Wofford eliminates The Citadel

Wofford shut down The Citadel in the second half Saturday night at Johnson Hagood Stadium and upset the Bulldogs 17-3 to advance to the third round of the FCS playoffs.

The Terriers (10-3) will play Youngstown State, which knocked off No. 3 seed Jacksonville State.

The Citadel (10-2), which beat Wofford 24-21 in overtime in a regular-season game at Gibbs Stadium, was the sixth seed of the 24-team tournament, but couldn’t finish drives in the first half or score any points in the second. The Bulldogs missed three field goals.

Wofford won despite turning to its fourth quarterback, true freshman Joe Newman, who was forced into action because starter Brandon Goodson suffered a high ankle sprain.

Newman immediately sparked the Terriers. He ran an option pitch to perfection on his first snap and Blake Morgan went 45 yards to set up a game-tying 47-yard field goal by David Marvin in the third quarter.

In the fourth, Newman kept on the option and scooted 36 yards up the sideline for a touchdown to put Wofford in front with 10:28 remaining.

The Citadel got into Wofford territory in the final minute, but Devin Watson made an interception and returned it 64 yards for a touchdown. Watson had two fourth-quarter picks the previous week in a 15-14 win against Charleston Southern.

The Citadel had a plenty of scoring chances in the first half, but managed a 3-0 lead. Cody Clark made a field goal on the Bulldogs’ first possession, but that’s all they got from a 16-play drive that got down to the 2. They also failed on a fourth-down conversion in Wofford territory and missed two field-goal tries.

The Citadel, Southern Conference champion, made the FCS playoffs for the second season in a row. Wofford made it for the first time since 2012.

This story was originally published December 4, 2016 at 2:11 AM with the headline "Wofford eliminates The Citadel."