PC Football Revisits Historic Rivalry with Erskine Tomorrow Night

GREENWOOD, S.C. – Already their second time under the lights this season, the Presbyterian College football team will clash with the recently-revived Erskine Flying Fleet on Saturday, September 7. It will be the first time that the two schools have met since 1951, taking place at Greenwood High School.

Kickoff is measured for 7:00 PM and will be broadcasted live on Flo Football. PC is on the road for the second straight week to begin the campaign, although this particular drive is vastly shorter at under an hour in length.

Tomorrow night’s meeting – held at J.W. Babb Stadium – will be the last time that the Blue Hose are the visiting party for almost a full month. Following this affair, head coach Steve Englehart‘s crew will size up three consecutive home games against Virginia-Lynchburg, Gardner-Webb, and Davidson.

 

GAMEDAY CENTRAL

 

WHO: Presbyterian (0-1) at Erskine (1-0)

WHERE: J.W. Babb Stadium (Greenwood, S.C.)

WHEN: Saturday, September 7 – 7:00 PM

 

FOLLOW THE ACTION

 

WATCH: Flo Football

LIVE STATS: SideArm

TWITTER/X: @BlueHoseFB

GAME NOTES: Presbyterian Notes | PFL Weekly Report

 

GROUNDING THE FLEET

 

• While it’s been 73 years since Presbyterian and Erskine last faced each other on the gridiron, the series was owned by the Blue Hose when the two were regular opponents. They played 32 games from 1915 to 1951, and it was PC who emerged as the victor in 29 of those contests.

• After dropping the 1937 game, the Scotsmen defeated the Flying Fleet in their last 10 tries before Erskine disbanded its football program shortly thereafter.

• There’s no other program who PC holds a longer current winning streak against, save for NCAA Division III school Guilford, whom Presby defeated 10 straight times from 1968 to ’78.

• Throughout the 10-game win streak over Erskine, the Fleet were shut out by the blue and garnet six times and never scored more than 13 points in that stretch. The last encounter in 1951 was decided by a 33-6 margin in Due West.

 

OPPONENT PROFILE

• Deleting their football program for 70 years until its revival in the spring of 2021, Erskine started off the season with an impressive 52-0 dissection of St. Andrews at home.

• The Flying Fleet put a 20-game losing streak to rest on the final day of August by registering 17 first downs and 312 yards of total offense. They were forced to punt just once over the entire meeting.

• Perhaps more impressive than the 52-point shutout, Erskine’s defense held St. Andrews to an eye-popping 54 yards from scrimmage. The Knights completed only two passes all game that went for a combined three yards.

• Erskine connected on 80 percent of their pass attempts (12-for-15), throwing three touchdowns and rushing for three more. They tacked on a scoop-and-score early in the 3rd for a defensive TD, translating to their first win via shutout since the team was resurrected three years ago.

 

 

 SPRINTING SWITZER

• A bright spot for the Blue Hose in last Thursday’s setback against Mercer (the same squad that earned a first-round win in the 2023 FCS Playoffs), senior running back Zach Switzer offered up an incendiary kick-return effort with 191 yards on eight attempts.

• That was the most of anyone at either the FBS or FCS levels for Week One, surpassing Presbyterian’s Division I single-game record in that department by 40 yards (Jeremiah McKie in 2013 against VMI).

• Seven weeks of FCS football had been played since anyone collected 191 kick-return yards in a sole contest (October 7 of last year). Switzer totaled 85 yards on just two returns (45 and 40, respectively), taking six of his eight returns beyond 20 yards.

 

HERRIOTT CLIMBING UP THE LADDER

• Presbyterian’s leading tackler three years running, linebacker Alex Herriott finds himself on the doorstop of a Blue Hose milestone this Saturday by needing just one more tackle to reach 3rd-place in PC’s Division I-era history.

• By scattering seven stops in the season-starting affair with Mercer, the South Carolinian tied Jarrett Nagy and recently-inducted Big South Hall of Famer Justin Bethel with his 279th tackle.

• Colby Campbell (2017-20) and Donelle Williams (2011-15) are thus far the only two defenders since 2007 to have eclipsed 300 career tackles in the blue and garnet. Herriott needs only 21 more to join that company, averaging 90 tackles per season in his first three years with PC.