COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Wofford coach Mike Ayers wants the Terriers’ offense to find their “A” game, and maybe as soon as Saturday’s game with Chattanooga.

So far, Ayers says the defending Southern Conference champs have played at about a C+ level and have been inconsistent on offense. In Wofford’s three victories, Ayers thinks the Terriers missed opportunities to put the games away much earlier than they did.

“We’re a team that needs to be more consistent, more focused throughout the game,” Ayers said. “We need to be a lot better than that to be successful in the conference.”

The Terriers (3-1, 1-0 SoCon), after a week off, return to action against Chattanooga (1-5, 0-2) on Saturday.

In other games involved state teams from the Football Championship Subdivision, The Citadel is home against Elon, Furman plays host to Western Carolina, South Carolina State returns home to play Norfolk State, Coastal Carolina is at VMI, Charleston Southern is at Savannah State and Presbyterian is home against North Carolina Central.

Wofford needs to win to keep pace with Elon, which has won its first three conference games. Ayers hopes the game is lot less nerve-shaking that the Terriers’ 38-37 overtime victory at Georgia Southern two weeks ago.

Wofford led 31-14 at the half, but was shutout the rest of the way as Georgia Southern rallied to tie. On 4th-and-8 in OT, the Terriers hit a 22-yard pass to Andy Strickland to Georgia Southern’s 1 and scored the next play.

The Eagles used a reverse to score on their possession. However, they went for the 2-point conversion and could not get the pass off.

Ayers doesn’t want Wofford surrendering such leads anymore.

“I think if we play to the level we’re capable of playing, we can compete with anybody. But at the same time, we haven’t been able to do that yet,” he said. “This is a week we’ve got to take that next step.

At Charleston, the Bulldogs (3-2, 1-1) look to bounce back from a 47-21 loss to powerhouse Appalachian State against the Southern Conference leaders in Elon (5-1, 3-0). The Citadel defense could not slow down Mountaineer star quarterback Armanti Edwards, who accounted for six TDs.

The Bulldogs could have their hands full again with the Phoenix, who are averaging more 411 yards and 30 points a game.

At Greenville, Furman (4-2, 1-1) was rolled by Elon last weekend, 31-10, and hopes to recover against Western Carolina (2-4, 0-2). The Paladins have won nine of their last 10 against the Catamounts and haven’t lost to them at home since 1994.

Then again, Furman doesn’t lose much to anyone at home, posting a 25-3 mark at Paladin Stadium since 2004.

At Orangeburg, South Carolina State (4-2, 2-0 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference) gets to play at home for just the second time this season when it looks to stay perfect in conference play against Norfolk State.

Will Ford ran for 149 yards, including a 44-yard game-winning touchdown in South Carolina State’s 28-21 victory at Florida A&M last week. Ford’s 613 yards rushing lead the conference. He’s also second among MEAC running backs with seven TDs.

The game at Dawson-Bulldog Stadium is the first since South Carolina State defeated Benedict on Sept. 6.

At Lexington, Va., Coastal Carolina (3-3, 0-1 Big South Conference) is off to play VMI (2-3), which is opening league play.

Coastal was beaten by Liberty last week, 43-38, the first Big South home loss for the Chants since the 2003 season. Coastal Carolina has won its past four games with VMI, including the last two matchups at the school’s Alumni Memorial Field.

At Savannah, Ga., Charleston Southern (2-3) looks to continue its two-game win streak at Savannah State (3-3). The Buccaneers have won all four times they’ve played Savannah State, including last season’s 28-0 victory.

Former Clemson QB Tribble Reese continues to lead Charleston Southern, directing a late-game drive that set up the winning field goal in a 13-10 win over Gardner-Webb last week.

At Clinton, Presbyterian (2-4) takes on its last non-conference opponent in North Carolina Central (1-4). The game is the first time in two FCS seasons that the Blue Hose will play consecutive contests at home.

Presbyterian broke a three-game losing streak a week ago with a 22-15 win over North Greenville. However, Blue Hose starting quarterback Tim Webb had to leave the game with an injury and was replaced by backup Brandon Miley.

Miley completed 12 of 16 passes and threw a touchdown to hold off North Greenville. He is expected to start this week, too, as Webb recovers.

 

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