BUIES CREEK, N.C. - Campbell's football team (1-2, 0-1 Pioneer Football League) dropped its first conference game of the season in heartbreaking fashion to Davidson College (1-2, 1-0 Pioneer Football League) by a score of 28-27 on Sept. 18 at Barker-Lane Stadium/Ed Gore Field.

The Camels held a 27-21 lead with 7:30 remaining in the game only to see the Wildcats, behind the strong running of Kenny Mantuo, pound the football down the field for the game-tying score on third down from the CU three-yard line with 00:13 second remaining in the game. Mantuo scored the game-tying touchdown and finished the day with a Barker-Lane Stadium record 181 yards rushing. The extra point from Ben Behrendt was good and gave Davidson the 28-27 lead in the eventual same score victory. The Wildcats were aided on the drive on 15-yard roughing the passer call against the CU defense that advanced the ball to the Campbell 16-yard line in the final two minutes on what was a second and 15.

Campbell had one final shot at a long field goal in the final seconds after junior Paul Constantine was able to haul in a 24-yard pass from senior quarterback Daniel Polk with one-second remaining in the game. On the ball in which Adam Willets would have attempted a 54-yard field goal their appeared to be confusion on the field as a distant whistle was heard and play looked to have been stopped. When order was restored the field goal attempt was ruled as having been missed and the game was officially over.

The Wildcats struck first and scored with just 00:29 second remaining in the first quarter on Justin Williams' four-yard rush and finish off a seven play 48-yard drive that covered 3:26 of clock time. The Behrendt kick was good to give Davidson the 7-0 lead in the game.

The Camels answered on the ensuing drive and put together a 15-play 70 yard drive that covered 6:46 and was finished with a one-yard Polk plunge. Willets tied the scored with extra point with 8:36 remaining in the second quarter. The rushing touchdown was the fourth of the season for the redshirt senior.

CU took the lead on its next drive as Polk engineered an eight play 53-yard drive that was finished in the end zone by redshirt junior Carl Smith. The Willets extra point was good to give Campbell a 14-7 advantage with 2:37 left in the second quarter. The touchdown was the first not scored by Polk this season.

The Wildcats drove the field at the end of the half, but Behrendt's 24-yard field goal was missed to keep the score at 14-7 Campbell heading to the break.

The Wildcats wasted no time tying the score in the second half and marched down the field on its opening possession. Williams finished off the 70-yard drive with a 33-yard rush. Behrendt's extra point was good to tie things up at 14 at the 12:30 mark of the third quarter.

The Camels took the lead back on its next drive that covered 69 yards in 11 plays and was finished for the second time in the game by Polk, this time for five-yards out. The Willets extra point was good to increase the margin to 21-14 with 6:33 remaining in the third quarter.

The CU offense kept marching up and down the field and extended the lead to 13 on Rashaun Brown's nine-yard rush. The Campbell drive covered five plays and 55 yards and was aided by a 34-yard reception from Paul Constantine. The extra point was missed to keep the Campbell advantage at 13 points. The missed extra point would loom at key play later in the game.

The Wildcats cut the margin to six on the next drive with a Michael Blanchard scoring on a three-yard pass from Jonathan Carkhuff. The Behrendt extra point was made to draw Davidson to 27-21 with just over 11 minutes remaining in the game (11:40).

The Camels were outgained in the game 405 to 299 including 270 to 143 on the ground. Polk hit nine of his 12 attempts for Campbell for 156 yards. Constantine became the first receiver to ever top 100 yards in a game for Campbell and caught five passes for 105 yards. Rashaun Brown led the Camels with his 53 yards rushing. Redshirt junior Milton Brown and sophomore Steth Monroe led the defensive effort with 10 stops each.

The Camels continue the long homestand with a 1 p.m. non-conference game against Georgia State on Sept. 25.

Notes: The Camels unveiled the team's new black uniforms for the first time in school history.

Coach Steele Quotes

Was there anything wrong with the snap or a mistake on the missed extra point?

Not that I was aware of. To be honest we will have to look at the film, but I didn't see anything go wrong on from my view on the sideline.

Davidson's running back Kenny Mantuo had more yards than all your running backs combined, what did he do that allowed him to be so effective against your defense?

He's a good running back, and we had the same problem that we did last week with missing tackles. We didn't do our job as coaches preparing our guys during the week. We put the team in positions on several occasions to make plays and it just didn't happen. It's our job as a coaching staff to get our kids ready to tackle each week.

What was the difference in your offense after the first quarter?

They put nine in the box so when we came out the first seven plays didn't go well and we adjusted to capitalize on it. They had nine people within six feet of the ball and their plan was to take the run away from us. We then found out what formations we could use in the passing game to help us move the ball in other ways.

What was the difference in Davidson having 28 points and CU having 27?

A missed extra point, our kids played hard and time just ran out on us. Those kids are hurting very bad in the locker room. Time just ran out on us today.

What happened on the last play?

I don't know. I asked if they called time out and the refs didn't know. I don't know if they called time out, the official told me that the game was over. He didn't want to listen to me or care what I had to say.

What did Davidson do different than Old Dominion did last week that allowed your offense to move the ball more effectively today?

We practiced a lot the last week on the basics. Our inside zone worked really well today; Rashaun Brown ran the ball really well today, Carl ran the ball hard and our offensive line did really well today on the plays we practiced. We had them off guard and they were out of position to make some big plays happen.

What happened on the late hit on the quarterback?

Well it's a penalty and we can't have those errors. We had nine penalties last week and we tried working on it this week. I have to do a better job as a coach to let them know that they can't keep making these mistakes. It is on me.