Alabama A&M 49, Mississippi Valley State 14
OXFORD — Shea Patterson threw for 351 yards and four touchdowns and Ole Miss beat Vanderbilt 57-35 on Saturday.
Ole Miss (3-3, 1-2 Southeastern Conference) snapped its three-game losing streak while Vanderbilt (3-4, 0-4) has now lost four straight.
Vanderbilt led 14-7 in the second quarter after Ralph Webb ran for two touchdowns, but Ole Miss responded with 28 straight points in less than seven minutes. The offensive avalanche was helped by two Vanderbilt turnovers that gave the Rebels excellent field position.
"It's good to be back — put up those numbers, have fun and get us a win," Ole Miss receiver and former Starkville High School player A.J. Brown said.
Ole Miss kept the momentum early in the third quarter, earning a safety after forcing Vanderbilt quarterback Kyle Shurmur to fumble into the end zone. Less than a minute later, Patterson hit Brown for a 29-yard touchdown pass and a 44-21 lead and the game was no longer in doubt.
Brown caught eight passes for 174 yards and two touchdowns. DaMarkus Lodge also caught two touchdown passes.
"Enjoyed watching our offense get its tempo going and balance going," Ole Miss interim coach Matt Luke said. "Obviously, there are some things we can get cleaned up but I'm really excited for our players and our fans."
Shurmur threw for 174 yards, two touchdowns and one interception for the Commodores. Webb ran for 163 yards and two touchdowns.
"We need to mentally find ourselves, find our identity, rebuild our confidence and get fresh," Vanderbilt coach Derek Mason said. "I've seen a lot of football — good stretches and bad stretches — we've got to look inside and fix what ails us. We need to get better and we can do that." Footman threw for 138 yards and ran for a score to lead Alcorn State past Prairie View.
After the Braves turned the ball over on downs on their first drive, Prairie View used a 4-play, 68-yard drive that ended when Neiko Hollins threw a 9-yard score to Darius Floyd. After an Alcorn State (5-2, 4-0 Southwestern Athletic) punt, Hollins threw a 46-yard TD pass to Khadarel Hodge for a 14-0 lead.
But the Braves defense stiffened and Johnson took over. Johnson ran for 8- and 2-yard scores to tie it, and after Corey McCullough's 39-yard field goal put the Braves up for good, Johnson threw a 12-yard score to Charles Hughes to make it 24-14 at the break.
Prairie View (2-4, 2-2) outgained the Braves 414 to 351. Hollins threw three TDs with an interception.
HUNTSVILLE, Ala. — Damion May accounted for four touchdowns, two running and two passing, and Alabama A&M romped to win over Mississippi Valley State.
May ran it in from 8 yards out in the first quarter, scored on a 7-yard run in the second quarter, then connected with Isaiah Bailey from 12 yards out with 49 seconds left in the half to give Alabama A&M (3-4, 3-1 Southwestern Athletic Conference) a 21-0 lead.
The Bulldogs upped their lead to 35-0 in the third quarter on a 52-yard interception return by Dylan Hamilton and May's final TD of the day, a 47-yard hookup with Bailey.
May tallied 168 yards passing and 55 on the ground. Redshirt freshman Dylan Smith took over for May and threw his first career TD pass, a 78-yarder to Marceles Clash in the fourth quarter. Mike Mills added a 17-yard interception return score.
The Bulldogs held Mississippi Valley State (2-5, 2-2) to minus-27 yards rushing and finished with eight sacks.
Christopher Fow completed 15 of 21 passes for 179 yards and a score with two picks for MVSU.
Tuskegee 33, Jackson State 7
MOBILE, Ala. — Jamarcus Ezell threw two touchdown passes and backup Ahmad Deramus added another as Division II Tuskegee cruised past Jackson State.
Ezell hooked up with Javarrius Cheatham for a 35yard score in the second quarter and added a 25-yarder to Chardian Johnson in the third. Deramus found Tyrez McCain in the third from 35 yards out. Justice Owens' 1-yard plunge on fourth-and-goal opened the scoring for the Golden Tigers (5-2).
The lone score for the Tigers (0-6) came with 4:10 remaining before halftime when Brent Lyles connected with Jordan Johnson for a 5-yard score that cut the lead to 13-7.
Hoderick Lowe's 41-yard run 54 seconds into the final quarter capped the scoring.
Ezell completed 10 of 18 passes for 183 yards and added 73 yards rushing. Lowe ran for 90 yards on 10 carries.
Lyles completed 14 of 27 passes for 96 yards and was sacked six times.