Know Your Foe: The Citadel Bulldogs
2023 Record: 0-7 (0-4 SoCon)
Head Coach: Maurice Drayton (First Year)
Previous stops:
2022 - Las Vegas Raiders (asst. Special Teams coach)
2021 - Green Bay Packers (Special Teams Coordinator)
1999-2005, 2014-2015 - The Citadel (Multiple positions)
Last meeting: Samford W, 38-3
Fun Fact: Samford has won the last 4 matchups which is a record in the history of the matchup.
Team Overview
I mentioned last week that The VMI Keydets came into this season with zero expectations. Well I could just put “The Citadel” where “VMI” sits in that sentence. These Bulldogs were not picked to finish last but rather 8th by the coaches and 7th by the media. Unlike VMI, The Citadel did not have a single player on the first and or second team. I keep going back to this but even Coach Drayton told us that everyone wants to know the truth until you tell it, “We are a poor football team right now.”
The Citadel is fresh off of a bye week after a close rivalry game loss to the VMI, 17-13. That was their closest margin of their 7 losses this season. They had previously lost games by 34, 49, 45, 21, 35, and 14 points. Is that bad?. This Citadel team is transitioning from being an option offense to throwing the ball more. Those first couple years of that transition are and will be very challenging especially at a place like The Citadel.
On offense, the Bulldogs average 8.7 points per game which is the lowest in the entire FCS (122nd). The only team to average under 10 PPG. They average 241.4 yards per game which is 117th in the country. I knew the offense was bad but I had no idea it was this bad. On the defensive side of the ball, these Bulldogs give up 472.7 YPG which is 119th in the country and give up 37 PPG which is 118th in the country. The offensive line has only allowed 3 sacks which is the best in the Southern Conference.
The Citadel has played multiple QBs but QB #18 Graeson Underwood gets the bulk of the playing time as he is completing 52% of his passes with 2 TDs and 4 INTs. RB #27 Wallace Cooper is the best player on this team as he leads this Citadel offense in rushing AND receiving yards. The junior cadet-athlete has 251 rushing yards along with 172 receiving yards and 2 receiving TDs.
On the defensive side, LB #2 Thomas Wyatt leads the Bulldogs in total tackles 55. Thomas is an experienced football player and he will be all over the field for this team. DB #17 Carson Walter is second on the team in total tackles with 52.
To recap, The Citadel is exactly the type of team you schedule for a Homecoming game. This should be a nice and easy Homecoming win for the good Bulldogs. Ideally you only have to play the starters in the first half and let other young guys get their chance to shine in the second half.
Let’s all enjoy a nice day at Pete Hanna Stadium in what should be a great environment with good weather.
