COLUMBIA, S.C. – The Benedict Tigers wrap up the 2019 football season on Saturday with a home game against the Kentucky State Wildcats, looking to finish a disappointing season with a bright spot.

"It's been a tough season," said Benedict head coach Mike White. "In the preseason, I did not see this coming. When the final roster got put together, the offensive line was hurting and we were missing some guys there. We haven't played good football on a consistent basis all year. It's something you'll work on and learn from it and work hard on it this offseason."

Kickoff Saturday is 1 p.m. from Charlie W. Johnson Stadium. The game has been designated "Military and Community Appreciation Day," with free and discounted admission promotions. See the list of promotions here. A video stream will be available here (free in standard quality, $8 to watch in HD).

Benedict (1-8) and Kentucky State (6-3) added this game late in the season. Benedict originally had nine games on the schedule. Kentucky State had a 10^th game cancelled and was looking to add another game. This is a non-conference game.

The Tigers will be up against the SIAC's top rushing team in the Thorobreds. First-year coach Charlie Jackson has turned the Thorobreds around in his first year. KSU went 0-10 in 2018 and now ranks 11^th best in Division II with an average of 262.7 rushing yards per game. Running back Brett Sylve ranks first6 in the SIAC and 15^th in the nation with an average of 111.6 rushing yards per game.

"It will be quite a challenge to get these guys stopped," White said. "They have the top running back. We'll definitely have to play a great game versus those guys to get them stopped on the ground. It should be a battle of who can rush the ball. We've got to do a good job defensively to try and slow them down for us to have a chance."

Benedict will counter with a defense that ranks as third-best in the SIAC and 26^th-best in Division II at stopping the run. The Tigers allow an average of 103.4 yards per game on the ground, and have had just one opponent (Johnson C. Smith) rush for more than 200 yards against them. In the last two games, Benedict has held the opposing teams to an average of 40 yards rushing.

"We play the run well, we've just got to do a good job Saturday," White said. "Against the option, it's all about responsibilities. Kentucky State runs their offense extremely well. We're going to have to execute well defensively as well as offensively."

In a game at the end of the year and neither team having anything to play for except pride, there may be some temptation to pull out the offensive playbook and try some trick plays. But White said it is more important for the Tigers to continue to make progress and work at building for the future.

"I don't look at it as this is your last game where you can try your tricks that you had up your sleeve. I look at it as this team is growing and trying to still get some of our guys some confidence in what we're going to ask them to do in the future," White said. "We're going to try to win."

Despite the season record, White is proud that the team has stuck together through a difficult year.

"I'm extremely proud of the guys," White said. "Even though it wasn't a great season, you couldn't tell it by their attitude and the way they went at practice and trying to carry out what we asked them to do."