The Lindenwood Lions are 3-3 on the season and headed to Charleston Southern for a Big South-OVC Football matchup. (Photo: Terrance Williams)
Lindenwood Football – Gameday Info
Game No. 7 – Lindenwood (3-3, 1-1) at Charleston Southern (2-3, 0-0)
Date/Time – October 14, 2023 – 3 pm
Location – Buccaneer Field — Charleston, SC
Broadcast – ESPN+
Live Stats – CSU Sidearm Stats
Cedric Williams
Senior Editor
CHARLESTON, SC — After earning its first Big South-OVC Football Association win of the season last Saturday, the Lindenwood Lions will be back on the road for another league contest this Saturday. The Lions will be traveling to the east coast to take on Charleston Southern in the first ever meeting between the two schools.
Lindenwood, which boasts one the Big South-OVC’s best offenses — the Lions are second in scoring at 29.5 points per game — is coming off its best defensive performance of the season, when it shut out Tennessee Tech, 23-0, last week. It was the program’s first shutout since 2005, as Lindenwood held the Golden Eagles to 218 total yards, forced three turnovers, and sacked their quarterback six times.
Charleston Southern was on a bye last week, but is coming off a victory. The Buccaneers defeated Kennesaw State, 13-10, on a last-second field goal back on September 30.
Players to Watch: Injuries have become an important issue for Lindenwood in the last few weeks. Both starting quarterback and running back Cole Dugger and Robert Giaimo are expected to be out for the rest of the season.
So that means new guys will have to fill those roles and fill them well if the Lions are to finish the season like they’d hoped they would when the season began.
Redshirt sophomore Carter Davis will take over at QB for Lindenwood. The 6-foot-2, 191-pounder from Eureka, Mo., has appeared in three games this season.
He came in in the third quarter last week and on his first play, threw a 52-yard touchdown pass to grad student senior Spencer Redd.
Redd was the offensive spark for the Lions last week, as he not only caught the touchdown from Davis, he also ran the opening kickoff back for a 99-yard touchdown. It was those two huge plays that earned him Big South-OVC Special Teams Player of the Week honors.
The Lions will use another grad student senior, Justin Williams, and another redshirt sophomore, Jared Rhodes, to handle the rushing duties on Saturday. Head coach Jed Stugart said he expects Williams and Rhodes to play well against Charleston Southern.
“We’re looking to those guys to step up,” Stugart said, following last Saturday’s win. “We know they’re capable. We trust them. Just like we trust Carter (at quarterback). I know those guys can do the job.”
Defensively, Lindenwood will be led by dynamic sophomore defensive lineman Kobe McClendon. Last week, the 6-3, 252-pounder was nearly unstoppable for the Lions. He had a game-high seven tackles, four of them for loss, three quarterback sacks, and he forced and recovered a fumble.
All that dominant work earned McClendon the Big South-OVC Association Defensive Player of the Week award. And for the season, McClendon leads the conference with 5.5 quarterback sacks.
Injuries have also been an issue for Charleston Southern, which will start true freshman Zolten Osbourne at quarterback. Osbourne has appeared in three games this season and has passed for 269 yards.
Up Next: Lindenwood will enjoy its own bye week next week, before returning to the field on Saturday, October 28, for a game at Tennessee State. Lindenwood’s next home game is November 4, when the Lions will host Eastern Illinois at Hunter Stadium.
Probable Starters
Lindenwood Offense Lindenwood Defense
QB – 6 Carter Davis – So. DE – 4 Kobe McClendon – So.
RB – 33 Jared Rhodes – Fr. DT – 56 Darion Mullins – Jr.
WR – 10 Spencer Redd – Sr. DT – 99 Makai Finau – Fr.
WR – 19 Jeff Caldwell – Sr. DE – 46 Frank Caldwell – Jr.
WR – 81 Ronnie Thomas – Jr. LB – 20 Ethan Stuhlsatz – So.
LT – 78 Gareth Warren – Jr. LB – 52 Brenden Dye – So.
LG – 68 Joe Becker – So. LB – 15 Sanjay Strickland – So.
C – 60 George Miki-Han – So. CB – 14 Tre Bell – Fr.
RG – 71 Jacob Swihart – Jr. FS – 1 Taylen Blaylock – So.
RT – 74 Ethan Johnson – So. SS – 11 Mann McGruder – Sr.
TE – 18 Chase Lanckreit – Jr. CB – 24 Wesley Hines – Sr.
PK – 43 Logan Siebert – So. P – 95 Patrick Turner – Fr.
Charleston Southern Offense Charleston Southern Defense
QB – 5 Zolton Osbourne – Fr. DT – 55 Daniel Rickert – So.
RB – 10 JD Moore – Jr. DT – 92 Kail Dava – Sr.
WR – 9 Brad Clark – Sr. DT – 99 Jacorrian Wrenn – Jr.
WR – 7 Metrius Flemming – Sr. DE – 8 Hudson Tucker – Jr.
WR – 8 Jalal Dean – Jr. LB – 19 Aaron Swofford – So.
LT – 77 Trevor Stephens – Sr. LB – 47 Jacquez McGowan – So.
LG – 74 Ellis Adams – Sr. CB – 7 Okachi Emmanwori – Sr.
C – 66 Nate Hodnett – Jr. N – 6 Jyron Gilmore – So.
RG – 68 Wes Delk – So. S – 20 Tim Coutras – Jr.
RT – 73 Logan Weedman – So. S – 10 Jackson Price – Sr.
TE – 88 Hunter Barnhart – Jr. CB – 5 Nyquan Washington – Jr.
PK – 29 Sam Babbush – Jr. P – 93 Brian Cooey – Jr.
| 2023 Lindenwood Lions Football Schedule |
| Sat., October 14 — at Charleston Southern* — 3 pm |
| Sat., October 28 — at Tennessee State* — 2 pm |
| Sat., November 4 — vs. Eastern Illinois* — 2 pm |
| Sat., November 11 — vs. Bryant* — 1 pm |
| * – denotes Big South-Ohio Valley Conference game |
| All Lindenwood home games will be played at Harlen C. Hunter Stadium |