Gardner-Webb Runnin' Bulldogs 2026 Season Preview

McCullough's steady build

Kris McCullough closed 2026 out on a 7-5 mark with a 5-3 league record, the kind of season that keeps Gardner-Webb squarely in the Big South-OVC mix rather than at the bottom of it. A No. 48 power rating says this roster can hang with a level of competition above what a Gardner-Webb team usually sees, and that gap between name recognition and on-field performance is the real story here. The floor McCullough has built now points toward pushing for the top of the league rather than just competing in it.

Explosive but stuck on third down

Gardner-Webb's offense already hits chunk plays with the nation's 12th-best explosiveness mark, yet a 110th-ranked third-down conversion rate kept stalling drives in 2025, and that gap is the real story heading into 2026. Cole Pennington is projected to run it again after throwing for 1,601 yards, and the swing season comes down to whether he and this attack start finishing series instead of just flashing big plays. The defense has real bend, allowing 29.8 points and 395 yards a game, so every possession Pennington's offense fails to close keeps games tighter than a unit averaging 27.5 points should allow.

Cole Pennington heads back into the job after throwing for 1601 yards with 7 touchdowns against 5 interceptions, taking over on an offense that ranked 23rd nationally in total yards per game but stalled at a 31.8% third-down rate. Nate Hampton's 1245 yards and 10 touchdowns are gone, but Pennington's larger sample and the return of Ben Mauney and Finley Polk as run threats give Kris McCullough a settled starter rather than a rebuild. Tydreke Powell arrives as a high school signee out of Southeast Raleigh, adding to a room that already has Easton Jessie, NaCari McFarland and Famous Wilson on the depth chart behind Pennington.

Gardner-Webb has to replace the bulk of a run game that put up 180 yards a game on the ground last fall, since Quasean Holmes (969 yards, 5 TD) and Carson Gresock (798 yards, 14 TD) both departed. Christian Vann is the only returning back with any carries on record, just 32 yards, so this is effectively a fresh backfield built around him, Sam Burks, Juels Huntley, Darius Latimer, Jaylin Murray and James Newton. None of that group has logged a rushing stat yet, which makes the explosive play-calling that ranked 12th in offense explosiveness a much tougher act to sustain into 2026.

Caleb Borders took his 468 yards and four scores out the door, leaving Jabre Bevineau as the only returning receiver with real volume from a passing game that ranked 31st nationally in yards per play. Kory Jones and Sean Brady combined for modest production but offer proven hands, while Jalen Harris, Teddy Sands and Rex Schofill return without a catch on record, meaning Bevineau has to become the reliable target rather than a complementary piece. Kaiden Dewey arrives from Baylor School as a name to track, but this passing attack's explosiveness, 12th nationally in yards per successful play, will live or die on Bevineau taking the leap Borders' absence demands.

Cole Schnieder and Elvin Fofanah combined for the only real production this room had, and both are gone, leaving Collin Carroll as the lone returning tight end with a catch on his résumé (1 for 5 yards). That is thin ground for a passing game that already ranked 31st in yards per play and had to lean on explosiveness (12th nationally) rather than efficiency to move the ball. Beau Blankenship, Ryan Demonbreun, Alex Furr, Evan Kuehnel and Joey Shearin are all back without a single tracked stat between them, so whoever emerges as Carroll's complement will be doing it in live games, not off a track record.

Kris McCullough watched that line average 5.97 yards per play and spring enough explosive gains to rank 12th nationally in that category, but six linemen off that group are gone, including Henry Kofowo, Chance Reid, Ahmad Carwise, Luke Rector and CJ Dawson. Carson Blachford, Blake Bradford, Gavin Brooks, Brayden Cook and Drew Davis all sit atop the depth chart entering 2026, though with linemen producing no individual stats there is no way to know how many of them actually started last fall. High school signee Xavier Wade joins from Baylor School and tackle Nikolas Bivens arrives from Rutherford B. Hayes, and given how much experience walked out the door, this group reads more like a rebuild than a returning strength, with the 110th-ranked third down offense a clear sign of the inconsistency this line has to erase.

Every name that produced a snap on last year's line is gone, with Antonio O'Berry's 9 tackles the largest total among the departed group, leaving Kris McCullough to rebuild a front that let opponents average 6.05 yards per play, 86th nationally. App State transfer Anthony Mebane arrives at edge to anchor the rebuild, though he carries no prior statistics to lean on, meaning the pass rush production has to be found rather than assumed. With the yards-per-play number and a rushing defense that gave up 166 yards a game as the baseline, this group's floor depends on how fast Mebane and whoever lines up beside him can turn pressure into actual stops.

Gardner-Webb's defense allowed 166 yards a game on the ground and let 40.7 percent of opponent snaps stay on schedule, numbers that point to a linebacker corps that couldn't consistently win first down. Cahari Haynes (15 tackles, 2 TFL) and Jecari Bryson (10 tackles) are gone, taking the modest production the room had with them. Kris McCullough brings in Jackson Settle and Jalen McGraw as unproven pieces, and how quickly either forces his way onto the field will decide whether the run defense climbs out of the 70s nationally in that category.

Nigel Lucas anchors the back end after a 13-tackle season in a secondary that allowed 229 yards passing per game, 74th nationally. Sabin McLaughlin and Jordan Jackson return with modest tackle numbers, and the room adds Tyshawn Sanders, a transfer corner from App State, plus high school signee Maddox McDowell at safety. Gone are Jonathan Robinson and Wendell McClain, so Kris McCullough is banking on Sanders to upgrade a pass defense that gave up 6.05 yards per play, 86th in the country.

Charlie Viorel is the constant here, coming off a 15-of-20 season with a long of 48 and 82 points, the kind of steady leg Kris McCullough builds special teams around. The bigger swing is at punter, where Brady Braun's 48.1-yard average and Jackson Dorr's work are both gone, leaving no returning statistics on file at the position. Gardner-Webb does not have to replace its placekicker, just its field-position game, and that gap matters more for a team that went 5-3 in conference than the box score suggests.

Cole Pennington's arm

Gardner-Webb lost 15 players to the portal and Quasean Holmes' 969 rushing yards with him, so the ground game that used to carry this offense is gone. That shifts everything onto Cole Pennington, who threw for 1,601 yards but also 5 interceptions last season, with Jabre Bevineau and Kory Jones as his only proven targets. If Pennington cuts down the picks and finds those two more often, Gardner-Webb's offense holds up despite the roster churn.

McCullough's Road-Only Cover

Gardner-Webb's betting card tells two opposite stories depending on the venue. On the road, Kris McCullough's team is 6-1 against the spread, including 3-1 as a road underdog, the profile of a team nobody wants to lay points against away from home. Back in its own building the script flips hard, a 1-4 spread mark and 1-4 as a home favorite, so bettors backing Gardner-Webb at home in 2026 are fading the very trend that defined it in 2025.