Gardner-Webb football will get the first taste of the Ohio Valley portion of its Big South/OVC Football Association membership this Saturday in Nashville.
The Bulldogs (1-1), coming off a 34-27 win over Elon, will visit Tennessee State (1-1) in the conference opener for both teams. The contest kicks off at 6 p.m. at Nissan Stadium, home of the Tennessee Titans.
This is the first year, of at least four, that the Big South and Ohio Valley conferences will join forces in football. The move, first announced in 2022, gives the 10 football-playing schools in the two leagues stability as their individual conferences lose members. It also guarantees access to the FCS playoffs.
Gardner-Webb won the Big South a year ago with a 5-0 record. But Campbell and NC A&T departed for the Coastal Athletic Association this season. That left the Big South with only four football-playing members (and Bryant announced earlier this summer it plans to move to the CAA in 2024).
New foe, familiar foe
This will be the first meeting between Gardner-Webb football and Tennessee State. But Bulldogs coach Tre Lamb, who will celebrate his 34th birthday on game day, is plenty familiar with the Tigers. He both played and coached at Tennessee Tech, which also competes in the OVC. Lamb quarterbacked Tennessee Tech to the OVC title in 2011.
This year’s Tennessee State squad is coached by Eddie George, a former Tennessee Titans standout and Heisman Trophy winner while at Ohio State. Tennessee State lost to Notre Dame 56-3 in its opener and beat Arkansas-Pine Bluff 24-14 on Saturday.
“I’ve coached against Tennessee State three times and played against them every year I was in the OVC,” Lamb said during his weekly press conference. “It’s an historic program and is one of the most established HBCUs in the country. Coach George has done a great job. Coach (Rod) Reed was there when I was playing and coaching. So many great players have come through there, and they know how to win.”
Bulldogs asserting themselves
Gardner-Webb has already started to leave its mark in its new league. Jay Billingsley earned Big South/OVC special teams player of the week after the Elon win. He made two field goals and went 4-of-4 in extra points.
Quarterback Matthew Caldwell currently leads the Big South/OVC in passing yards (517), completion percentage (66.0) and yards-per-game (258). Narii Gaither, who is closing in on Gardner-Webb rushing records, is second in the league in rushing (142 yards) and rushing yards per game (71). Jayden Brown is one of three Big South/OVC players with three touchdowns already, two rushing and one receiving.
Five Gardner-Webb players have at least eight receptions, led by Jonathan Burns, who has hauled in 13 catches for 103 yards and a score. As a team, the Bulldogs rank first out of 10 Big South/OVC teams in passing yards per game (258) and fourth in rushing (140 ypg).
“This year, we’ve been lucky to stay healthy so far,” Lamb said. “So, it’s more of a product of last year only having Cutrell (Haywood) and TJ (Luther) getting the most touches, while this year we feel confident in seven or even eight wide receivers that can play for us and in this style of offense.”
“We like to run a lot of plays in this offense. We need a lot of skill guys to step up and be fresh for us. We ran 91 total plays on Saturday, and ran 75 or 76 against App State. We’re going to play a lot of plays offensively, we’re playing with good tempo, and we’re distributing the ball well. Our goal is to make them defend all five skill guys.”
Dual-threat quarterback Deveon Bryant powers Tennessee State’s offense. He’s second for the Tigers in rushing yards (109) and has completed 19-of-31 passes for 217 yards with two interceptions. Gardner-Webb’s defense ranks fourth in the conference against the rush and second in total defense.
Gardner-Webb was picked to finish second in the Big South/OVC behind Southeast Missouri. The league also includes Bryant, Charleston Southern and Robert Morris from the Big South, and Eastern Illinois, UT Martin, Tennessee Tech, Tennessee State and Lindenwood from the OVC.
The Bulldogs remaining conference games will come against Robert Morris (Oct. 7), UT Martin (Oct. 28), Bryant (Nov. 4), Tennessee Tech (Nov. 11) and Charleston Southern (Nov. 18).
This will be the second time Gardner-Webb has played in an NFL stadium. The Bulldogs played at Heinz Field, home of the Pittsburgh Steelers, during the 2012 season to face the Pitt Panthers.
“We’re obviously excited. It’s the first game towards making the playoffs,” Lamb said of Saturday’s game at Tennessee State. “That Elon win is going to go a long way towards our resume and getting into the Top-25 and hopefully we have enough FCS wins to get in the playoffs. But we don’t want to leave it to chance or with a tiebreaker. We have to take care of business and get our team ready to go again.”
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