CHARLESTON – Charleston Southern knocked off #21 South Carolina State on Saturday afternoon with a signature win in the Gabe Giardina era that featured four forced turnovers and two touchdowns from the Buccaneers’ special teams units. This marked the first victory over a ranked opponent for the Bucs since 2024 when they took down #16 Furman. Steve Zayachkowsky finished the day with a season-high of 17 tackles with Jared Echols earning the win in his first career start. The storyline entering the game was the Buccaneers turning to Jared Echols to be their starting quarterback and he delivered. On the opening possession, he led them on a six-play, 82 yard drive that was capped off with him connecting with Mekhi Campfield for a 33 yard touchdown. Later in the quarter, Hakeem Watters returned a punt for 60 yards and a touchdown to put them ahead 14-0. The Bulldogs were able to get on the board with Keely Watson scoring on a rush from seven yards out to bring it back within a score. After this, the teams traded blows in the second quarter with Dwayne Wright finding the endzone from a yard out, Campfield hauling in his second TD of the day from 13 yards out and Quay Kindell returning a kickoff 98 yards for a touchdown. S.C. State was able to tally a touchdown and a short field goal during the period, which brought the score to 35-16 entering halftime. Coming out of the half, CSU forced a turnover which led to a 24 yard rushing touchdown by Watters for a 42-16 edge, their largest lead of the day. The Bulldogs responded with two touchdowns and a two-point conversion in third as well as a safety at the start of the fourth to bring the game to 44-32. Echols notched his third touchdown pass of the day as he connected with Maxwell Warren for a 15 yard score midway through the final quarter. S.C. State scored with 15 seconds left to draw within 10 points again, but it was not enough for them to overcome the CSU lead placing the final score at 49-39. Echols finished the day going 17-29 for 194 yards and three touchdowns as well as 28 yards on the ground. Watters added 72 rushing yards off 14 attempts. Campfield led the receivers with five catches for 82 yards and two scores. Defensively, Zayachkowsky led the team with 17 tackles to go with a forced fumble and two pass breakups. Avery Dixon added 10 tackles and interception. Tristan Lennon had eight while Kason Hooks and Brandon McDonald each had seven. Jayden Hancock had an interception with Joshua Singleton adding a forced fumble. Charleston Southern will be back in action next weekend to close out their nonconference schedule as they will be taking on Clemson in Memorial Stadium. The game is scheduled for a noon kickoff with the game to be available live on ACCN. Categories: Local Sports, Sports ...read more read less