Kentucky Football Preview – Know Your Enemy: Charleston Southern Buccaneers

GAME 10

NOVEMBER 6, 2010  12:30  PM

CHARLESTON SOUTHERN BUCCANEERS (2-6)

COMMONWEALTH STADIUM – Lexington, KY

TV – Pay per view

ONLINE – espn3.com

Here we go.  After a horrid six week stretch which saw Kentucky face four ranked teams, (and amass a 1-5 record), the NCAA’s version of “Hire a win” strolls into Lexington and it could not come at a better time for the Wildcats.  The Buccaneers have been on the schedule of the Florida Gators the last couple of seasons so they will not be intimidated by the crowd at Commonwealth.  That said, that should not stop the smack down any this year as this is a team that lost 66-7 to Hawaii and last week were 41-21 losers to Stony Brook.  As a matter of fact, Charleston Southern has been 0-7 versus FBS schools and I think the most impressive that about this Buccaneer team is that this year is the first year ever that the Bucs have flown more to road games (three times) than taken the bus (two times).

Yee ha!  Put on your Big Boy Pants, Bucs. and Kentucky fans, break out your miracle cures and ointments.  This is the week that Kentucky football gets well again!  This weeks scouting report of the Bucs is not as in depth as others, but I am kind of limited when even ESPN does not carry the stats for CSU football.

OFFENSE

From all indications, QB Andrew Trudnowski will lead the Buccaneer attack.  Trudnowski took over the attack after starter AJ Toscano went down to an injury.  In his three and a half games, Trudnowski has passed for 875 yards and has 6 TD’s vs 6 INT’s.  Trudnowski is not terribly accurate, completing just 52.1% of his passes.  At 6’4 and 220, Trudnowski is not that mobile and is not a threat to leave the pocket, which has to be a relief to Steve Brown.  I have not found much on Tuscano’s injury, but if he does play, he is a bit more accurate on his passes (60.7%) and had passed for 9 TD’s versus 4 INT’s.  Both QB averaged about 215 yards passing a game.

Senior DeMarcus Moon is the leader of the Buccaneers ground attack.  He has amassed 323 yards rushing on the season and has all six of CSU’s rushing TD’s.  The fact that he is the focal point of the rushing attack and is averaging just 40.4 years a game does not say a lot about the ground game.  WR Gerald Stevenson is actually the second leading ball carrier with 33 carries on the season and a 4.7 yard per carry average.  BJ Hackworth appears to be their version of Moncell Allen at 6’0 and 240.  Hackworth has the best per carry average on the team at 4.9.  There does not seem to be a lot here to worry Kentucky as the ground game for CSU is averaging just 89.9 yards a game.

The aforementioned Gerald Stevenson is the top WR for the Bucs.  He is just 5’10 and 165, but he is averaging 91.9 yards a game and has two TD’s receiving.  Kwame Krakue has just 400 yards on the season, but has been coming on strong lately and getting more involved in the passing game.  He has three TD’s on the season.  Anthony Chalmers is a bigger WR (6’2) than the other two wideouts and he also has 3 TD’s among his 20 catches.  Devon Lee, at 6’1, has nearly identical stats to Chalmers with 3 TD’s among his 20 catches.  While Kentucky should have no problem shutting down the CSU receivers, you do notice that the Bucs doe spread the ball around.  They have five targets that have over 200 yards receiving on the season.

DEFENSE

The numbers basically say it all here, so let’s look at some fun stats on Charleston Southern.  Against mostly inferior teams to Kentucky, the defense is allowing 37.4 points a game.  They have given up 23 TD’s on the ground and 197 yards a game on the ground.  They are giving up 422 yards a game and 111 points in the fourth quarter alone.  This is a defense Kentucky should shred easily, even without Derrick Locke.

Sophomore CB Charles James is the one diamond in the rough for the CSU defense.  He has 5 INT’s on the season and 8 pass breakups, but at 5’10, may have his work cut out for him against the Cat’s taller WR’s.  Weakside LB Chris Patrick is probably the best defensive player for the Bucs and has a nose for ending up where the ball is.  He already has 63 tackles on the season.

OUTLOOK

Honestly, this should not be a game at all.  CSU is simply not a challenge for a SEC team.  Now don’t confuse that comment with my saying I dislike Kentucky scheduling a game like this.  In the tough SEC, you have to take a step out and “hire a win”, so be it.  Florida played CSU last year and they were a top five team.  As long as teams can win national titles and still schedule teams like this, I am not going to knock UK’s doing it.  Kentucky gets well this week, and plays all their reserves to boot in a 49-7 win. 

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