The Citadel Bulldogs 2026 Season Preview

Drayton Looks for Traction

The Citadel closed 2025 at 4-8 and 3-5 in Southern Conference play, a step back that left Maurice Drayton searching for the formula that turns close league games into wins. The number 69 power ranking says this roster is not overmatched league-wide, which makes the sub-.500 record more of a puzzle than a talent gap. Fixing the conference record in 2026 means finding the extra possession or two in the games this group has been losing, not overhauling the roster from scratch.

Hayes Inherits a Ground Machine

The identity here is not in question: The Citadel ran for 211 yards a game, 7th nationally, while throwing for just 119 a game, 122nd, and that split will not flip in 2026. Quentin Hayes, back after throwing for 897 yards with 8 touchdowns against 4 picks, is projected to run the offense again, and his job is simply to not get in the way of a rushing attack that already works. The bigger issue sits on defense, where 270 passing yards allowed per game (119th) and a unit that let 47.7% of opponent snaps stay on schedule (116th) did as much to produce a 4-8 record as anything Hayes did wrong.

Quentin Hayes takes the first-team reps into camp after throwing for 897 yards and 8 touchdowns last fall, but he has not locked the job down, with Cobey Thompkins (503 yards, 4 TD) pushing right behind him. The bigger truth is that this offense barely needed either arm in 2025, running for 211 yards a game (7th nationally) while ranking 122nd in passing offense, so whoever wins the camp battle inherits a ground-first attack built to protect him. Given the raw production gap, Hayes' head start in reps and experience make him the man to beat, not just a name in an open competition.

The ground game carried this offense in 2025, ranking 7th nationally in rushing yards per game even as the passing attack sank to 122nd, and virtually all of that production is gone. Garrison Johnson Sr. (467 yards, 6 TD) and Beau Herrington (334 yards, 2 TD) both departed, along with Israel Benjamin, stripping out nearly the entire backfield that made Maurice Drayton's option-style attack work. With the identity of the offense built on the run and third-down efficiency already a problem at 36.5%, whoever claims carries inherits a scheme that needs a workhorse immediately, not a committee finding its footing in October.

The Citadel's passing game was already the sport's obvious weak spot, 119 yards per game through the air ranked 122nd, and the two most productive catch-and-run threats from that offense, Jihad Marks (14 catches, 464 yards, 7 TD) and Javonte Graves-Billips (34 catches, 395 yards, 2 TD), are both gone. Braylon Knauth is the returning target with actual volume, 16 catches for 240 yards and 2 scores, and he inherits the room with JJ Hudson and a handful of low-usage returners behind him. Given how run-heavy this offense already is, 211 rushing yards a game ranked 7th nationally against a 36.1% success rate that ranked 103rd, expect Maurice Drayton to keep leaning on the ground game rather than ask Knauth to replace 464 and 395 yards by himself.

Whit Hobgood's 3 catches for 55 yards and a score are the extent of the tight end production on tape, but that's less a knock than a reflection of a ground-first attack that ran for 211 yards a game (7th nationally) while passing for just 119 (122nd). Jude Claborn, Tyler DeRienzo, Colton Green, Noah Lucas and Cameron Sutton all return without a catch on the books, which fits a Maurice Drayton offense that will keep asking this group to block first. Saul Diaz's single catch is a nonfactor to replace, and with the run scheme intact, Hobgood's role as a receiving option out of the backfield mismatches is the one thing to watch expanding in 2026.

The Citadel's ground game did the heavy lifting last fall, ranking 7th nationally in rushing yards per game (211) while the passing attack sat 122nd (119 yards), a split that says the line road-graded better than the box score suggests for a 4-8 team. That run-blocking foundation now loses three starters up front in Mike Bartilucci, Matt Metrosky and Sawyer Whitman, and Maurice Drayton brings in Tennessee transfer Trevor Duncan to plug an tackle spot. Duncan steps into a scheme that already knows how to move people on the ground, and 2026 hinges less on rebuilding the whole unit than on whether the new pieces can keep that rushing identity intact while the passing game finally climbs out of the bottom tier nationally.

The line Maurice Drayton fields in 2026 has to fix a defense that allowed 270 passing yards a game, 119th nationally, and gave up 6.17 yards per play, both signs of a front that could not consistently get after quarterbacks or force opponents off schedule (just 47.7% of snaps, 116th). None of the departed linemen, Phillip Collins, Chris Iverson, Jordan Marks, Joey Annetta or Adam Comer, put up more than a single tackle on the stat sheet, so their exit is more about snaps than production lost. The run defense held up reasonably well at 143 yards allowed per game, 48th nationally, and that side of the equation is what an experienced group up front needs to protect while the pass rush finds an answer for that 119th-ranked passing defense.

Passing defense was the soft spot in 2025, ranking 119th in yards allowed per game, and none of the four linebackers who logged tackles a year ago (Darryle Ware, Mikey Rosa, Jeremiah Holmes, Camden Gray) are back to help fix it. That production was modest to begin with, so Maurice Drayton is not replacing a dominant group so much as reconstituting one that let opponents stay on schedule 47.7% of the time, 116th nationally. The bigger issue sits behind the linebackers rather than in front of them, but whoever fills these spots has to tighten a run defense that held up (48th in rushing yards allowed per game) while the back end got exposed.

A pass defense that bled 270 yards a game through the air, 119th nationally, is the problem Maurice Drayton has to fix, and the fix starts with turnover, not continuity. Eight defensive backs are out the door, including Nolan Jones, Tyrik McDaniel, Melvin Ravenel, Cale Williams and Bradlee Jones, so DK McGruder, a three-star transfer corner from Mississippi State, arrives into a room that needs a corner who can actually win outside reps. The run defense held up in 2025 at 48th nationally in yards allowed per game, so if McGruder and an experienced secondary tighten the back end, the whole defense stops leaking points through the air instead of just stacking the box.

Ben Barnes made just 6 of 10 field goals in 2025, but he's the incumbent again, and his 42-yard long says the leg is there even if the accuracy wasn't. The bigger hole is at punter, where James Platte's 46.2-yard average walks out the door with no returning punter on record to replace it. Jack Weil, who missed all three of his field-goal tries last year, gives Maurice Drayton a fallback option at kicker, but the punting job is the one Citadel special teams question nobody has answered yet.

Quentin Hayes

Quentin Hayes threw for 897 yards and 8 touchdowns last season and is projected to open 2026 under center, with Cobey Thompkins right behind him after a 503-yard, 4-touchdown showing of his own. The bigger issue is who catches what Hayes throws: Javonte Graves-Billips and his 34 catches are gone, leaving Braylon Knauth's 16-catch, 240-yard mark as the top returning receiving number in the building. If Hayes cuts down his 4 interceptions while Knauth becomes a legitimate every-down target, The Citadel's offense has a shot at being more efficient than last year's 4-8 finish suggested.

Maurice Drayton's Road Value

The Bulldogs went 4-8 straight up but covered as road underdogs at a 67% clip, the number that actually mattered to anyone betting Maurice Drayton's team last fall. Home was a different story, a 33% cover rate and an 0-1 mark as a home favorite that shows this group struggled to hold up when expected to win outright. Until that flips, the smart play on The Citadel in 2026 is still buying the number away from Charleston.