The Citadel at Old Dominion Game Notes
Gameday Central
Charleston, S.C. – For the second straight week The Citadel football team will hit the road when it travels to Norfolk, Va., to take on Old Dominion for a 6 p.m. kickoff at S.B. Ballard Stadium in the first-ever meeting between the two programs.
Both The Citadel and Old Dominion are coming off its first wins of the 2013 season last week and enter the contest with records of 1-2. The Citadel closed out the first game on its road schedule with a 28-21 win over Western Carolina, improving its Southern Conference mark to 1-1. Old Dominion topped Howard 76-19 in its home opener.
Old Dominion, which reinstated its football program in 2009 after a 69-year absence, made the transition to the FBS this season after spending its first four seasons in the FCS. The Bulldogs have played 51 games against teams of the higher classification and hold a record of 7-44 in those contests. The Citadel last topped an FBS opponent in 1992 when it beat Arkansas and Army en route to its last Southern Conference championship.
The radio broadcast on The Citadel Sports Network gets underway with The Citadel Tailgate Show at 4 p.m. The broadcast, led by play-by-play announcer Danny Reed, can be heard in Charleston on Sports Radio 1450 AM, on affiliates throughout South Carolina and online by going to charlestonsportsradio.com.
Live stats are available through www.ODUSports.com. The game will also be telecast locally in the Hampton Roads area on Cox Cable 114.
Old Dominion's roster boasts the reigning Walter Payton Award winner, which is given annually to the best player in the FCS, in quarterback Taylor Heinicke. Saturday will mark the fourth time that the Bulldogs face off against the reigning award winner.
Darien Robinson and Ben Dupree have the opportunity to continue climbing The Citadel career rushing chart on Saturday. Robinson, who has climbed three spots in three games, is 20 yards shy of passing Antonio Smith (1995-98) for eighth place in school history. Robinson has 332 career rushes for 2,106 yards.
Dupree, who posted the fourth 100-yard game of his career last week with 126 against Western Carolina, is in 13th place in program history with 1,907 yards and needs just eight yards to past Tom Frooman (1985-87, 89) for 12th.
Dupree also sits in ninth place in The Citadel record book with 21 rushing touchdowns, one shy of tying Andrew Johnson (1973-76) for eighth, and has 453 career rushing attempts which is good for seventh in school history, 32 behind Maurice Murphy (1999-01).
Defensively, linebacker Carl Robinson recorded tackle totals of 14, 16 and nine through the first three games of his junior season to share the Southern Conference lead with 39 on the year.
Three-year captain Derek Douglas enters Saturday's game in 11th place in school history with 33 career tackles for loss and is tied for sixth place with 13 career sacks.
Following the game against Old Dominion, the Bulldogs return to Charleston for a two-game homestand against Furman on Sept. 28 and Appalachian State on Oct. 5 for Parents' Day.
