COLUMBIA, S.C. – The Benedict College Tigers take to the road for the first time this season, to play their first SIAC game of the season when they travel to face the Fort Valley State Wildcats at 6 p.m. on Saturday.

The 0-3 Tigers will be looking for an offensive spark against the Wildcats. Benedict has scored just one touchdown in three games, and has been shut out for two straight games. Benedict ranks last among 169 NCAA Division II football-playing schools in both scoring offense and total offense.
 

Gameday Central

Benedict Tigers (0-3) at Fort Valley State Wildcats (2-1), 6 p.m.

Radio: WLTX Kiss 103.1

Audio stream: www.kiss-1031.com

Benedict coach Mike White said the Tigers spent a good part of this week's practice trying to make some adjustments to help the offense. White said the problems start on the offensive line, where poor run blocking and weak pass protection have hindered the Tigers' offensive production.

"That's a tough issue right now. We really haven't been doing a lot on the line up front, and it's been a trickle down effect to the run and the passing game," White said. "We're not allowing the quarterback the time he needs to get the ball downfield."

Benedict has played four quarterbacks looking for an offensive answer. Freshman Kalu Onumah, who has been the primary signal-caller, is not expected to play this week because of a concussion suffered last week. The three backups, Mason Duckett, Patrick Hoard and Charles Foster, have a combined eight pass attempts and one completion.

But White stressed that the quarterback play would be better if they had more time to complete throws.  Tiger quarterbacks have been sacked 13 times in the first three games.

"Our passing game is really having issues trying to get off the ground with the line not protecting as well, and the quarterback also has his issues throwing and making the right reads," White said. "We've even had some plays where they're turned around looking at the quarterback instead of still trying to protect. We've just got to coach it up better and harder this week and see what we can come up with."

The Tigers have struggled running the ball as well. Benedict is averaging 47.3 yards per game on the ground, and an average of 1.4 yards per carry.

"You name it, we're having the issues up there," White said. "There's no other way to paint that, but we're just not getting the effort we need up front. We've still got some huge issues that we've got to cross, and we'll just coach it up the best we can and go forward."

The Tigers will be facing a dangerous team in the Wildcats, who come into the game with a 2-1 record. Fort Valley State is coming off a 35-13 victory over Clark Atlanta. Two weeks ago, the Wildcats rallied from a 32-7 deficit in the third quarter to defeat Lane, 50-38.

"They're a typical Fort Valley team, big and physical up front on both sides of the ball and loaded with upperclassmen, so that means we'll have our hands full on both sides of the ball," White said. "They've got a lot of speed in the backfield and receivers, and they've got two athletic quarterbacks. It's going to take an extra effort for us to go down and play well and come out with a win."

Quarterback Otis Brown leads the Wildcats in passing and rushing. Drelon Freeman is one of the conference's top wide receivers and returned a punt 75 yards for a touchdown against Lane.