CHARLESTON, S.C. - Charleston Southern hits the road for the first time in the spring 2021 season as the Buccaneers make the trip to Fifth Third Bank Stadium and No. 9 Kennesaw State for their season opener. Kickoff between the Bucs and the Owls is set for 1 p.m. on ESPN+.

Charleston Southern at Kennesaw State
Date/Time: Saturday, March 13 at 1:05 p.m. ET
Location: Kennesaw, Ga. | Weather | Radar
Stadium: Fifth Third Bank Stadium (8,300 Capacity)
TV: ESPN+
Live Stats: KSUOwls.com
Tickets: KSUOwls.com
Live Audio: TuneIn Radio
History: Sixth Meeting (KSU Leads 3-1)
More Information: Follow us on Twitter @CSUSports and @CSUGameDay for up-to-date information on Game Day

Charleston Southern (0-0, 0-0 Big South): Head Coach Autry Denson | Roster | Schedule | Statistics | Game Notes
Kennesaw State (1-0, 0-0 Big South): Head Coach Brian Bohannon | Roster | Schedule | Statistics | Game Notes

Weekly Preview
Opening the Season
Charleston Southern opens up the 2021 season this weekend as the Buccaneers make the trek to Kennesaw State this weekend. The Bucs open up conference play against the Owls for the second consecutive season, while CSU's trip to Fifth Third Bank Stadium is also the second trip in as many seasons for the Bucs to the Owls' home stadium. CSU has struggled on the road against KSU and is currently 0-2 all-time against the Owls away from Buccaneer Field.

Bucs Continuing Winning Streak
The Bucs ended the 2019 season as one of the hottest programs in FCS as CSU finished up the year on a four-game winning streak with all victories coming in Big South Conference play. The Bucs picked up a pair of wins at Gardner-Webb and Presbyterian, while topping Campbell and Hampton at home. The Bucs will look to continue their winning ways through the shortened conference season this spring.

Back on the Road Again
Charleston Southern struggled away from home last season at the start of 2019, but the Bucs found their groove late in the year to finish on a three-game winning streak away from Buccaneer Field. CSU has been on the road to open every season since 2015 with the Bucs sitting with a five-game losing streak on opening day dating back to the 2016 opener at North Dakota State.

About the Owls
Kennesaw State was selected second overall in the Big South Conference's preseason coaches and media poll as announced by the conference office on February 11. The Owls received three first-place votes and 43 points overall to sit one point behind preseason favorite Monmouth.

KSU swept the preseason Player of the Year recognition with running back Isaac Foster earning Offensive recognition, while All-American linebacker Bryson Armstrong earned Defensive honors.

Foster rushed for 506 yards and four touchdowns in 2019, but missed the final five games due to injury. He averaged 14.9 yards per carry and 72.3 rushing yards in his seven appearances that season. Armstrong is a three-time First-Team All-Conference selection in his career at KSU. The linebacker was the 2019 Big South Defensive Player of the Year, earned five All-America plaudits that season and was a finalist for the Buck Buchanan Award as the nation's top defensive player. Armstrong finished 2019 with a team-high 95 total tackles during the season -- including 51 solo stops.

KSU will lineup in six games this spring after not playing in the fall 2020 portion of the season. The Owls opened the year against Shorter on February 27 and add a nonconference contest against Dixie State on March 20, while their remaining four games come against conference opponents.

The Owls made it back to the postseason last season for the third consecutive year as KSU topped Wofford in the FCS First Round, before bowing out in the second round against Weber State. KSU went 11-3 overall on the season with their lone loss coming at home against Monmouth.

The Owls are currently the highest-ranked team among the Big South institutions playing this spring with KSU entering the weekend sitting at No. 9 in the STATS/Coaches poll.

Chambers back at the Reins
Charleston Southern redshirt junior quarterback Jack Chambers is back on the field for his second season in Coach Denson's "Air Raid with an Attitude" offense. The Lilburn, Ga. native posted career numbers last season as he eclipsed 150 passing yards on seven different occasions, including setting a personal-high with 296 yards on 20-of-45 passing at Kennesaw State.

Chambers added four multi-touchdown games, including a four-touchdown performance in the season finale against Campbell.  His efforts last season led to preseason acknowledgement as Chambers was named the runner-up for the conference's Offensive Preseason Player of the Year back in the fall. He posted the seventh-most individual passing yards by a CSU player in a single season (2,029) and sixth-most passing touchdowns (14), while adding a team-high 553 rushing yards on the year.

#SchwartingTime
Bamberg, S.C. native Garris Schwarting returned for his senior year and brings back a key element to the Charleston Southern passing attack after setting new career-highs in receptions, receiving yards, and receiving touchdowns in 2019. The 5-10 athlete added a new wrinkle to his game as well after taking over as CSU's primary punt returner down the stretch, highlighted by a 54-yard return on the road at Kennesaw State.

Lined up opposite of Kameron Brown last season, Schwarting and Chambers quickly built a strong rapport throughout the year as the duo combined for 39 completions for 575 yards and four touchdowns. Schwarting recorded at least two catches in 10 of the Bucs' 11 games in the 2019 season, including his first collegiate 100-yard effort last season at Fifth Third Bank Stadium, a six-catch, 131-yard effort. He posted a career-high seven catches against Gardner-Webb, while adding a second 100-yard effort in the season finale against Campbell. He returns to lead a unit that will look to again build off a strong year in the Bucs' pass-centric attack.

Three-Headed Running Back Attack
CSU's rushing attack is in good hands heading into the 2021 spring season as the Buccaneers return four of their top five ball-carriers from the 2019 year, including quarterback Jack Chambers. When he turned to hand the ball off, he has a veteran group behind him with three players boasting 100-yard rushing efforts in their careers as Terrence Wilson, Kendrick Bell, and Jamari Dunbar have all made their mark on the turf.

The three-headed monster are expected to be showcased over the spring season with Bell likely to take the ball first against the Owls. The 5-8 junior handled the majority of the carries down the stretch in the 2019 season as he posted back-to-back 123-yard rushing efforts against Presbyterian and Campbell to close out the year. Dunbar also added a 100-yard rushing effort on the season with a 28-carry, 123-yard game on the road against North Alabama. Wilson is two seasons removed from leading the Bucs in rushing in 2018 with 100-yard games against Hampton and Gardner-Webb. Regardless of who handles the ball on Saturday, the Bucs will be relying on them to move the chains after CSU averaged 4.3 yards per carry as a team in 2019.

Replacing Kameron Brown
You cannot ignore the impact that former All-Conference wide receiver Kameron Brown made on the Charleston Southern passing attack. The CSU alum posted 42 catches for 545 yards and 10 touchdowns in 2019 to pace the Bucs in two of the three categories, and his connection with Chambers in the red zone led to three of CSU's receiving touchdowns in the series finale against Campbell.

The Bucs will be looking to replace his impact with key contributors returning on the outside this season, including Demetrius Jones, Quinn Caballero, and Geoffrey Wall. Jones showed signs of breaking out last season as the Jacksonville, Fla. native utilized his 6-4 frame to post his first 100-yard receiving effort against Hampton. Caballero tied for the fourth-most catches on the season with 21 and has six multi-catch contests on the year. Wall is the veteran of the group and was on pace for a record-setting year with 13 catches over the first three games, before seeing his season come to an end following injury.

The Offensive Line Shift
Gone are veteran All-Conference guards in Zack Evans and Stephen Haralambis, but Assistant Head Coach Aaron Coeling has to feel pretty confident in his group this season as he returns a trio of players that earned preseason recognition from various groups. Preston Nichols, Daviyon McDaniel, and JT Melton all return to headline the group that will lead the Bucs' battle in the trenches.

All three Bucs are shifting positions this season as Nichols moves from right to left tackle, McDaniel from left tackle to left guard, and Melton from center to right guard. All three provide veteran experience with over 60 starts combined among the trio across the line. Jacob Tylski (center) and Bailey Ottaway (right tackle) are expected to draw the start on opening day with the trio, while freshmen Darius Meeks, Caleb Eichelberger, and Lee Mathews could also see time on the field early this season.

The Koester Effect
Klay Koester takes over the reins of the Charleston Southern offense after spending the 2019 season coaching the quarterback room in his first year with the Bucs. Koester brings a wealth of experience to the field having previously served as the offensive coordinator at UVA-Wise where the team averaged over 25 points per game, while tallying over 340 yards of offense per game.

Koester adds FCS experience to his name as well as he spent five seasons as the wide receivers and tight ends coach at his alma mater, Eastern Kentucky. EKU made the FCS Playoffs twice during his coaching tenure, including the 2014 season when the Colonels finished 9-4 while averaging 31.2 points per game and over 400 yards of total offense. Koester coached 2013 East-West Shrine All-Star Game participant Tyrone Goard as well as Devin Borders, Ohio Valley Conference Freshman of the Year and a Freshman All-American at EKU. The Colonels produced an all-conference receiver three consecutive campaigns from 2011-13.

All-American Up The Middle
It's no surprise Charleston Southern's defensive line was getting a lot of attention during the 2019 postseason and the preseason leading up to this year. Most of the accolades went toward the reigning Big South sack champion in Vanceboro, N.C. native Shaundre Mims. The 6-0 defensive tackle is coming off a career-year where he finished among the conference and national leaders in sacks and tackles for loss.

Mims earned HERO Sports Sophomore First Team All-American recognition following the conclusion of the 2019 season. Since then, his stature has risen as he added College Football America Yearbook FCS Preseason Starting Lineup honors and HERO Sports All-American recognition in the preseason. Mims' 10 sacks included a pair of 3.0 sack games in conference play as he set a new CSU single season record in quarterback takedowns on the year.

They Can't Stop this Edge Rush
After learning from two of the best in CSU greats Anthony Ellis and Solomon Brown, redshirt senior Nick Salley took on the reins of the Bucs' defensive edge rush and made an immediate impact in the 2019 season. The Walterboro, S.C. native led the Big South Conference with 17.5 tackles for loss and finished first among Big South defensive linemen with 6.1 tackles per game on his way to earning Associated Press Third Team All-American honors.

Salley shined in his 2019 debut with nine tackles, 3.0 tackles for a loss, and a sack in the season opener against Furman. He was nigh unblockable last season in the contest against Kennesaw State with a career-high 15 tackles and 2.5 tackles for loss against the Owls. Additionally, Salley paced the Big South with three forced fumbles on the season and he will team up with Anton Williams to bottle up opposing quarterbacks within the pocket this season.

QB, Meet Anton Williams
After missing the first two games of the 2019 season, the Marianna, Fla. native wasted little time in adding an additional edge to the Charleston Southern defensive pass rush. He put together 25 tackles with 6.5 tackles for loss over his first three games of the 2019 season, including a 12-tackle, 2.0 TFL contest against The Citadel to open season.

After a three-game stretch where he was held out of the backfield, Williams rallied back with a vengeance late in the year. He started with a 2.0 sack game against Gardner-Webb that included his first collegiate interception to start a four-game dominant stretch to close out the 2019 season. Over the final four games of the season, Williams posted six sacks, 10.0 tackles for loss, an interception, a forced fumble, and a fumble recovery, along with two more quarterback hurries. Surprisingly not as heralded as his fellow defensive lineman, Williams brings a wealth of talent and experience to the field and will look to build off a strong campaign against the Big South Conference offenses this spring.

Turnover Machine
Any time Justin McIntire stepped onto the field in the 2019 season, you expected him to get his hands on the football. The senior linebacker led the Big South Conference with five turnovers on the season as he recorded a pair of interceptions and three fumble recoveries over the course of the season to sit among the conference leaders in both categories.

A former walk-on that stood out on special teams at CSU, McIntire took advantage of the starting opportunity last season to finish with 46 tackles and 4.5 tackles for loss, as well as a pair of sacks. He was recognized as one of the Bucs' 2020-21 captains for the year and will help guide another veteran unit under Defensive Coordinator and Linebackers Coach Zane Vance for the season. McIntire posted a pair of eight tackle games on the year, while closing out the season with two interceptions and two fumble recoveries over the final three games of the year.

Just Go with the Flow
In addition to boasting the best hair in the Big South Conference, Cody Cline is a standout on the Charleston Southern defensive backfield. The reigning Big South Conference Defensive Freshman of the Year paced the conference's freshmen with 73 total tackles on the season, while adding five pass breakups and his first collegiate interception against Gardner-Webb.

Cline broke out early in his true freshman campaign with seven tackles and a pass breakup in the season opener against Furman. He added nine tackles and 1.5 tackles for loss against North Carolina A&T, before posting a pair of double-digit tackle contests against Monmouth and Gardner-Webb. Cline added HERO Sports Freshman All-American honors to his postseason accolades, while he added SC Hall of Fame Preseason Recognition this season. Cline was also named the top returning defensive back in the Big South by HERO Sports and will look to continue his ball-hawking ways this season as he guides a mostly new group on the field this season under coaches Greg Moss and Tavarius Jackson.

What Else Can You Sayegh?
Linebackers Garrett Sayegh takes over the middle of the field for Charleston Southern this season as the junior linebacker continues to showcase his grasp of Defensive Coordinator Zane Vance's defensive system. Sayegh paced the Bucs in sacks in the 2018 season, before seeing more time in the middle of the Bucs' lineup in the 2019 season.

Sayegh's intricate knowledge of the Bucs' defensive scheme will play a big part in the Bucs' success this season as he helps lead a veteran linebacking corps that features a pair of seniors in McIntire and Kyle Syvarth, as well as do-everything backer Edward King. The four are all expected to see time on the field in multiple ways this season as the Bucs will look to once again be among the FCS' elite defensive units this season.

All-American Long Snapper
It's not often that a college football program can boast an All-American long snapper. It's even less often when the same program can boast two in the span of five years. Charleston Southern can make that claim after Boiling Springs, S.C. native Ethan Ray received the award from two different organizations heading into the season. Ray received STATS FCS Perform All-American and Phil Steele All-American honors in the preseason and headlines a specialist unit that includes the reigning Big South Conference Special Teams Player of the Year in Alex Usry.

Ray is coming off a standout campaign that included earning National Player of the Week recognition against Gardner-Webb. Ray recovered two fumbles in the game against the Runnin' Bulldogs to highlight a season that featured a perfect snapping record. He also was influential in both the punting and kicking games as CSU set records in both punt average, most field goals, and the longest field goal in program history, while also leading the team in downed punts and punt coverage.

Dialing In From Long Range
Charleston Southern boasted one of the most valuable weapons in the nation in the 2019 season in the right leg of placekicker Alex Usry as the Sophomore All-American and Big South Special Teams Player of the Year returns to the roster this spring. Usry led all Big South placekickers in scoring average and sat third overall in the conference with 8.2 points per game. He posted the third-most field goals in Big South history with 20, while connecting on three 50-plus yard field goal attempts.

Usry made his debut in week with two field goals, including a 48-yard conversion against The Citadel. From there, he averaged multiple field goal attempts the remaining 10 weeks of the season, including a season-high four conversions against North Alabama. Usry connected on his first 50-yard field goal of the season on October 12 against Kennesaw State. He followed up the following week with a CSU-record 52-yard conversion on the road against North Alabama to continue a stretch of 11 consecutive field goals made. He later added a 51-yard conversion on the road against Presbyterian, and closed out the season connecting from both 33 and 34 yards in CSU's win over Campbell.

Frederick Holder of the Year Prospect
Since the award's inception in 2018, Charleston Southern has already boasted one winner of the FCS Frederick Holder of the Year award in CSU alum and former punter Kyle Reighard. This year, senior Miller Braddock will look to become the second Buccaneer to claim the title as he takes over for Reighard in both responsibilities this season.

The Hartsville, S.C. native has not lined up for a punt in his collegiate career, but he did convert his lone field goal attempt of his collegiate career, a 41-yard attempt, last season against South Carolina. Braddock looks to continue a strong tradition established by Reighard as the three-time All-Conference punter set the Big South record for most 50-yard punts in a single season and collegiate career.

Return Specialists
Field position is the name of the game and the Bucs will be looking to the trio of Garris Schwarting, Matthew Williams, and Isaac Ross to get things moving for CSU heading into the 2021 spring season. Schwarting took over primary punt return duties in the 2019 season and finished third in the Big South with 12.5 yards per return, while Williams and Ross will take first crack at kickoff return this spring.

Williams was a multi-positional athlete at Sandy Creek High School in Tyrone, Ga. where he posted 4,093 total yards of offense and was named the Region 5-AAAA Offensive Player of the Year. Ross finished third on the team last season with 242 receiving yards and added 51 yards on kickoff return in 2019.