Seven years ago, Charleston Southern head football coach Jay Mills could only dream of this opportunity.

When Mills got the head coaching job at CSU, his two sons created the team in a video game and made it the heavy favorite against Miami (Fla.), which ranked first in the nation at the time. As a Division I-AA program, Charleston Southern isn’t particularly high on the EA Sports list of priorities and the team rarely appears in college football games.

Little did Mills know, six years later the video game matchup would become a reality: Charleston Southern played against Miami last August.

‘It was so surreal,’ Mills said. ‘The odds were so small of that actually occurring when I got this job.’

Mills and Charleston Southern one-upped the Miami meeting this weekend when they traveled to Gainesville, Fla., to take on defending national champion (consensus No. 1) Florida Gators. Even after a 62-3 loss, just playing the Gators, was enough for the Buccaneers.

CSU is one of many Bowl Subdivision teams that use these so-called ‘guarantee games’ to benefit the school financially.

‘There’s no such thing as bad publicity,’ Mills said. ‘It’s just great that we have the opportunity to promote the university and increase exposure.’

And yet for a coach who did his first national television interview last week, a game like this was about the farthest thing from Mills’ mind, seven years ago.

In 2003-Mills’ first at the helm of CSU-the Buccaneers completed a 1-11 season and were mired in 13 consecutive losing seasons (35-105 during the span). There were questions about the program’s future.

But by 2005, Mills had successfully guided the team to a Big South Conference co-championship. The following year, the Buccaneers won a team-record nine games.

That turnaround prompted the athletic department and football program to begin a letter-writing campaign to play Division I schools in these ‘guarantee games.’

Florida receives calls and letters from multiple Subdivision schools wanting the exposure of a game in Gainesville, but it was eager to answer CSU’s call because of proximity and affordability combined with the team’s budding success.

‘It’s just been amazing to see the continual growth of our program,’ Mills said. ‘It’s amazing how far we’ve come.’

CSU’s program gained instant credibility once Florida signed on: Hawaii, Miami, and South Florida – who Charleston Southern will play Sept.19 – have all agreed to suit up against the Buccaneers.

‘We’ll be forever indebted to the University of Florida,’ Mills said. ‘It all started with them.’

It may not seem ideal to walk into a ‘guarantee game’ and start the season with a loss, but Mills said reaping the benefits of a payout and exposure helps the program in the long term.

Charleston Southern was paid $450,000 for its contest with Florida. That payment will help finance a new $4 million multi-sport facility scheduled to be completed in 2011. The facility will give each athletic team its own locker room along with a new weight room and training facility.

‘There’s a trickle-down effect,’ Mills said. ‘The big programs helping smaller ones, is good for college football.’

The game also helps smaller programs like Charleston Southern with exposure that comes with playing the defending national champions in a 90,000-seat stadium.

Antwan Ivey, a sophomore running back, said the fact that CSU was playing against teams like Miami and Florida, played a large factor in his decision to attend the school.

‘I wanted to go somewhere where I could play games on the big stage,’ said Ivey, a Gainesville native who had about 80 family members in attendance Saturday. ‘I thought, ‘if I come here, I get to play Miami and Florida.”

Florida has no qualms about playing a Subdivision opponent. It has a Division I-AA team on its schedule each year until 2012, and associate athletics director Greg McGarity said the program has no plans to stop scheduling ‘guarantee games.’

‘This is maybe (the players’) only chance to play in a stadium that seats 90,000 while getting the exposure,’ McGarity said. ‘Some people view it as a payday, but it’s totally different for these kids.’

Mills also said the game prepares his team for the meat of its conference schedule. He credited playing Miami last year for his team’s success in conference play-CSU finished second in the Big South, winning seven of its last nine games.

Even after a 59-point loss, Mills can’t think of a better way to open the 2009 season.

‘When you play bigger and better competition it raises your level of play, win or lose,’ Mills said. ‘Coming out of this, we’re going to be better prepared to compete for an FCS national title.’

Moving On

The fallout from the fateful right hook Oregon running back LeGarrette Blount landed on Boise State’s Byron Hout last Thursday keeps piling up.

Blount, who told Sports Illustrated that his team owed Boise State a ‘(butt)-whoopin’,’ in the weeks leading up to the matchup, was suspended for the season after he punched Hout during the postgame handshakes.

Now criticism has fallen on Boise State head coach Chris Petersen for refusing to suspend Hout, who appeared to be taunting Blount in the seconds leading up to the punch. Petersen said he believed ‘we’ve done the right thing’ in not suspending Hout in a teleconference Monday. He said Hout is being disciplined but did not elaborate.

‘It’s something everybody has learned from,’ Petersen said, ‘in terms of our program and teams from the outside, to say nothing and just play ball.’

Game to Watch: No. 4 USC vs. No. 6 Ohio State

The matchup between the Trojans and Buckeyes will be the first true test for both teams in 2009, and will go a long way in determining the BCS fate of both programs.

USC comes off a 56-3 drubbing of San Jose State. But freshman quarterback Matt Barkley will get his first taste of an opposing stadium atmosphere in Columbus, Ohio this weekend.

Ohio State looks to regroup after an opening week scare at home against Navy, when the Midshipmen (21-point underdogs) failed to convert a two-point conversion that would have tied the game late in the fourth quarter.

bplogiur@syr.edu

Published on September 8, 2009 at 12:00 pm