2 weeks Ago
Last year was a football season to forget for both The Citadel and Wofford . Under first-year head coaches, the Bulldogs went 0-11 in 2023, while the Terriers finished 2-9 with one of their two victories coming over The Citadel. Both programs have rebounded from last year’s debacle with Wofford having won five games and The Citadel four times this fall headed into this weekend’s Southern Conference finale.
The Bulldogs will face the Terriers on Nov. 16 at Gibbs Stadium in Spartanburg beginning at 1:30 p.m.
With two games left on Wofford’s schedule, the Terriers (5-6) could finish with a winning record. That’s something that Bulldogs coach Maurice Drayton wants to prevent. “Wofford has a chance to having a winning season, and we want to ruin that for them,” Drayton said.
“We want to sentence them to a non-winning season. That is our goal, no offense to Wofford or coach Shawn Watson, who is doing a great job there, but we want to ruin their season.” Three turnovers ultimately doom The Citadel's upset bid over No.
23 Chattanooga The Terriers will face nationally ranked South Carolina in the season finale on Nov. 23. Wofford is coming off a 19-14 victory over Furman this past weekend.
Wofford has used three different quarterbacks — Amari Odom, Pauly Seeley and Bryce Corriston — this season. Odom has been the most prolific, throwing for 1,191 yards and five touchdowns. “All three of their quarterbacks are capable, and all three have a different skill set, and that’s going to be a challenge to prepare for each one of them,” Drayton said.
Odom played virtually the entire game against Furman, throwing for 221 yards and a TD in the victory. Running back Ryan Ingram is coming off his best game of the season, rushing for 120 yards and a TD against the Paladins. “(Ingram) is the real deal,” Drayton said.
“We did not do a very good job of tackling against Chattanooga. We had more missed tackles against Chattanooga than we’ve had in the previous three or four games combined.” With NIL, the transfer portal and collectives, The Citadel athletics department is at a crossroads Citadel Hall of Famer Lyvonia ‘Stump’ Mitchell has been a regular at Bulldogs football games this season.
Mitchell, 65, was on the sidelines at the Bulldogs’ homecoming game this past weekend against Chattanooga. “Stump is like a big brother to me since I was a cadet at The Citadel,” Drayton said. “He’s been to multiple games this year.
He kind of stands away from everything and observes. He gives feedback, and it means everything to have him back on the sidelines for so many times this year.” Mitchell, the school’s all-time leading rusher with 4,062 yards, is one of just five players to have his jersey number retired at The Citadel.
As a senior, Mitchell ran for a school-record 1,647 yards and was the No. 2 rusher in Division I football behind Heisman Trophy winner George Rogers. He played nine seasons in the NFL, rushing for 4,649 yards and 32 touchdowns in nine NFL seasons with the Cardinals.
The Citadel's Tyler Cherry: 'I believe in this school, coaching staff' Mitchell has had an extended coaching career in the NFL with stints in Seattle, Washington, Arizona, New York (Jets) and Cleveland. In 2023, he was the running backs coach with the Browns. “He’s a resource that we definitely use,” Drayton said.
“We talk about situations and scenarios where I pick his brain all the time about what he might have done in a similar situation.” Kickoff for The Citadel’s game against Clemson on Nov. 23 is set for 3:30 p.
m. at Death Valley. This will be the 40th meeting between the Tigers and Bulldogs with Clemson holding a 33-5-1 overall mark in the series.
At The Citadel, active duty Marine living a football dream The Bulldogs, who have lost 18 straight games to Clemson in the series, last beat the Tigers 6-0 in 1931 in a game that took place in Florence. The Bulldogs' last win in Clemson (15-6) was in 1926. The Citadel’s next game against Clemson is set for Sept.
16, 2028, at Death Valley..
