Boxscore

Orangeburg, S.C. - South Carolina State showed why it is the pre-season favorite to win the MEAC title as it scored on its first six possessions en route to a 56-0 shutout win over Howard University in a Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference game at Oliver C. Dawson Bulldog Stadium.  The game was nationally televised on ESPNU.

The Bulldogs (8-2 overall, 6-0 in the MEAC), who are ranked Number 18 in the Football Championship Subdivision, put the game away early, marching 80 yards in only eight plays, using a little more than 3 minutes off the clock.  Talented junior running back William Ford, the MEAC offensive pre-season player of the year, capped off the drive with a 10-yard run for his 10^th TD of the season and a 7-0 lead.

The SC State defense did its part on the Howard possession, forcing the first of many three-and-outs and the Bulldog offense capitalized.  Red-shirt freshman Dewain Clark, who was starting in place of injured Malcolm Long, accounted for most of the 69 yards on a six-play drive with red-shirt junior Travil Jamison scoring from a yard out.

With the Bison defense focused on slowing down the potent Bulldog rushing attack, Clark went to the air on the next scoring drive and connected with Dusten Dubose from 9 yards out.

Howard, which was limited to a season-low 56 yards total offense in the first, could not getting anything going against the Bulldog defense, thus creating more scoring opportunities. Jamison scored the second of his three touchdowns on the night at the 6:21 mark of the second quarter.  Ford, who finished with 86 yards on only 12 carries, all in the first half, scored his second TD of the game less than a minute later following a Bison turnover as the margin bulged to 35-0.

Even seldom-used senior running back Anthony Campbell, who led all rushers with 100 yards and two TDs, also got into the act, galloping in from 14 yards to give SC State an insurmountable 42-0 lead at intermission.

In the second half, the Bulldogs substituted liberally but were still able to score twice and keep Howard off the scoreboard for the first time since a 12-0 shutout at Winston-Salem State in 2006.

The bright spots for Howard were red-shirt junior Ramon "Ray Ray" McElrathbey, who led the team with 55 yards on 18 carries and red-shirt sophomore Patrick Wolff, who averaged a career-best 42.2 yard per punt on six punts.

Howard red-shirt junior quarterback Floyd Haigler, the leading passer in the MEAC with 255 yards per game, completed 13 of 22 for a season-low 94 yards and an interception.  The Orangeburg native was sacked five times in his final return home.

There was much concern in the SC State corner on whether Clark could handle the pressure.  But the red-shirt freshman appeared unfazed as he rushed for 89 yards on seven carries and completed 11 of 14 passes for 175 yards and a TD.  It must be noted that he was the beneficiary of a running game that produced 366 yards for a whopping seven yards per carry.

NEXT UP: The Bison have a few days off before they travel to Daytona Beach, FL to take on the Wildcats of Bethune-Cookman University on November 15 at 4 pm.  The Bulldogs will try to move a step closer to the MEAC title when they travel to Baltimore, MD on November 15 to play the Bears of Morgan State University, who have only one loss headed into this Saturday's game at Norfolk State.