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Charleston Southern coach Jay Mills says his team is getting better.
Bold words, it might seem, after a 62-10 loss Saturday to No. 5 Florida State. But an improvement from a 62-0 defeat last week at Central Florida.
''To compete, to battle, to toe-in and to brace and to move forward and not to give an inch,'' Mills said. ''There are many ways to measure success. Certainly, the scoreboard, but there are other victories along the way that are going to parallel into life lessons.''
Charleston Southern (0-2) snapped a drought of 11 quarters without a touchdown when Teddy Allen flipped a 3-yard touchdown pass to Carson Leshin early in the third quarter after an interception by Charles James.
''One of my dreams was to catch an interception,'' said James, who is from Jacksonville and had wanted to play for Florida State. ''The first reaction that came to my head was, 'Do I actually have the ball?' ''
The junior cornerback stepped in front of Florida State's Rodney Smith at the 42 for the interception and sped 39 yards to the Seminole 3 before being knocked out of bounds.
''I grew up doing the tomahawk. I grew up watching Florida State,'' said James, who dreamed of playing one day for the Seminoles. ''I loved watching the cornerbacks. If I can't be on the other side, I definitely lived my dream and came out here to try to make a statement.''
Andy Brown added a 22-yard field goal midway through the fourth quarter for Charleston Southern's final points.
''We're a bunch of fighters,'' James said. ''That defense and that offense, we fought all day long.''
The outgunned visitors were simply unable to get much of anything else going and their defense was on the field for 79 plays while the offense was three-and-out much of the game.
Cornerback O'Brian Campbell had a game-high 13 tackles and Chris Kuzdale added 10 for the Buccaneers while Cornelius Sterling and Thomas Marshall collected sacks. Like James, they too are all from Florida high schools.
After being shut out in the first half, quarterback Malcolm Dixon threw for 50 yards in the second half. The Buccaneers managed only 21 yards rushing.
Florida State didn't have any problems moving the football against the Buccaneers.
''We were able to make plays,'' Florida State coach Jimbo Fisher said. ''We played well and that's all you can do.''
Florida State (2-0) rolled to 29 first downs and racked up 647 yards offense while holding Charleston Southern to three first downs and 84 yards. The Seminoles had a 371-8 yardage advantage in the first half.
EJ Manuel threw for a career-best 329 yards and four touchdowns while Charleston Southern didn't complete its first pass and get a first down until the third quarter.
Charleston Southern will give the Sunshine State one more try next Saturday when it travels to Jacksonville University before playing its first home game Sept. 24 against Norfolk State.
''We got better, we definitely improved,'' Mills said. ''I thought we improved against the run. Our punt team did an outstanding job. We took another step.''
They were, without question, 10 points better on the scoreboard.
