Here is a scouting report on Charleston Southern, who plays at NC State at 12:30 p.m. Saturday on RSN.
Five Charleston Southern players to watch
Redshirt sophomore quarterback Ross Malmgren
The 6-3, 220-pound Malmgren was the backup quarterback to Jack Chambers a year ago, who is now the backup quarterback at NC State. Malmgren went 8 of 15 for 57 yards and a touchdown last year, and threw for 234 yards and two scores in 2019.
Malmgren battled Tony Bartalo for the starting job and got the start against Western Carolina. He went 30-of-45 passing for 392 yards, five yards and an interception in Charleston Southern's Air Raid attack. The Acworth, Ga., native isn't a threat as a runner with eight carries for minus-25 yards.
Sophomore cornerback Jeremiah McClendon
If you blinked in watching the first play of the game, then you missed McClendon's lone play. He was called for targeting and was ejected. The 6-0, 180-pounder signed with Florida Atlantic and then ended up at Marshall. However, he transferred to Charleston Southern last January.
McClendon played in five games in 2021 for Marshall, getting two tackles. He had 42 tackles and seven interceptions his senior year at Atlantic High in Delray Beach, Fla.
Redshirt freshman running back TJ Ruff
The 5-10, 183-pounder from Shelby (N.C.) Crest High is a quality receiver out of the backfield. Ruff rushed nine times for 60 yards and he caught nine passes for 99 yards and a 54-yard touchdown in the 52-38 loss vs. Western Carolina last Saturday.
Huff rushed 14 times for 46 yards last year, and he caught three passes for 13 yards. Ruff had a combined 1,900 all-purpose yards and 26 touchdowns his junior year at Crest High.
Senior middle linebacker Garrett Sayegh
The 5-foot-9, 210-pounder anchors the defense and had seven tackles and a fumble recovery in the season opener against Western Carolina.
Sayegh had 96 tackles, three forced fumbles, two interceptions, two sack and one fumble recovery in 10 games last year. He had 16 tackles against both Hampton and Campbell a year ago and was named first-team Big South.
Senior defensive end Anton Williams
The sixth-year senior defensive end had 27 tackles, six tackles for loss and five sacks a year ago. The 6-3, 245-pounder from Marianna, Fla., added eight quarterback hurries and one forced fumble and was named second-team Big South.
Williams had two tackles in the season opener against WCU. Williams was dominant in 2019 with 54 tackles, 17 tackles for loss and eight sacks.
What to watch for from Charleston Southern
1. Spread the defense out: The Buccaneers will spread the defense out and try and play pitch and catch with short routes and a few fades down the sideline. It also includes throwing the ball to the running backs.
Charleston Southern quarterback Ross Malmgren threw for five touchdowns in the 52-38 loss against Western Carolina. The scores went to four different players, with 6-0, 178-pound Seth Anderson leading the way with eight catches for 131 yards and two scores.
Senior Cayden Jordan was the main receiver coming into the season. He had 53 catches for 752 yards and a touchdown last year, but he was held to two receptions for 69 last Saturday.
2. Hard time to run the ball: Charleston Southern struggled to run the ball against Western Carolina, and that will be even tougher to do against a bigger, faster and deeper NC State defense. The Buccaneers ran 27 times for 89 yards and 60 came on one play from sophomore running back JD Moore.
Running back TJ Ruff can catch the ball out of the backfield, with nine receptions for 99 yards and a score against WCU. However, Ruff is mostly an outside runner.
3. Charleston Southern secondary got torched. Western Carolina threw for 433 yards and six touchdowns, with six different receivers catching scores.
Junior quarterback Carlos Davis went 28-of-36 passing, but did throw two interceptions. This should be a “get healthy” game for quarterback Devin Leary and the NC State offense.
Three keys to the game for NC State football
1. Will the run set up the pass? The thought process was that NC State would air it out last week and then run against East Carolina. Well, that didn’t happen. This week, a 180-degree could occur with NC State running the ball first and then turn to play-action passes and big plays.
NC State will want to give its run game a vote of confidence after the goal-line issues against East Carolina. Look for the Wolfpack to control the line of scrimmages and run the ball about 60 percent of the time. At least one NC State running back will top 100 rushing yards, and a second could end up with 80-plus.
2. The defense will get some sacks: It’s hard to believe that NC State had zero sacks against East Carolina, but that is what happened. Part of that was ECU quarterback Holton Ahlers would take off running when pressured, or when he had too much time.
Charleston Southern redshirt freshman quarterback Ross Malmgren is a pocket passer at 6-3 and 220 pounds. He is not a take off and run kind of quarterback. NC State should be able to get pressure on him, especially on blitzes.
3. Create big plays in passing game: NC State’s longest pass was 24 yards last week, which occurred twice. The first was to Thayer Thomas over the middle and the second came to Keyon Lesane down the left sideline.
NC State took a few shots downfield, but this will be the game where quarterback Devin Leary will uncork a few deep balls. NC State needs some confidence that the offense won’t just be about singles and doubles. Between wide receivers Darryl Jones, Anthony Smith and Julian Gray, at least one of them should get open deep.
Three numbers of note
11 Returning starters from last year — seven on defense and four on offense.
4,318 Career rushing yards for Charleston Southern coach Autry Denson at Notre Dame from 1995-98. He tallied 212 yards in four years in the NFL.
5,781 Career passing yards for NC State backup quarterback Jack Chambers while at Charleston Southern from 2018-2021.
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