Oct. 1, 2002

Charleston, SC - If Citadel football coach Ellis Johnson had his way, the Bulldogs would have an open date this week.

A week off after a tough opening month would give the 1-3 Bulldogs a chance to heal and catch a breath before taking on the heart of their Southern Conference schedule.

"This would be the perfect time for an open date," Johnson said at his weekly news conference Monday.

Instead, the Bulldogs face the longest trip a Citadel football team ever has undertaken - 1,742 miles across the country to Laramie, Wyo. There, The Citadel will take on the University of Wyoming Cowboys at War Memorial Stadium. Elevation - 7,200 feet above sea level, matching Northern Arizona's as the highest stadium in the country.

The game against Division I-A Wyoming, which plays in the Mountain West Conference, has been on the Bulldogs' schedule for years. Johnson talked to Wyoming coach Vic Koenning a year ago about getting out of the game. And then Citadel athletic director Les Robinson landed a big payday at Louisiana State this season, giving the Bulldogs two games against Division I-A teams on their first 12-game schedule.

"We're just not ready for that," said Johnson, whose team lost 35-10 at LSU in a season opener that brought The Citadel about $425,000. "But the Wyoming game has been on the schedule long enough, I guess we just didn't want to take it off."

After chartering a flight to Laramie and spending a night there, The Citadel will just about break even on the trip, Robinson said.

"Thank goodness for LSU," Robinson said. After securing the LSU game, Robinson offered to negotiate a settlement with Wyoming.

"They didn't want to negotiate," Robinson said. "We couldn't offer them $100,000 or anything like that. We couldn't make it worth their while."

As it is, the Bulldogs will play 12 games without a week off this season. Johnson said his players might not even put on pads this week in practice in an effort to stay fresh.

"The stretch of games after this week is very important, very critical," he said. "We need to come through this week and this game as best we can."

In the future, though, the Bulldogs might take off the first weekend in October.

"That could be real advantageous to us," Johnson said. "This is a pretty good time for an open date, and I like the way it falls on our conference slate. It's something in the future we ought to look at."

NOTES

Johnson said the Bulldogs will likely hold out senior tailback Nate Mahoney (dislocated elbow) again this week.

"He's not yet at full speed, and we need him for the conference stretch," Johnson said. With Mahoney out, sophomore Nehemiah Broughton has rushed for 221 yards in the last two games.

The Citadel's player of the game against App State was junior receiver Bud Pough, who caught three passes for 67 yards and returned a kickoff 100 yards for a touchdown; Bulldog of the week was sophomore cornerback Marcus Cohen (8 tackles, interception returned 88 yards for TD). Difference-makers were QB Jeff Klein on offense (18-33, 246 yards, 2 TDS), Dog safety T.J. Rose on defense (10 tackles) and holder Matt Healy on special teams.

With junior defensive end Larry Schreiber bothered by a sore shoulder, freshman Fred Town-send is listed as the starter this week.

Schreiber had two tackles in limited action at App State; Townsend (6-1, 250) also had two.

NEXT GAME

Who: The Citadel (1-3) at Wyoming (0-4)

When: Saturday, 3 p.m.

TV: None