Update No. 3, Friday 9/9: Gene Sapakoff of The Charleston Post and Courie is now reporting that eight to 12 Charleston Southern players will be suspended for its game against FSU on Saturday.
Hearing @csusports will "only" have 8 to 12 players suspended for FSU, story at @postandcourier soon
— Gene Sapakoff (@Sapakoff) September 9, 2016
Update No. 2, Friday 9/9: According to Scott Eisberg of WCIV in Charleston, South Carolina, the number of 30 players being suspended floating around is not accurate. However, there will still be many players suspended. Charleston Southern will still travel with a full squad with some key players out.
Sports4 catches Charleston Southern as they leave for FSU- many will be suspended-but not full 30 in media reports pic.twitter.com/ev06xTUq5P
— Scott Eisberg (@SEisbergWCIV) September 9, 2016
Jamey Chadwell tells Sports4 CSU is going to FSU w/ a full travel squad of players- but a squad missing several key contributors.
— Scott Eisberg (@SEisbergWCIV) September 9, 2016
Update: We’re hearing reports that the Charleston Southern offensive line will be suspended for their game against the ‘Noles, in addition to the myriad other possible suspensions discussed below.
It’s already tough enough for an FCS program like Charleston Southern to compete with a national powerhouse like Florida State at full strength. But the Buccaneers could be without their first-string and second-string quarterbacks, their starting running back, and perhaps around 30 more players.
That is, if a recent Facebook post is to be believed-- and there’s little reason to doubt it, since it comes from a player on the Bucs’ roster. That player is Tallahassee native Ben Robinson, a running back who attended Lincoln High School.
From Charleston Southern running back Ben Robinson's Facebook page. pic.twitter.com/mXpov7b4ec
— Ariya Massoudi (@AriyaMassoudi) September 9, 2016
So here's the latest per source about CSU suspensions re: Ben Robinson's FB post: Yes, 30+ players are being investigated by NCAA.
— Alison Posey (@AlisonPosey14) September 9, 2016
It's not determined whether they will sit out this weekend or Monmouth game. Still up for decision who will be suspended and when.
— Alison Posey (@AlisonPosey14) September 9, 2016
Head coach will take his suspensions vs. Albany State. Likely all thirty will not be suspended at once.
— Alison Posey (@AlisonPosey14) September 9, 2016
CSU self reported the suspensions last week to the NCAA.
— Alison Posey (@AlisonPosey14) September 9, 2016
If CSU players are indeed being given the choice of which game they’ll miss, it will be interesting to see how that plays out. On the one hand, many players will never get another opportunity to play in an environment like the one that’ll unfold in Tallahassee on Saturday. On the other hand, Charleston Southern doesn’t schedule games against FSU to win them. This is about a paycheck for the Bucs, and they get their money regardless of how many players may miss time. So perhaps sitting guys to get them back for conference play is the move. We’ll see.