The Golden Bulls had 25 yards total offense, including minus-7 rushing and four fumbles in the opener. The defense had some positive moments, but were overrun by
the bigger, faster Bulldogs. Getting manhandled at home wasn't a pretty sight"It's a wake-up call," Manigault said. "It's a slap in the face. I was embarrassed, it embarrassed my family, my team, my
coaches. Smith will never play ball like that again."
The Bulls, who play at Virginia State Saturday, will have to eliminate the mistakes that cost them, especially the offense.
Especially important is to improve on time of possession: Gardner-Webb held the ball for 37 minutes 23 seconds.
"It was what you saw a lot of mistakes," first-year coach
Tim Harkness said. "We turned the ball over too much and there was no execution on offense."
Smith's offensive line, which gave up five sacks to
Gardner-Webb, have to make up a lot of ground in a hurry. With 10 days to prepare for Virginia State, they're going back to the basics.
"We'll mainly make sure people are in the right place," Harkness said. "It wasn't like it was new people messing up. Those were guys who played last year making mistakes."
Another concern is at quarterback, where starter Desmond Brown bruised a collarbone in the loss. His status is "day to day," Harkness said.
Brown's replacements, freshmen Henry King and Spencer Mayo, completed 2-of-12 passes for 32 yards. King, who spent most of the game running out of harm's way, will start this
week, with Mayo and Len Gilmer as backups. Smith quarterbacks completed 2-of-15 passes for 32 yards.
"It's hard to evaluate (King) because he was scrambling for his life," Harkness said. "He was
ready, and he did what he could."
Once Gardner-Webb established dominance early, Smith's resolve melted away. The Bulls, who lack depth this season, couldn't find an answer to the bigger, deeper Bulldogs.
"I think the other team intimidated us," Manigault said. "Mentally and physically."
The offense gets a boost from the return of tailback Jimmy Bell, who was held out until his
eligibility was approved by the NCAA. Without better blocking, even his presence is negated.
"He ain't going to mean nothing if those guys up front don't do any better," Harkness said.
Smith's defense, overworked last week, will have to pressure Virginia State's running game. The Trojans, who like to throw the ball, use the run to establish tempo and keep defenses off balance.
"We've got to stop them from running and get them into pass situations," Harkness said. "If you can keep them from running, you can structure the game to where you can dictate to them."
