray Smith scored from eight yards out, but the two point run was stopped short. The Citadel lead was 28-12 with 4:34 left in the third quarter.
 
The Bulldogs used a 42-yard kickoff return to begin their next drive. A 24-yard touchdown pass from Dominique Miller to Brandon Eakins ended the drive and the two point conversion was good for a 36-12 advantage with 2:30 remaining in the third quarter. Wofford went three-and-out and punted and The Citadel took over at the 45-yard line. After one first down, a 46-yard field goal attempt was wide left. Wofford took over, but gained only one first down before punting.
 
With 9:37 left in the game, the Bulldogs took over and used a 42-yard pass completion to move the ball inside the 10. A 23-yard field goal pushed the score to 39-12 with 5:56 left in the game. Wofford went three-and-out and punted back to The Citadel with under four minutes on the clock. The Terriers forced a three-and-out and had the ball back with 2:10 remaining. Brad Butler completed a 27-yard pass to Logan Christian for a first down and Chris Martin added a rushing first down. With one second left, Brandon Goodson was intercepted in the end zone by Dondray Copeland. He returned it for a touchdown, but it was called back by penalty. The Bulldogs took a knee on the final untimed play for a 39-12 final score.
 
Wofford had 245 total yards, with 127 passing. The Citadel had 398 total yards, 273 of which were rushing. The Citadel had a 19 to 16 advantage in first downs. Wofford was 2-of-12 on third downs and 3-of-4 on fourth down. The Citadel was 7-of-13 on third down. Wofford was called for five penalties to The Citadel's ten. Wofford had a 33:00 to 27:00 time of possession advantage.
 
Wofford vs. The Citadel Post-Game Notes
 
The loss ended a 16-game winning streak in the series by the Terriers. The last win by The Citadel was September 12, 1998 (20-14). The twelve points scored by Wofford were the fewest against the Bulldogs since 1997. The 39 points by the Bulldogs were the most in the series since scoring 48 in 1990.
 
Wofford had more passing yards (127) than rushing yards (118) for the first time since 2004. On November 13, 2004 against Furman, Wofford had 174 rushing yards and 182 passing yards.
 
Wofford used three quarterbacks in a game for the second time this season (at Clemson).
 
All three losses this season for Wofford have come on the road. Four of the final five regular season games are at home.
 
Nick Ward (shoulder) left the game due to injury.
 
Game captains were Jaleel Green, Michael Weimer and Brion Anderson.
 
Attendance was 10,428 at Johnson Hagood Stadium.
 
Wofford will return home on October 17 against Western Carolina. The 2:00 p.m. game will be broadcast on ESPN3.