SPARTANBURG, S.C. - Aaron Miller came up inches shy of the goal line on the final play of the game, allowing Wofford to escape with a 17-13 victory over The Citadel in the Southern Conference opener for both teams on Saturday at Gibbs Stadium.

The Bulldogs (1-4, 0-1 SoCon) lost to the Terriers (3-2, 1-0) for the 16th straight season but not before driving 64 yards in 16 plays in the final 2:45. Miller completed seven passes for 57 yards on The Citadel's final possession, including a fourth-down conversion hookup with Jake Stenson.

Consecutive completions of 11 yards to Brandon Eakins and Vinny Miller gave the Bulldogs a first and goal at the Wofford three. A spiked pass on first down was followed by a throw to Eakins that fell just short of the wide receiver in the end zone. On third down, Miller rolled out to his left and managed to avoid a sack, throwing the ball out of bounds with one second left.

With The Citadel facing fourth down, Miller ran a designed quarterback draw and dove for the end zone where he was met by Kevin Thomas. Thomas was able to spin Miller around and keep him from scoring the winning touchdown.

Miller completed nine of 18 passes for 97 yards and led the Bulldogs in rushing with 60 yards on 21 carries. Freshman Cam Jackson added 56 yards on 12 attempts and scored The Citadel's lone touchdown on an 11-yard run with 9:41 left in the third quarter that gave the visitors their only lead of the game at 13-10. The touchdown was the first for Jackson as a Bulldog.

The Terriers followed the Jackson touchdown by immediately threatening to go back in front. A 47-yard run by Evan Jacks and four runs by Lorenzo Long brought the ball to The Citadel four. But Mark Thomas forced and recovered a Long fumble to protect the Bulldogs' tenuous advantage.

Wofford got the ball back after a 52-yard punt by Will Vanvick and quickly reached Citadel territory on a 28-yard run by Will Gay. Four plays later, Jacks kept and raced 25 yards for a touchdown with 17 seconds left in the third quarter that ultimately proved to be the game-winning score.

After a three-and-out possession for the Bulldogs, the Wofford ground game was back on the march, with a 17-yard run by Will Irwin converting a 3rd-and-10 and a 10-yard carry by Jacks on a 4th-and-2 play putting the Terriers at the 26. But again The Citadel forced a turnover when Mitchell Jeter stripped Jacks of the ball and recovered it to keep it a one-score game.

Jeter recovered a pair of fumbles in the game, with the first leading to a field goal by Eric Goins in the second quarter for the first Citadel points. Jeter led the Bulldogs with 12 tackles, followed by Tevin Floyd with nine and Justin Oxendine with eight. Jeter and Oxendine both had two tackles for loss, and Carson Smith recorded a sack.

The Bulldogs took over at their own 33 following the Jacks fumble, and appeared poised to take the lead, driving to the Wofford 31, but Isiaha Smith was stopped shy of the sticks on a fourth-down run. The Terriers took over but were unable to run out the clock, giving The Citadel one more chance.

In a battle between two of the top five rushing teams in the FCS, only Wofford was able to match its season average. The Terriers, who were averaging 299 yards per game prior to Saturday, picked up 314 yards on the ground led by Jacks with 141 yards on 22 carries and two touchdowns and Long with 23 totes for 84 yards.

The Bulldogs, who were one spot ahead of Wofford with a mark of 300 yards per outing, were limited to 199 yards on the ground on 54 attempts.

Both teams enjoyed lengthy drives in the first quarter, with The Citadel marching to the Wofford 26 before turning it over on downs. Wofford then went 74 yards the first time it had the ball and took a 7-0 lead on a one-yard scoring plunge by Jacks.

After Goins put The Citadel on the board with his first of two field goals, the Terriers went on a 20-play, 74-yard drive that took more than 10 minutes off the clock. Wofford was kept out of the end zone, but a 29-yard field goal by David Marvin made it 10-3 at the 5:09 mark of the second quarter.

That was enough time for the Bulldogs to dent the scoreboard one more time before intermission. A 21-yard pass from Miller to Eakins led to a 35-yard field goal by Goins with 15 seconds left in the half, and The Citadel trailed only 10-6 at the break.

With his two three-pointers, Goins remained perfect in seven field goal tries in his first season as the Bulldogs' placekicker.

The Bulldogs will look to get back on track next Saturday when they host Charlotte in their final non-conference game of the season at 2 p.m. Wofford stays in the SoCon when it travels to Western Carolina.