CHARLESTON, S.C. — Charleston Southern never trailed Saturday and knocked off ranked South Carolina State 49-39 at home, a game that started at midday after kickoff was moved up six hours because of expected bad weather.
Quarterback Jared Echols threw for three touchdowns, two of them to Mekhi Campfield, including a 33-yard strike for the first points of the afternoon. Hakeem Watters followed with a 60-yard punt return touchdown for a 14-0 lead.
The Buccaneers pulled away in the second quarter. Dwayne Wright scored from the 1, Quay Kindell returned a kickoff 98 yards, and Echols found Campfield again from 13 yards out for a 35-16 halftime edge.
South Carolina State scored in every quarter, finishing with 6, 10, 15 and 8 points, but could not close the gap. Ronnie Robinson threw for 279 yards for the Bulldogs, who came in ranked 21st in the Stats Perform poll.
Charleston Southern improved to 3-3, while South Carolina State fell to 5-2. A crowd of 334 was announced.
The Buccaneers play at Clemson on Saturday. South Carolina State is off next week before hosting Norfolk State on Oct. 24.
