Southeastern Rolls Past Savannah State, 63-6, in Home Opener
Southeastern Louisiana 63, Savannah State 6
HAMMOND, La. - Behind one of the most prolific offensive performances in school history, Southeastern Louisiana rolled past Savannah State, 63-6, in its home opener Saturday night in Strawberry Stadium.
The Lions (1-1) rolled up 616 yards of total offense and 63 points - both which represented the fifth-highest single-game totals in school history. Defensively, Southeastern limited Savannah State (0-2) to 211 total yards and 11 first downs.
Juniors Brian Young and Nathan Stanley again split time under center for the Lions and both were effective. Young completed 15 of 25 passes for 161 yards and a touchdown, while Stanley connected on 11 of his 15 attempts for 185 yards and two scores.
Senior Brandon Collins led the Lion receivers with six catches for 54 yards and two touchdowns. Senior Simmie Yarborough also caught a touchdown pass for Southeastern - his school-record 28th scoring grab of his career. Southeastern also finished with 270 rushing yards, led by junior Zeke Jones and his career-high tying three touchdown runs.
For the full recap, please visit lionsports.net.
No. 3/4 Northern Iowa 34, No. 12/16 Stephen F. Austin 23
NACOGDOCHES, Texas - Miscues doomed No. 12/16 Stephen F. Austin Saturday against No. 3/4 Northern Iowa. The Lumberjacks were penalized nine times for 91 yards, and turned the ball over four times as the Panthers recorded a 34-23 victory over the Lumberjacks in Homer Bryce Stadium.
In a rare home setback, the Lumberjacks outgained UNI in total offense (407-362), but the Panthers held the ball for nearly 15 minutes longer than the Lumberjacks. UNI quarterback Tirrell Rennie did a good job of keeping the Lumberjack offense off the field. Rennie completed only 9-of-25 passes for 151 yards, but carried the ball 19 times for 126 yards and two touchdowns. Behind Rennie, the Panthers converted on 9-of-16 third down attempts.
Brady Attaway completed 23-of-35 passes for 281 yards and one touchdown. He completed passes to seven different receivers, including junior Cordell Roberson who led the team in receptions for the second week in a row. Roberson hauled in seven passes for 115 yards. Crawford added five catches for 59 yards and his team-leading fourth touchdown reception of the season.
For the complete recap, visit sfajacks.com.
Louisiana Tech 48, No. 20/18 Central Arkansas 42 (OT)
RUSTON, La. - A career passing day for quarterback Nathan Dick and a career night from receiver Jesse Grandy were not enough to get Central Arkansas past the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs Saturday night.
The Bulldogs (1-1) drove the length of the field to tie the game in the final minute, then won it in overtime, blocking UCA's field goal attempt and scoring the game-winner on a 1-yard run by Lennon Creer for a 48-42 victory before a crowd of 20,652 at Joe Aiellet Stadium.
The Bears (1-1) had taken a 42-35 lead with just 2:08 remaining in regulation when senior safety Jerrel McKnight picked up a fumble and returned it 73 yards for a touchdown. But the Bulldogs got a 49-yard pass over the middle from Nick Isham to Quinton Patton to set up a game-tying 7-yard touchdown run by Ray Holley with just 58 seconds to play.
UCA got one final chance but could not score, setting up overtime. UCA gained only three yards in three plays and Eddie Camara's 39-yard field goal attempt was blocked by Adrien Cole. The Bulldogs (1-1) took advantage, scoring in three plays, all rushes by Creer, who finished with a career-higth 177 yards and 3 touchdowns on 32 carries.
Visit ucasports.com for the complete recap.
No. 3/2 LSU 49, Northwestern State 3
BATON ROUGE, La. - Louisiana State looked every bit like the No. 3/2 ranked team in the Football Bowl Subdivision Saturday, taking command with two touchdowns in the closing minutes of the first half and whipping Northwestern State 49-3 before 92,405 at Tiger Stadium.
The Demons dipped to 1-1 after losing their first matchup with LSU since 1942. The Tigers improved to 2-0.
The home opener throng at Tiger Stadium, including well over 4,000 Northwestern fans, was the largest crowd to watch a Demons' football game, surpassing the previous high of 86,520 at Georgia's Sanford Stadium in 2002. In that game, the No. 4 Bulldogs dumped the Demons 45-7, and that Northwestern team went on to reach the Division I playoffs.
LSU went to 11-0 all-time against Northwestern but gave up points for the first time ever. John Shaughnessy drilled a 44-yard field goal one minute into the second quarter to draw the Demons within 7-3 and ultimately become a historic footnote.
For the complete recap, visit nsudemons.com.
Western Michigan 38, Nicholls State 7
KALAMAZOO, Mich. - Nicholls State was held to one defensive touchdown - a 36-yard interception return by senior cornerback Chika Madu - in a 38-7 loss at Western Michigan in front of 19,888 fans at Waldo Stadium Saturday night.
Nicholls (1-0) trailed 21-0 in the second quarter before Madu, who moved into ninth place on the Colonels' all-time kick return list with 913 career yards, stripped an intended pass to Western Michigan receiver, Jordan White, before intercepting it and putting Nicholls on the board. Madu finished the game with four tackles and a forced fumble.
Western Michigan (1-1) outgained the Colonels on offense, 399-185. Nicholls was led on offense by junior quarterback LaQuintin Caston with 77 total yards offense (46 passing, 33 rushing). Marcus Washington finished with 46 yards on 12 carries while Kenyad Blair had three receptions for 21 yards. On defense, junior linebacker Jordan Piper put together a career outing with 13 tackles, including 0.5 for loss.
For the full recap, please visit geauxcolonels.com.
South Alabama 30, Lamar 8
MOBILE, Ala. - Lamar scored its first touchdown in eight quarters of play against South Alabama Saturday afternoon in Ladd Peebles Stadium.
By the time redshirt freshman quarterback Jeremy Johnson hooked up with split end J.J. Hayes for the score with 2:11 remaining in the game, however, it was of little consequence. The 26-yard strike merely served to reduce the final margin of defeat to 30-8.
South Alabama ruled over the Cardinals for the second year in a row by dominating with a crunching running game and an efficient passing attack, both coupled with the Jaguars' ever-so-familiar stingy defense, which blanked the Cardinals 26-0 in Beaumont last season.
As a team, the Jaguars piled up 21 first downs to Lamar's nine, rushed for 205 yards to the Cardinals' 115 and passed for 144 yards to Lamar's 123.
For the complete recap, please visit lamarcardinals.com.