COLUMBIA, S.C. – While the rest of Division II football teams open play this weekend, Benedict College head football coach James Woody sees the Tigers starting fresh as well.

Benedict was the only Division II team to play last week, losing 63-0 to the Division I South Carolina State Bulldogs in the Palmetto Capital City Classic. Benedict returns to a Division II and Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference opponent this week to take on Lane College in Jackson, Tenn. Kickoff is 3 p.m. Eastern.

"This sets the tone for the conference. This is our first conference game," Woody said. "We're looking at it that we're 0-0 going into conference play.  Every game is a must win. Every game is a championship caliber game for us. That's the attitude we have to take. That's the mentality we're taking in practice this week."

The Tigers have put last week's loss behind them, focusing their efforts on another difficult opponent. The Dragons defeated the Tigers 48-13 in last year's final game of the season. The Dragons had the top passing quarterback in the SIAC last year in Chris Rini, the 2013 SIAC Offensive Player of the Year. Rini graduated, but Woody doesn't expect the Dragons to abandon their all-out air assault.

"They've got the backup guy from last year. They still use the same system. The head coach used to be the offensive coordinator. That's not going to change," Woody said. "We want to get after this quarterback. We don't want him sitting back there and picking us apart like they did last year. They've got a good passing scheme. They'll come out and throw the football, no doubt about it. They're good at what they do and we've got to be prepared to stop it."

Woody said the Tigers plan to try to put more pressure on the new quarterback.

"We don't want him back there playing games all day," Woody said.

Benedict displayed a pass-heavy offense last week, attempting 37 passes, while running the ball 29 times. Woody said that was a result of getting behind, and not having much running success against S.C. State's formidable defensive line. Don't be surprised for the Tigers to come out and try to establish the run this week.

"We threw the ball around a lot last weekend; we've got to get the running game going as well and be balanced," Woody said. "We've got some great backs and we've got to utilize them. We just can't throw every down. It's a totally different team. We'll kind of mix it up and see what happens."

And for the Tigers to win against the Dragons, Benedict will have to do a better job on offense, especially scoring in the red zone. Benedict had three scoring opportunities against the Bulldogs, but came away empty each time.

"We just want these quarterbacks to make good decisions with the football and not force plays and just throwing that ball up in the air," Woody said. "I want the defense to create turnovers, but I've got to have the offense capitalize on those turnovers."

While the Tigers have been able to plan for Lane's passing game on defense, the Benedict offense is working blind trying to prepare for Lane's defense. The Dragons have a new defensive coordinator, although he was on the Lane coaching staff last year.

"Defensively, we expect them to be the same as well. But they've got a new defensive coordinator, so we don't know what they're going to run. We just have to prepare for whatever," Woody said.

Benedict won four straight against Lane from 2007-2010, but have lost the last three in the series. Woody said that shows how improved the Lane program is.

"They're not the old Lane that a lot of people think they are," Woody said. "They're a good, good football team that's turning the corner. The conference is very competitive. Anybody can be beaten on any given Saturday. So we've got to play our best football to win this game."