Sept. 13, 2008

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WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - Six inches separated the Rams from a bid at a victory in overtime and a loss in regulation on Saturday evening and those six inches went the way of the Savannah State University Tigers as an Adnan Kljajic's potentially game-tying field goal hit the left upright and bounced harmlessly away as SSU handed the Rams a 16-13 loss at Bowman Gray Stadium to drop the Rams to 0-2 on the season.

A hard-fought contest throughout, the Ram fans were hangin' with the new Mr. Cooper in the early-going on Saturday evening as WSSU redshirt freshman running back Nic Cooper put on a show for the 5,112 fans in attendance as he tallied a career-high 144 yards rushing and a pair of touchdowns running for positive yardage on all 21 of his carries in the contest.

Though the current students at WSSU may be too young to remember the popular sitcom Hangin' With Mr. Cooper that aired from 1992 to 1997 starring Mark Curry and Holly Robinson, all the fans in attendance got their first introduction to the new Mr. Cooper, a 6-0, 230 pound redshirt freshman running back from Clinton, N.C.

Cooper tallied his first of two touchdowns on the evening with a 15-yard run over left end that gave the Rams the early lead 7-0. His second tally of the game put the Rams ahead 13-9 at the 2:37 mark of the third quarter when he powered his way into the endzone from 23 yards out.

Despite the production from Cooper, the Rams fell short in the game as 342 yards of total offense netted WSSU only 13 points.

"We need to play tougher. We honestly do" Cooper commented in post game interviews. "This game is about lining up and smacking the other guy across from you in the mouth and that is a mentality that we need to take."

The Rams controlled the contest throughout yet could not put points on the board as a pair of interceptions stalled WSSU's bid to find the endzone on two occasions.

"It's an easy game and they outplayed us in certain phases of the game" WSSU head coach Kermit Blount said. "The one turnover hurt us badly. We don't like to turn the ball over and when we do that like we did tonight it makes it tough to win ballgames."

For the second consecutive week the Rams had an opportunity to tie the game late in the fourth quarter and for the second straight week WSSU's bid for an extra frame was denied.

Kljajic's game-tying field goal attempt was unable to sneak between the 18 feet six inches of space between the uprights and the Rams fell to 0-2 for the first time since the 2005 season as Savannah State escaped Bowman Gray Stadium with a 16-13 victory.

The win moves Savannah State to 2-1 on the year as the Tigers won back-to-back games for the first time since the 2000 season.

Winston-Salem State returns to action on Saturday, September 20, 2008 at 6:00 p.m. as they play host to the Bears of Morgan State University at Bowman Gray Stadium.

For additional information on WSSU football, contact the Winston-Salem State University Office of Athletic Media Relations at (336) 750-2143 or log on to the Official Website of WSSU Athletics at WSSURams.com.