Oct. 14, 2002

Charleston, SC - Saturday night was a time of celebration for The Citadel's football team, which snapped a string of three straight close losses with a 26-7 win over East Tennessee State.

But beginning Sunday, the rest of the week will be devoted to cleaning up some rather messy play before next week's game at rival Furman (4-2, 2-1), which was ranked No. 5 in Division I-AA before Saturday's 16-15 loss at No. 4 Appalachian State.

The Bulldogs (2-4, 1-2) hurt themselves with seven penalties - one of them wiped out a 91-yard kickoff return for a touchdown by Bud Pough - and two fumbles, both of them at the ETSU goal line.

"We do have to play better," said quarterback Jeff Klein, who was limited to 10-of-22 passing for 113 yards by ETSU's hard-hitting defense. "Furman is going to challenge us, and our offense has to get better. But I will take an offensive day like we had (against ETSU) and a win over throwing for 400 yards in a loss any time."

Said coach Ellis Johnson, "No question we have to clean things up. I don't want to take anything away from East Tennessee State, they are capable of whipping anyone any day. But Furman has a senior quarterback who's been playing for three years (Billy Napier), they have a senior-junior team and we have to go play there.

"We'll have to play a heck of a lot better to win the game next week."

THE GOOD

Punter-placekicker Travis Zobel had one of the best days of his career, averaging a school-record 54.7 yards on three punts, kicking two field goals of 37 and 38 yards and turning a certain blocked punt into a 43-yard run in the first half. Jermaine Anderson's 41-yard punt return set up the Dogs' first TD.

The Bulldogs did rush for 220 yards against an ETSU defense that ranked first in the SoCon in rushing defense, though 43 of those yards were from the punter. Splitting time at tailback, Nate Mahoney (70 yards) and Nehemiah Broughton (99 yards, 2 TDs) combined for 169 yards on 38 attempts

The Bulldogs' defense, going to a 4-3 look, had seven sacks and 12 tackles for loss, with four sacks from end Cliff Washburn.

THE BAD

Penalties and dropped passes hurt the Bulldogs early in the game as Klein missed on his first six passes. A holding call wiped out what would have been Pough's second kickoff return for a TD. And Broughton and Mahoney both fumbled as they stretched for the goal line. Broughton's fumble was lost, but Klein picked up Mahoney's and scored for the Dogs' final TD.

INJURY REPORT

No serious injuries reported. Mahoney, who had missed two games with a dislocated elbow, said the elbow was fine after the game.

COMING UP

Furman can ill afford another loss if it hopes to win the SoCon title this season; the Paladins now trail App State (5-1, 3-0) by a game. Coach Bobby Lamb's team is likely to be in a foul mood after throwing away Saturday's game at App State. The Paladins scored with :07 left for a 15-14 lead, but went for two instead of kicking the extra point. App State defensive end Josh Jeffries intercepted Na-pier's pass and pitched the ball to defensive back Derrick Black, who ran 80 yards for a 2-point safety and a 16-15 victory for App State.

NEXT GAME

Who: The Citadel (2-4, 1-2 SoCon) at Furman (4-2, 2-1)

When: Saturday, 3:30 p.m.

Where: Paladin Stadium, Greenville

TV: CSS (Comcast Channel 42)

Radio: WCOO 105.5-FM