Sept. 25, 2003

Charleston, SC - Back in August, Ross Armstrong sat on the porch of the Sea Island Yacht Club and ran his hand through a tangle of curly blond hair.

"It'll have to come off soon," Armstrong sighed.

The Citadel's junior tight end spent that weekend helping to sail the Grey Ghost, a Sea Island One Design boat, through the waters of Bohicket Creek in the Rockville Regatta.

A day later, his hair freshly cut, Armstrong reported for the first day of football practice.

"It's 100 percent football during the season. There's no time to go to the beach, no time for surfing or wakeboarding or sailing. I love all that, but during the season it's got to be 100 percent football."

Armstrong, a 6-2, 225-pound junior described by a teammate as The Citadel's "secret weapon," comes by his love of water sports naturally.

Born in Charleston, he grew up in Moncks Corner making weekend visits to the beach for surfing. Later, after his family moved to Columbia, there were weekends on Lake Murray sailing Hobie Cats with his dad.

And then there were the years he spent as a competitive swimmer, when he was ranked nationally in seven events as a 10-year-old. (Armstrong also spent five years in ballet class, but would rather you didn't know about that).

"I was in the water three times a day, starting at 5 a.m.," he said. "If you do that long enough, I guess you get to love it."

The move from surf to football turf began in seventh grade, when Armstrong began to play football. He and Citadel teammate Bud Pough (a senior receiver) grew up as friends and neighbors in Columbia, while Pough's dad, South Carolina State coach Buddy Pough, was working at local high schools and then at South Carolina.

Pough and Armstrong played baseball and football together at Ridge View High School, leading their team to a Lower State championship in 1998. Armstrong followed Pough to The Citadel and they both caught their first college pass in the 2001 season opener against Georgia Tech.

Armstrong caught only one more pass that season, but in 2002 emerged as a valuable pass receiver. He caught 19 passes for 265 yards and one touchdown, and is perhaps best remembered for a touchdown he didn't score in a 34-30 loss at Wyoming.

In that game, Armstrong caught a 43-yard pass from quarterback Jeff Klein and sprinted toward the end zone, fumbling as he crossed the goal line. Teammate Scooter Johnson recovered for the touchdown.

This season, more of the same -- minus the fumble -- was expected from Armstrong, who shares time at tight end with senior Chris Franklin.

"Ross is our secret weapon," safety T.J. Rose said during the preseason.

Armstrong didn't catch a pass until the third game, but the ball came his way more often in last week's 28-21 loss at Western Carolina. He caught two balls for 54 yards, including a 42-yarder that set up the Bulldogs' first TD. Quarterback Willie Simmons completed 23 of 38 passes for 323 yards and two touchdowns as seven different receivers caught passes, and the Bulldogs scored 21 points in the second half.

"The first half, it was like treading water," Armstrong said. "When they stopped us on the goal line, that was so frustrating. But at halftime, we realized we were better than those guys and we had the offensive effort we should have had in the first half. It definitely carried over to the first couple of practices, so I hope it will carry over to our next game."

NOTES

Aside from the football game against Appalachian State, there is plenty going on at The Citadel this weekend. The volleyball team is at home against Davidson at 7 p.m. Friday ... The cross-country teams host the 22nd annual Citadel Invitational Saturday morning at James Island County Park.

The men's and women's golf teams are both in Myrtle Beach for the Sea Trail Intercollegiate tournament ... And the women's soccer team hosts Elon at 11:30 a.m. Saturday.