CHARLESTON, S.C. - Charleston Southern's 2003 football season, their first under first-year head coach Jay Mills, got off to a rough start as the Buccaneers fell to cross-town rival The Citadel, 64-10, at Johnson Hagood Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

The Citadel rolled up 435 yards on the ground, finishing with 575 total yards in the contest. The Bulldogs scored 20 points in the opening quarter, led 34-3 at the half, and iced the game away with a 30-point fourth quarter. The Citadel also scored two touchdowns defensively and recorded a safety in beating the Buccaneers for the second straight year.

"Certainly The Citadel was the better football team and coach (Ellis) Johnson and his players deserve all the credit," said Mills. "We did not play as well as we expected to play. We made mistakes today that we had not been making during this last month of practice. Our effort level was very good but the mistakes we made were too much to overcome."

Ern Mills led The Citadel's rushing effort with 189 yards and two touchdowns. Mills' 90-yard touchdown run with 11:18 remaining in the second quarter put the Bulldogs up, 27-0. The Citadel also scored two defensive touchdowns and recorded a safety while limiting the Buccaneers to 169 total yards.

A pair of freshmen handled the scoring for Charleston Southern. Placekicker Nick Ellis gave the Buccaneers their first points when he nailed a 41-yard field goal as time expired in the second quarter. Running back Robert Adams scored his first collegiate touchdown on a two-yard run with 11:59 remaining in the fourth quarter. That touchdown capped CSU's most impressive drive of the afternoon, a six-play, 78-yard drive.

The Citadel scored four times in the opening quarter, getting a 43-yard and a 45-yard field goal from Travis Zobel on the first two possessions for an early 6-0 lead. Quarterback Willie Simmons connected with Scooter Johnson on a 45-yard touchdown pass with 3:49 remaining for a 13-0 lead. Less than a minute later, Anthony Roberts intercepted a Clint Chappell pass and returned it 38 yards for a touchdown and a 20-0 lead after one quarter.

After Mills made it 27-0 with his long jaunt, Citadel linebacker Julian West scooped up a bad snap and returned it five yards for a score and a 34-0 lead.

After a scoreless third quarter, Johnson and Simmons connected again early in the fourth, this time on a 49-yard scoring play to make it 41-3. After Adams put CSU on the board with his score, the Bulldogs proceeded to score three touchdowns and a safety in the final 8:23 of the contest.

CSU started Chappell, the redshirt sophomore, at quarterback but freshman Collin Drafts saw extensive playing time. Chappell completed eight-of-21 passes for 127 yards while Drafts completed five-of-10 passes for 45 yards.

Travis Mays led the Buccaneers' rushing effort with 38 yards on 11 carries. CSU, due to 92 yards in losses, finished the game with minus three yards rushing. The offense was hurt by five bad snaps out of the shotgun, one resulting in a safety.

Senior Aaron Dunklin caught five passes for 44 yards, including a 31-yard connection with Drafts. Don Phillips added four receptions for 41 yards and fullback Jeremy Lane caught a 48-yard pass to set up CSU's only touchdown on the day.

CSU's defense, on the field for 72 snaps, was led by junior linebacker Bowe Butler's 10 tackles. Linebacker Torri Barber added nine hits. A pair of freshmen, linebacker Jonna Lee and defensive back Jarred Lawson, made the most of their first college action. Lee finished with six total tackles and Lawson stopped a Bulldog drive with an interception at the CSU 12-yard line.

"We go into every game expecting to win and we will always do that but at the same time we know we have to play very well in order to have a chance to win," said Mills. "We got behind early and it seemed like one mistake led to another. The encouraging thing is that the mistakes we made are correctable. This football team can overcome what happened today. We're going to work very hard this next week in practice and we're going to maintain a positive approach with these kids. They say you show the most improvement from your first game to your second game so that's what we're shooting for this week."

CSU hits the road again next Saturday, playing at Wingate University. Kickoff is set for 1:30 p.m.