BOILING SPRINGS, N.C. - Gardner-Webb looks to claim their second straight conference championship, hosting Charleston Southern in the final regular season game of the season on Saturday, Nov. 18.
Charleston Southern (4-6, 2-3 Big South-OVC) at Gardner-Webb (6-4, 4-1 Big South-OVC)
Saturday, Nov. 18 - 1:00 PM
Spangler Stadium - Boiling Springs, N.C.
WATCH (ESPN+) (Phil Constantino & Mark Covert)
LISTEN (Runnin' Bulldog Sports Network Presented by AlphaGraphics South Charlotte) (Dave Friedman & Marc Rabb)
LIVE STATS
THE GAME
The Runnin' Bulldogs close out the regular season, hosting Charleston Southern in a Big South-OVC contest. With a win, Gardner-Webb clinches a share of the Big South-OVC conference championship and the automatic bid to the FCS Playoffs. Kickoff is set for 1:00 PM. Phil Constantino and Mark Covert will have the call on ESPN+, while Dave Friedman and former Assistant Athletic Director for Athletic Communications and Chuck Burch Meritorious Service Award Marc Rabb will be on the radio call on the Runnin' Bulldog Sports Network presented by AlphaGraphics South Charlotte. Fans can tune in online at gwusports.com, via the Varsity Network app, or on the radio via WGNC 1450 AM/101.1 FM.
THE STAKES
With a win, Gardner-Webb would clinch a share of the Big South-OVC championship and the Association's automatic bid to the FCS Playoffs. GWU does so by virtue of defeating UT Martin, who would also finish the year with a 5-1 conference record, 38-34 on Oct. 28. Should Charleston Southern defeat Gardner-Webb, UT Martin wins the Big South-OVC outright and earns the FCS Playoff auto-bid. The conference championship would be the fourth Division-I conference championship in program history, and the sixth overall.
SERIES NOTES
Gardner-Webb leads the all-time series 12-11, with the two teams having played each other every year since 2002. Gardner-Webb won the first five meetings in the series from 1988-2004. Charleston Southern won five in a row from 2017-2021, and have won eight of the last 11 games. GWU broke the losing streak to the Bucs last season with a 28-14 win on Oct. 22, 2022. Gardner-Webb and Charleston Southern are the only two original Big South teams from 2002 left in the conference.
THE HEAD COACHES
Gardner-Webb head coach Tre Lamb is the second-youngest skipper in Division I football at age 34. He is 19-19 in his brief tenure, with seven of those losses coming to 85-scholarship FBS programs. Gabe Giardina is in his first season at CSU with a 4-6 record, and is 41-23 in six years as head coach. Giardina was previously at Division-II Albany State, Giardina went 37-17, including a 26-5 conference record, and led the Rams to the 2021 SIAC Championship.
SCOUTING CHARLESTON SOUTHERN
CSU enters the game 4-6 overall and 2-3 in conference play following a 14-12 loss to Robert Morris. Noah Jennings had eight catches for 208 yards and a touchdown against the Colonials. Charleston Southern has had success in the passing game this season, averaging 12.6 yards per completion. Will Kakavitsas ranks second in the conference, averaging 17.9 yards per catch, while Jennings ranks fourth with 16.7 yards per catch. The Bucs offensive line has been stout, allowing just 1.5 sacks a game, and have helped TJ Ruff rush for 593 yars this season, the fifth-most in the conference. On defense, Darrius Bell leads the conference with two fumble recoveries, while Dominic Pagano has 28 tackles and three interceptions.
LAST TIME OUT
Gardner-Webb enters this week's contest 6-4 overall and 4-1 in Big South-OVC play following a 35-0 win at Tennessee Tech. Jamari Brown and Ja'Kai Young both returned interceptions for touchdowns, the first time GWU has done so in the Division-I era. The Gardner-Webb defense held Tennessee Tech to just 23 yards rushing and 0-for-5 on fourth down attempts. On offense, quarterback Jaylen King went 12-for-19 for 171 yards and three touchdowns. Narii Gaither had two catches for 82 yards and two touchdowns.
GETTING CLOSER
Ty French recorded a strip sack last week against #13 UT Martin, allowing Ty Anderson to return the ball 36 yards for a touchdown. French is now 0.5 sacks shy of tying former GWU Runnin' Bulldog and Green Bay Packer Gabe Wilkins (1990-93) for the most in school history (29.0). French also has 15.5 tackles-for-loss this season, the 10th most in the FCS and the 11th most in a single season in GWU football history. For his career, French has 56 tackles-for-loss, tied with Brian Johnston (2004-07) for the most in program history.
RECORD BREAKER
Running back Narii Gaither (5-10, 181, R-Sr.) now has 3,074 career rushing yards, becoming just the second player in program history to rush for at least 3,000 yards. Gaither also has 102 career receptions, passing Philip Keefe for the most career pass receptions by a running back in Gardner-Webb history, while his eleven receiving touchdowns are the most in program history. Gaither's 922 career receiving yards are also the most by a running back in program history.
BACK IN BLACK
Last season, Gardner-Webb opened the year with new black helmets, defeating Limestone 56-21 in the season opener. The Runnin' Bulldogs donned the black helmets in all five conference games last season, culminating in the program's first Big South Conference championship since 2003. The black magic continued for GWU in the first round of the FCS Playoffs, rolling to a 52-41 victory over Eastern Kentucky in the 2022 FCS Playoffs. While the streak ended at #5 William & Mary the next week, GWU broke out the black helmets again on Oct. 21, 2023, defeating EKU 35-32. GWU has worn the black helmets in their last four games, winning all four. Gardner-Webb is now 10-1 all-time in the new black helmets.
ANOTHER CHAMPIONSHIP OPPORTUNITY
The 2023 Gardner-Webb football team finds itself in a familiar position, hosting a conference championship opportunity at Spangler Stadium for the second straight season. Last year, the Runnin' Bulldogs faced North Carolina A&T in a defacto Big South Championship game, as both teams entered the contest 4-0 in conference play. The Aggies took a 14-10 lead early in the second quarter, but GWU scored 17 unanswered points to go ahead 31-17 entering the fourth. A one-yard touchdown run by Jayden Brown iced the game, and Gardner-Webb took home the hardware for the first time in 19 years, defeating NCA&T 38-17 and winning the Big South Championship.
OUR HOUSE
Gardner-Webb is 4-0 at Spangler Stadium this season, and has a chance to finish the regular season undefeated at home for the first time since 2003. In his four seasons at Gardner-Webb, Tre Lamb has never had a losing record at home, going 12-4 inside Spangler Stadium. Since moving to the Division-I level in 2000, the Runnin' Bulldogs are 78-48 at home, winning 15 straight home games from Oct. 6, 2001-Sept. 18, 2004. Gardner-Webb has won six straight games inside Spangler Stadium, including a 38-34 win over #13 UT Martin earlier this year. GWU's last home loss came on Sept. 24, 2022, a 45-14 loss to #16 Mercer. Gardner-Webb has not lost a conference game at home since Nov. 13, 2021, a 32-24 loss in double overtime to Charleston Southern.
WHERE THERE'S A WILL, THERE'S A TACKLE
For the past two years, William McRainey has been a head hunter for the Runnin' Bulldogs, recording over 100 tackles the past two seasons. Last year, McRainey led the team with 104 tackles, with 9.0 TFL and 5.5 sacks. McRainey has started all 38 games he has played in since earning the starting linebacker job in the 2021 spring season. This season, McRainey has 83 total tackles, picking up 11 tackles in back-to-back games against Austin Peay and Robert Morris, and 14 tackles, along with an interception, against Eastern Kentucky. McRainey now has 315 tackles for his career, the 15th most for any Gardner-Webb player in program history.
BIG SOUTH STATS
Gardner-Webb is 50-58 all-time in Big South Conference or Big South-OVC play since joining the conference in 2002. Gardner-Webb has gone undefeated in conference play three times, in 2002 (3-0), 2003 (4-0), and 2022 (5-0). The Runnin' Bulldogs did opened their time in the Big South with six straight seasons without a losing record in conference play, going 15-8 in conference games from 2002-2007, winning seven conference games in a row before falling to Liberty 17-9 on Oct. 2, 2004. Last season's 5-0 record in Big South play ended a stretch from 2017-2021 where Gardner-Webb failed to record a winning record in conference play, going just 5-21 in that time span.
YOU'RE GOING NOWHERE
In last week's 35-0 win over Tennessee Tech, Gardner-Webb recorded 18 tackles-for-loss, setting a new school and Big South record. The previous record for the Runnin' Bulldogs in a game was 14, last set on Mar. 6, 2021 vs Presbyterian College. Eleven different players recorded at least a half tackle-for-loss in the game, led by Ty French with 3.5. Brendan Jackson had three tackles-for-loss against the Golden Eagles, while Ty Anderson finished with 2.5. The Runnin' Bulldogs also picked up four sacks in the shutout victory, with two of those coming from Jackson. Gardner-Webb also held Tennessee Tech to just 23 rushing yards on 39 attempts, the lowest since holding Robert Morris to five rushing yards on 34 attempts on Oct. 23, 2021. The Runnin' Bulldog defense also held Tennessee Tech to 0-for-5 on fourth down attempts, and Raequan Ousley blocked a field goal to keep the shutout alive.
KING ME
Jaylen King has started to earn recognition over the past few weeks, as the true freshman has gone 4-1 in his first five career starts, winning four games in a row. King earned his first career conference honor from the Big South-OVC Football Association, after recording 254 yards of total offense and three touchdowns, as the quarterback helped lead Gardner-Webb to a 38-34 upset victory over #13/14 UT Martin. King came up big on the final drive of the game, leading a 16-play, 90-yard drive to score a 10-yard rushing TD with 0:13 left in the contest. The Runnin' Bulldogs also converted three fourth downs on the final drive. The Folkston, Ga. native showed off his arm as well, finding Jayden Brown for a 71-yard passing touchdown in the first quarter, and also ending the first half with a one-yard strike to Karim Page to put GWU up 31-20 at the break. Against one of the best defenses in the FCS, King was 16-for-33 with 216 passing yards and two touchdowns. On the ground, King had 17 rushes, for 38 yards with the game-winning rushing touchdown.
King also earned FedEx Ground FCS National Freshman Honorable Mention honors in three straight weeks. His first honor came on Oct. 23, after going 14-for-18 for 185 yards with one touchdown pass and rushing for 46 yards and a touchdown in Gardner-Webb's 35-32 win over Eastern Kentucky. Last week against Tennessee Tech, King went 12-for-19 for 171 yards and three touchdowns, recording touchdown passes of 23, 59, and 62 yards.
JUST GO (FOR) IT
In their last three games, Gardner-Webb has gone 12-for-14 on fourth down attempts (85.7 percent). The Runnin' Bulldogs were a perfect 5-for-5 on fourth downs against UT Martin and went 7-for-8 against Bryant. This year, GWU has converted 24 total fourth downs, tied with North Alabama for the most in the FCS. GWU is 24-for-37 on fourth down this season, with their 64.9 percent conversion rank tied for 17th in the FCS.
BRICK WALL
The Gardner-Webb rushing defense has been a brick wall this season, holding teams to just 107.1 rushing yards per game. That mark is the 17th best in the FCS and second-best in the Big South-OVC. Three times this season, the Runnin' Bulldogs have held teams to under 100 rushing yards in a game, holding Robert Morris to just 33 rushing yards and held Bryant to just 68 rushing yards. Last week, GWU held Tennessee Tech to just 23 yards rushing and picked up 18 tackles-for-loss. UT Martin running back Sam Franklin entered the contest between GWU and the Skyhawks leading the Big South-OVC averaging roughly 140 yards per game. Gardner-Webb held Franklin to just 70 yards for the game.
UP NEXT
Should Gardner-Webb win against Charleston Southern, the Runnin' Bulldogs will earn their second straight trip to the FCS Playoffs. The 2023 FCS Playoff Selection Show is set for Sunday, Nov. 19 on ESPNU at 12:30 P.M. The next game would be played on Saturday, Nov. 25.
