DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — There’s just something about the Bethune-Cookman and South Carolina State matchup that delivers.

Different conferences now. Different coaches. Different players. Different expectations.

Same kind of football game we have come to expect between these two since forever.

SC State walked out of Daytona Stadium with a hard fought 31-21 victory, improving to 5-0 on the year.

But the final score doesn’t quite tell the full story.

For BCU, Saturday night felt like another reminder that the Wildcats are getting closer.

They just aren’t quite there yet.

TWO VERY DIFFERENT HALVES

For the first 30 minutes, SC State looked every bit like one of the better teams in FCS football.

The Bulldogs entered the game undefeated and ranked No. 16 in the Stats Perform poll, and they spent much of the first half showing why.

SCSU opened the scoring on a four-yard Josh Shaw touchdown run before B-CU quarterback Tyler Jefferson answered almost immediately, breaking loose for a 63-yard touchdown run to tie the game at 7.

Then the Bulldogs took control.

Keely Watson connected with Troy Hillman for an 18-yard touchdown and later found Darius Thompson for a 32-yard score. Jett Jackson’s 34-yard field goal sent B-CU into the locker room staring at a 24-7 deficit.

That could have been it against the top team in HBCU Football.

It wasn’t.

Whatever was said in the Wildcats’ locker room at halftime worked.

Cookman came out looking like a completely different football team in the second half.

The Wildcats put together consecutive touchdown drives in the third quarter, with Rashon Brown and Josh Evans finding the end zone. Suddenly, a game that appeared headed toward another comfortable South Carolina State victory had become a one-possession game.

24-21.

The Wildcat offense got two cracks at taking the lead in the 4th quarter but could only muster a 3 play, 8 yard drive and a 5 play, 7 yard drive.

That is where Saturday night’s game, and perhaps where B-CU is as a program right now.

CLOSE ISN’T QUITE THERE

The Wildcats had climbed all the way back.

Now they needed to finish.

But tSCSU wouldn’t let them.

The Bulldogs showed the difference between a team trying to get there and a program that already knows how to finish games.

The Bulldogs sealed the game on an 11 play, 85 yard drive.

There was no panic.

No need for anything spectacular.

Just a physical, methodical, championship-style drive that ate away the fourth-quarter clock and eventually ended with Shaw powering in from one yard out on 4th down.

31-21.

Ballgame.

THE GAP IS CLOSING

There are no moral victories in HBCU football.

Bethune didn’t come into Saturday night looking to prove it could hang around with the Bulldogs. The Wildcats wanted to beat them.

They had their chances but didn’t.

It was the type of performance that leaves you suspended between encouraged and frustrated. Ultimately, “we’re close” has to become “we’re there.”

NOW THE GAMES REALLY COUNT

Perhaps the most important thing for the Wildcats is that Saturday’s loss doesn’t change what lies directly ahead.

The nonconference schedule is over.

B-CU enters SWAC play at 2-2 and hosts Alabama State next Saturday.

The Wildcats have shown flashes through four games.

They’ve shown they can run the football.

They’ve shown they can be explosive.

And Saturday night, after getting punched in the mouth by one of the better teams in FCS football, they showed they can respond.

Now comes the next step…finish.