CHARLESTON, S.C. – Garris Schwarting matched several school and conference records, playing a factor in all five Charleston Southern scores, as the Bucs rolled to a 38-21 season-opening victory at rival The Citadel Saturday afternoon at Johnson Hagood Stadium.

SCHWARTING'S RECORD DAY
• Schwarting's four receiving touchdowns match a Big South record and program mark for most in a single game. It ties the four grabbed by former Buc Maurice Price versus Savannah State (Oct. 22, 2005) in addition to Monmouth's Reggie White Jr. at Gardner-Webb (Nov. 17, 2018).
• The four touchdown grabs equal his most for a season, previously established in 2019. It's his first career multi-touchdown contest and raised his career tally to five against The Citadel, which included one during that 2019 campaign.
• His 151 receiving yards are 14th most in single-game program history and are the most by any receiver in the Autry Denson (2019-present) era. No Charleston Southern player had surpassed 150 yards in the last 10 years, since Corvaughn Archie's 204 against Coastal Carolina Nov. 12, 2011.
• Schwarting added his first career touchdown toss, a six-yard toss to Kyris Barnett in the first quarter. His quarterback rating was 480.4 with the perfect strike to his teammate in the back of the end zone.
• His five touchdowns responsible for equal the school mark. Collin Drafts had a pair of five-touchdown games, against North Greenville (Oct. 23, 2004) and at The Citadel (Sept. 9, 2006).
 
CHAMBERS OPENS STRONG
• Getting the ball to Schwarting on each of the four touchdown passes was Jack Chambers, who turned in a 19-of-25 performance behind center for 287 yards.
• He hit six different receivers, connecting with Schwarting (6), Barnett (4), Demetrius Jones (3), Cayden Jordan (3) and Geoffrey Wall (3) multiple times. Each receiver had a catch of at least 15 yards, as the offense churned out yardage against the Bulldogs defense.
• Chambers' four touchdown passes equal his career high, previously set against Campbell Nov. 23, 2019, in the regular-season finale. They're one short of pulling even with the single-game school record, set two times by Collin Drafts.

BABBUSH TACKS ON HIS FIRST
• Freshman Sam Babbush contributed his first score as a collegian, draining a 44-yard field goal into the wind during the second half. It was the only field goal for either team and was the only score for the Bucs other than the big day by Schwarting and Chambers.

KING LEADS THE DEFENSE
• Edward King topped the vaunted Charleston Southern defense with seven tackles, including four solo stops. In his last two games against the Bulldogs, he has tallied 19 tackles, featuring a career-best 12 in the 2019 meeting.
• Jarrod Stanley, Justin McIntire and Matthew Williams all chipped in six tackles apiece, as the defensive unit finished with three sacks, nine tackles for loss, a forced fumble, two fumble recoveries, an interception and two pass breakups.
 
QUICK START
• Charleston Southern jumped out to a 21-0 lead after the opening 15 minutes. Chambers and Schwarting connected on the first and third scores, 23- and 27-yard strikes, while Schwarting located Barnett for a six-yard toss in the middle of the opening surge.
• The Buccaneers held a 233-to-68 advantage in yards after the first quarter, as they racked up a 10-to-2 lead in first downs. CSU managed this strong start despite a slim margin in time of possession, 8:09 to 6:51.
 
ANSWERING THE CALL
• Every time the Bulldogs scored, Charleston Southern managed to counter with one of its own to prevent The Citadel from adding back-to-back points. Schwarting added his final two touchdown catches in the third and fourth quarters, hauling in grabs of 69 and 24 yards, respectively.
• The defense and special teams helped limit the home side to an average starting line of scrimmage of its own 24. In the fourth quarter, Miller Braddock boomed a 42-yard punt which was downed at The Citadel two. Defensively, the Bucs responded by forcing the Bulldogs into a three-and-out, getting the ball at midfield after The Citadel had to punt. The ensuing possession resulted in the final touchdown of the day, putting a cap on the win with 5:08 left.

SERIES WIN
• Charleston Southern claimed its first victory in the series since 2013 and just its third overall in 10 meetings. The two teams have met each fall since 2018 – and were slated to again in 2020 prior to the COVID-19 pandemic forcing the schedule to shift to the spring, resulting in a conference-only calendar.

RECORDS
Charleston Southern: 1-0
The Citadel: 0-1

UP NEXT
The Bucs begin Big South Conference play at 6 p.m. when they play host to preseason league favorite Monmouth at 6 p.m. The game will be televised on ESPN+.