Courtesy of Thomas Grant, Jr.-T&D Senior Sports Writer
Lift-A-Bulldog Brochure
The 2009 football season for South Carolina State was indeed a special one in the program’s 102-year-old history.
Save for the nightmarish ending against Appalachian State in the Football Championship Subdivision playoffs, the season was everything Oliver “Buddy” Pough could dream of and more. A second-straight undefeated run to a Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference championship in which the average margin of victory was 23.6 points, coupled with a Black College Football National Championship and the highest Top 10 finish in the FCS National polls since 1981, the 10-2 Bulldogs made it look easy for the most part in 2009.
Except when it comes to S.C. State, looks were truly deceiving. Given the Bulldogs managed all of their team accomplishments without the benefit of summer “voluntary workouts,” a prerequisite for teams with championship aspirations, and without arguably their top defensive player (linebacker Marshall McFadden) due to a preaseason injury, head football coach Oliver “Buddy” Pough can only reflect in sheer amazement.
“We were very fortunate in the fact that we had some really great players,” he said. “We had the leading receiver (Oliver “Tre” Young) in the history of the school. We had the leading rusher (Will Ford) in the history of the school. It was a special kind of team.”
Still, Pough wonders how far S.C. State could have lifted itself had the players remained on campus during the summer and got acclimated early to the “Orangeburg heat.” Although S.C. State reported to preseason camp in overall good condition, according to Pough, the team’s endurance and depth was severely taxed early with two games in six days in the state of Florida against defending Southwestern Athletic Conference champion Grambling and MEAC rival Bethune-Cookman.
Quarterback Malcolm Long battled cramps which forced him to leave the MEAC/SWAC Challenge early due to the humid conditions. The injury bug also crept up early starting with Ford hurting his shoulder while trying to drag down Grambling All-American defensive lineman Christian Anthony. A week later against Bethune-Cookman, center Casey Fortune went down with a season-ending knee injury.
A well-timed “bye” week enabled S.C. State, with the assistance of former strength and conditioning coach John Williams, to regroup and the rest, they say, was history. Nevertheless, Pough would rather avoid the road less traveled this upcoming season.
After lifting itself to a championship last season, S.C. State is seeking a helping hand from its fans and supporters. On Saturday, the school unveiled its 2010 summer sponsorship program, or the “Lift-A-Bulldog” program.
From now until June 15, the school is seeking donations of $1,000 per player, or as much as $3,000 for three players, which would cover their room and board expenses during the Summer II session from June 23-July 11.
Along with taking classes towards their respective degrees, the players will have an opportunity to better condition themselves for the season under the auspices of new strength and conditioning coach Torre Becton.
“In my experience as a strength and conditioning professional, I have found the benefits of a full-participation, off-season strength training program to be invaluable to the success of the team and tremendously advantageous in the development of the individual athlete,” writes Becton in the flyer promoting the program. “This summer conditioning program will offer an opportunity for the most intense training of the season to be conducted, which will develop team cohesiveness and mental toughness through physical adversity.”
The players will also get to conduct their own “team practices” without the supervision of the coaching staff, as stipulated by NCAA rules. These workouts have helped to develop team camaraderie and cohesion early before the rigors of actual games.
“You need to have an off-season because that’s how you build cohesion,” defensive lineman Joe Council said. “Once you have that, you start making strides on the field.”
For all this to happen, the Bulldogs will need to raise at least $63,000 to cover the entire football roster.
“We’re trying to just put together a base of money that we can use for a summer, in general for our guys to be able to go to summer school,” Pough said. “We had a tough time because of the fact that with budget cuts and everything that’s going on in our state right now, we couldn’t afford to bring them in. We’re trying to get our fan base to help us with that now, so hopefully we can get that done.
“We hear people all the time talk about how much they love the Bulldogs. Well, if you want us to be good, then we’ve got to get here this summer so that we can get into this fall practice and be in decent enough strength so that we can hit the ground running.”
Diehard Bulldog fan T.K. Bythewood has already answered Pough’s “challenge” with a donation during halftime of this past Saturday’s spring game. Fans who want to follow his example can send their payment to the following address:
South Carolina State Foundation Inc.
300 College St.
Orangeburg, SC 29117-0001
(803) 536-7242 or (803) 536-8900
Coach Pough and the coaching staff has done their part to “lift” the program to a high level. It’s now time for fans and supporters to help “lift” the Bulldogs to the next level of championship success.