25th Anniversary Profile: 2005 Charleston Southern Football
CHARLOTTE, N.C. – As part of the Big South Conference’s 25th Anniversary celebration in 2008-09, which is presented by Royal Purple, the Conference is profiling each week the Top 25 “Best of the Best” moments in League history. This week’s feature is Charleston Southern’s 2005 Big South Football Co-Championship Season.
A video vignette providing a first-hand account on the Buccaneers’ championship journey is now available for viewing on the Big South’s website, www.BigSouthSports.com, under the 25th Anniversary Media Center banner. Additional vignettes around other “Best of the Best” moments are also available, and the full vignette collection of the Top 25 “Best of the Best” moments will be posted as they are completed in the near future.
In June 2005, Charleston Southern’s First-Team All-Conference wide receiver Eddie Gadson was killed tragically in a car accident. A former walk-on who had earned a scholarship, Gadson led the Big South in receiving in 2004, set the school record for receptions in a game (13) and, in just one season, moved into fifth all-time in receptions in CSU history.
After his death, the Buccaneer players rallied together. A logo with his initials and jersey number -- EG21 – was created and placed on their helmets and on CSU’s home field, and the team dedicated the 2005 season to his memory.
Charleston Southern was predicted to finish last in the five-team Big South Conference football standings in 2005. After opening with a pair of heart-breaking losses to start the season, CSU rallied back to even its record at 2-2. Two more losses put them at 2-4 as they entered the second half of the season. But the Buccaneers reeled off four-straight wins, including an impressive 38-7 win at Gardner-Webb and edging Liberty at home, 31-30 to move to 2-1 in the Big South and 6-4 overall – assuring the first winning season in school history.
Charleston Southern’s late surge also set-up the Nov. 19 season finale against nationally-ranked and preseason League favorite Coastal Carolina for the Big South football title. The Chanticleers entered the game 3-0 in the Conference, 9-1 overall and winners of seven-straight games. If CSU lost, Coastal Carolina would be outright champions, but a Buccaneers victory would create co-champions.
The game was as exciting as a football fan could hope for with the home-standing Bucs taking an early 7-0 lead and holding on to a 7-3 lead after one quarter of play. In a defensive battle, the Bucs were shut out each of the next two quarters, while the Chanticleers found pay-dirt each period to take a 17-7 lead. Charleston Southern kicker Nick Ellis, a high school teammate of Gadson’s, tried to rally the troops with a field goal in the fourth quarter to cut Coastal’s lead to 17-10. But the Chanticleers answered when Aundres Perkins scored a 46-yard touchdown run on a fake punt attempt with 2:49 on the clock to put Coastal Carolina back up 24-10 and seemingly putting CSU down and out.
Knowing the tall task at hand, CSU managed a quick four-play touchdown drive with 1:39 left in the game. Starting on its own 30-yard line, quarterback Collin Drafts hit Drew Rucks with a 55-yard pass to give the Buccaneers possession on Coastal’s 15-yard line. A Chanticleer face mask penalty two plays later gave the Bucs first and goal, and Drafts scored on a four-yard run to bring Charleston Southern back yet again. Ellis’ PAT attempt was blocked, but Coastal was whistled for offsides. Ellis converted the second chance, and CSU was down by just seven points, 24-17.
The Buccaneers failed on an onside kick attempt on the ensuing kickoff, giving the ball back to Coastal at the Chanticleers’ 48-yard line with a chance to all but run the clock out. As the potent Coastal Carolina offense took a knee three times, the clock continued to wind down, despite “We Believe!” chants raining down from the CSU faithful.
With :10 left in the game and facing a fourth-and-21 on its 38-yard line, Coastal Carolina summoned wideout Jerome Simpson to line up in the punter’s spot, with instructions to run out the game clock. He took the snap and headed backwards and was chased furiously by a host of Buccaneers. With 1.5 seconds still showing, Simpson stepped out of bounds at the four-yard line.
The Bucs calmly stepped to the line with one chance to tie the game. Drafts, with two defenders closing in, found freshman Markus Murry in the middle of the end zone for a touchdown, and Ellis hit the extra point to tie the game at 24-24 and force overtime.
Each team kicked a field goal in the first overtime, and the teams remained tied, 27-27.
CSU got the ball first in the second overtime period, and a couple of long passes with short runs mixed in set up a two-yard touchdown run by Andre Copeland to give the Bucs a 34-27 lead and put the pressure on the Chanticleers.
Two incomplete passes and a short run by the Chanticleers set up fourth-and-six with the game – and an at-large playoff berth -- on the line. The pass was deflected and fell to the ground, eventually landing on the 21-yard line – Gadson’s number. The Buccaneers clinched a share of the Big South Conference Football Championship, as promised before the season.
The team crashed the EG21 logo in celebration as the fans tore down the goalposts, marking the school’s first-ever football championship, which meant more to the school than just a championship ring and banner.
The 2005 Charleston Southern Football Co-Championship is one of the Top 25 “Best of the Best” moments in League history. The Conference is conducting an online fan poll to help determine the Top Moment in the first 25 years of the Big South Conference. Voting is open on www.BigSouthSports.com and continues through March 25. Fan voting will be combined with the 25th Anniversary Committee’s votes to come up with the official rank order of the “Best of the Best” moments. The countdown will be unveiled at the concluding 25th Anniversary banquet in May 2009.
Next week’s featured “Best of the Best” moment and vignette: Coastal Carolina Olympian Amber Campbell.