South Carolina State football has spent eight months relishing last year's accomplishments, but a new season is to begin Thursday night against Central Florida.

"It's a little strange (opening on Thursday), but our confidence level is high," SC State head coach Buddy Pough said at his weekly press conference Monday. "We have guys that think they can hang the moon, but we know UCF is a real good team. They finished last season in the Gasparilla Bowl, and beat up on Florida pretty good."

The Knights finished last season 9-4 under former Auburn head coach Gus Malzan.

"(Malzan) and his outfit are notorious for running a bunch of snaps," Pough said. "At Auburn, those guys were really, really fast, and he did a fantastic job of implementing a quarterback-run game."

Last week, Malzan named former Ole Miss quarterback John Ryhs Plumlee the starter against South Carolina State. While with the Rebels, Plumlee set the single-season freshman rushing record and scored 16 touchdowns.

"Plumlee is a running son of a gun," Pough said. "He's fast, he's got a shake-and-bake and he's an SEC-level quarterback. It will be interesting to see what our defense can do to slow down that offense. They can be extremely high-powered."

Pough said free-safety Jaylen Evans will not play after having surgery on his injured foot. He said defensive end Zione Meadows also had surgery but may be able to return sometime this season.

"We have a few guys injured, and have some COVID issues as well," Pough said. "That stuff is still hanging out there, but nobody wants to hear about your problems right now, they just want to know how many games you're going to win."

The Bulldogs will be led by quarterback Corey Fields. Pough said Fields and the receivers have worked to have a better relationship after last season.

"I think it's getting better," Pough said. "We had two of our better games at Norfolk State and in the Celebration Bowl. (Corey) went for a half in the Celebration Bowl where it wasn't great, but got it going at the end of the first half and kept it going. We're hoping he'll continue to build on what we've done."

SC State receiver Shaq Davis caught six touchdowns over those final two games and was named Offensive MVP of the Celebration Bowl. Pough said Davis has missed the last four practices because of a virus-related issue.

"We haven't been able to see (Shaq and Corey) work together," Pough said. "That's the combo we feel can set us up to have some success. Hopefully, it can free up other guys in the receiving corps."

With Davis out, Pough said Justin Smith-Brown has become Fields' go-to receiver in practice, along with Hezekiah Massey and Richard Bailey.

"The guy I envisioned going into the season was Rakim White," Pough said of his secondary receiver position. "He was injured last year against Bethune-Cookman but he's a bigger-type of burner."

With questions in the secondary, Pough said he will be relying heavily on his defensive line and linebackers to create pressure against the Knights.

"We need (Patrick) Godbolt and Jeblonski (Green) to play really well," Pough said. "We have a transfer (Jamal McKinley) who is starting to show he can help us to create some pressure. (Naejuan) Barber, (Jared) Kirksey and (Brandon) Tucker) have
a chance to create some mismatches along the defensive line. If these guys can develop, they should become a force that can get pressure with just four guys, freeing up the rest of our defense."

Central Florida is the first of two FBS teams on South Carolina's 2022 schedule. Pough said playing games against upper-echelon opponents can be a positive experience for his team.

"We have our work cut out for us," Pough said. "But a game like this can create a sense of urgency in the preseason and help us work that much harder later in the year."

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