CHARLESTON, S.C. – Charleston Southern's comeback bid come up short in front of a packed campus atmosphere Saturday night as the Buccaneers fell to Gardner-Webb, 28-14, at Buccaneer Field.

TO THE CRIB
The Charleston Southern rushing attack was on full display early tonight, as the Buccaneers were the first to find pay dirt. JD Moore took the rock 83 yards for a house call on just the third play from scrimmage for the CSU offense to take the early lead. The drive lasted under a minute after a redzone stand forced a turnover on downs deep in CSU territory.

MIDDLE QUARTER WOES
Outside of a mid-first quarter field goal, all of Gardner-Webb's points came in the middle two quarters, as the Bulldogs found 25 of their 28 total points with 10 in the second and 15 in the opening stanza of the second half. The Bulldogs were able to build enough cushion to withstand a scoreless fourth quarter and hang on for the Big South triumph.

ANDERSON CONTINUES TO SHINE
Charleston Southern wideout Seth Anderson continues to shine in his freshman campaign after he was most recently named to the Jerry Rice Award Watch List, which is the top FCS freshman in the country. Anderson was on the receiving end of the final score from either team, hauling in a Tony Bartalo pass from eight yards out pull within two scores in the closing minutes of the third quarter. The touchdown capped off a drive that lasted 13 plays and traversed 75 yards.   

IT TAKES A UNIT
The Special Teams unit once again proved to be a talking point as it was David Gelb's night to be featured.Gelb was called on six times to put, amassing 303 yards on those six punts including a long of 63 yards. Four of his six kicks traveled at least 50 yards while his average ended up being 50.5 yards per kick. Charleston Southern has continued to receive strong play from its special teams throughout the year.

NUMBERS, NUMBERS AND MORE NUMBER
JD Moore and TJ Ruff made up CSU backfield yet again tonight, with Moore being the featured back. Moore finished the night with 108 yards and a score on just 11 carries. Bartalo completed exactly half of his attempts through the air, finishing 18 of 36 for 162 yards and a score. Five different CSU receivers caught multiple passes from Bartalo with the tight end Davin Driskell being his favorite target. Driskell caught four passes for 50 yards on the evening, matching Anderson's four receptions.

On the defensive side of the ball, Charleston Southern was led by Jeremiah McClendon, as the defensive back led the way with 13 solo tackles and an assisted tackle to finish with 14 to go along with a fumble recovery. Kaylon Walters forced the lone turnover for the CSU defense, and Garrett Sayegh finished with 1.5 of the six total tackles for loss the Buccaneers collected. 

RECORDS
Charleston Southern: 1-6, 1-2 Big South
Gardner-Webb: 3-5, 2-0 Big South

UP NEXT
The Buccaneers head to Kennesaw next weekend for their final non-conference affair as a clash with Kennesaw State stands next on the ledger Saturday, October 29. The action is slated for a 1:00 p.m. kick at Fifth Third Bank Stadium.