CHARLESTON, S.C. - A 26-yard field goal by John Paglia with time winding down proved the difference at Buccaneer Field, Saturday as Charleston Southern took down Gardner-Webb 13-10 in the Big South opener for both teams.

Special teams were key for CSU as a 61-yard kickoff return by Gerald Stevenson set up the game-winning drive. Stevenson, who had 103 yards on three returns, scampered 61 yards to try and provide an answer to the 21-yard field goal by Ryan Gates tied the game with 1:46 on the clock. Freshman punter Andy Brown also played a major role in the game with seven puts for 316 yards, a 45.1 yard average. Of his seven punts, five were inside the 20 and four were inside the 10 yardline, none bounced in for touchbacks. Thanks in large part to Brown, the average field starting field position for GWU in the second half was their own 14 yardline.

With 86 offensive plays, Gardner-Webb (2-3, 0-1) ran almost twice as many plays as Charleston Southern (45), and out-gained CSU (2-3, 1-0) by 248 yards (471-223), but it was the Buccaneers that came out on top, thanks in part to four turnovers by GWU.

Late in the first quarter, Dorein Perkins forced the first turnover of the day as he knocked the ball out of quarterback Stan Doolittle's hands, with Quinton Johnson pouncing on the loose ball. Josh Warrior and Kamalu Umu each tallied an interception on the day, while Philip Ashley accounted for the final turnover with his second interception of the season. Ashley's pick was the seventh of his career, tying him for first all-time at CSU, fifth all-time in the Big South.

Quarterback Tribble Reese finished the day 12-23 with one interception and 135 yards, with DeMarcus Moon and Alex Neal each recording three receptions. Kwame Krakue had just two receptions, but had 43 yards on the day.

Linebacker Andrew McKain had 13 tackles to lead CSU, the most by a CSU defender this season. McKain also accounted for one of the five tackles-for-loss recorded by the CSU defense.

For Gardner-Webb, it was Dami Teniola with seven tackles, but Marty Patterson with two tackles-for-loss to lead the Runnin' Bulldogs. Doolittle completed 27 of his 41 pass attempts for 310 yards, but also had the three interceptions. Patrick Hall and Philip Peoples split time in the back field carrying for 75 yards on 17 carries, and 73 yards on 16 carries, respectively.

Despite giving up big numbers to the GWU offense, the Buccaneer defense made a stand early in the game, setting up the opening score, as they stopped Doolittle on a quarterback sneak on fourth-and-inches. The fourth down stop gave the ball to CSU on the GWU 35 yardline.

Paglia opened the scoring with 5:40 left in the first quarter as he knocked through a 27-yard field goal. The points were waved off due to one of seven penalties called against the Bucs. Moving back five yards was no problem, as Paglia split the uprights from 32 yards out to put CSU up 3-0.

After Perkins forced the fumble on the ensuing GWU drive, CSU used just one play to score the lone touchdown of the day as a halfback pass from Alex Neal to Tim Jones went for 31 yards to make it 10-0.

The Bulldogs cut into the lead in the second quarter as they used 12 plays to go 91 yards for a touchdown. The drive finished with a touchdown pass from Doolittle to Dobson Collins, for five of Collins' 113 receiving yards on the day.

Ashley's interception in the endzone ended the first drive of the third quarter, and Umu's pick finished the next GWU drive. Both GWU drives were 10 plays, chewing up a combined 11:13 off the clock, but neither team was able to put points on the board in the third.

Trying to hold their lead, CSU forced Gardner-Webb to attempt a 51-yard field goal attempt to start the fourth quarter. Gates' was wide left on the attempt, with CSU taking the ball back with 10:57 on the clock.

Taking over on the 33 yardline, CSU moved the ball out to midfield, but were forced to punt facing a fourth-and-five. Brown stepped up again, dropping another punt inside the 10 as CSU downed it on the GWU nine yardline.

With 91 yards to go for a go-ahead touchdown, the Bulldogs managed to get 87 of them on 15 plays, taking 7:02 off the clock. Again the CSU defense seemed to make plays when they needed to, forcing a 21-yard field goal attempt from Gates. Gates had no problem, tying the game 10-10 with under two minutes to go.

That's when Stevenson struck again with one of his kick returns, going 61 yards to allow CSU to set up shop on the GWU 34 yardline. A 24-yard pass from Reese to Krakue was all CSU needed as they ran the clock down to :05 before calling a timeout and bringing on Paglia for the first game-winning field goal attempt of his career. Again, Paglia had no trouble as he knocked it through from 26 yards to put CSU up 13-10, as Paglia finished the day two-for-two.

Not wanting to give GWU a chance, CSU executed an onside kick, and with 0:00 on the clock, Matt Bach recovered it to secure the victory, CSU's second in a row.

The Bucs will hit the road for the next three weeks, facing Savannah State on Oct. 11 at 2 p.m. to start the road trip. Gardner-Webb moves down to Atlanta, Ga., to face Georgia Tech at 3:30 p.m. next Saturday.