No. 1 Sam Houston racks up 16th consecutive victory
HUNTSVILLE — Eric Schmid threw a pair of touchdown passes, Ramon Jefferson ran for two more scores and FCS top-ranked Sam Houston rolled past Jacksonville State 42-7 on Saturday for the Bearkats’ 16th straight victory.
Zerrick Cooper ran in from 6 yards out midway through the first quarter for the game’s first points. But that would be it for the Gamecocks (3-4, 1-1 ASUNWAC Challenge), who trailed 21-7 at halftime after Jefferson ran for a 33-yard TD on the first play after a JSU punt.
Noah Smith finished an 87-yard drive with 2-yard run and Schmid ran in from 3 yards on the third play after an interception.
The Bearkats (6-0, 4-0) broke the game open with touchdowns on three straight drives with Schmid’s scoring passes to Ife Adeyi and Jequez Ezzard and Jefferson’s second touchdown, a 4-yarder.
NO. 24 UTSA 45 LOUISIANA TECH 16
Frank Harris threw two touchdown passes to Zakhari Franklin and the Roadrunners won at Ruston, La.
Harris was 12 of 20 for 193 yards, with scoring passes of 75 and 10 yards to Franklin, to help the Roadrunners (8-0, 4-0 Conference USA) extend their school-record winning streak to eight games.
Franklin had five catches for 118 yards, and Sincere McCormick ran for 113 yards and three touchdowns. Dadrian Taylor returned an interception 51 yards or a score.
ALCORN ST. 44 TEXAS SOUTHERN 27
Felix Harper threw three touchdown passes and ran for another as the Braves defeated the Tigers at Houston.
C.J. Bolar had seven receptions for 98 yards and touchdown for Alcorn State (5-2, 4-0 SWAC).
Andrew Body threw for 308 yards and a touchdown and Ke’Lenn Davis had five receptions for 122 yards and a touchdown for Texas Southern (2-5,1-3).
GEORGIA ST. 28 TEXAS ST. 16
Jamyest Williams ran for two touchdowns and Darren Grainger threw for two more as the Panthers defeated the Bobcats at Atlanta.
Williams scored on bursts up the middle for touchdowns of 18 and 28 yards. Tucker Gregg gained 115 yards for the Panthers, giving him 1,072 in his career.
Georgia State (3-4, 2-1 Sun Belt) piled up 298 yards on the ground.
Brady McBride completed 27 of 47 passes for 255 yards for Texas State (2-5, 1-2).
LIBERTY 35 NORTH TEXAS 26
Malik Willis threw three touchdown passes and Demario Douglas returned a punt 72 yards for the go-ahead score as the Flames scored the final 21 points to upend the Mean Green in a nonconference game at Denton.
Liberty (6-2), playing as an independent, trailed 20-7 after Aaron Beckham’s 27-yard field goal for the Mean Green with 1:51 left in the first half.
North Texas (1-6) stretched its lead to 26-14 on Austin Aune’s 6-yard TD toss to Jason Pirtle with 7:27 remaining in the third quarter, but Aune’s 2-point pass attempt failed and it was all downhill for the Mean Green from there.
Aune completed 22 of 35 passes for 212 yards with two interceptions for North Texas.
CENTRAL ARKANSAS 49 LAMAR 38
Darius Hale rushed for 253 yards and four touchdowns and the Bears rolled to a victory over the Cardinals in the ASUNWAC Challenge at Beaumont.
Hale helped stake the Bears (3-4, 2-2) to a 35-7 halftime lead with a 6-yard TD run in the first quarter and scoring runs of 2 and 69 yards in the second.
His rushing total is second all-time in school history — trailing only Blake Veasley’s 292-yard effort against Lamar in 2015.
Mike Chandler completed 9 of 16 passes for 152 yards and two TDs for the Cardinals (1-5, 0-3).
NICHOLLS ST. 44 HOUSTON BAPTIST 14
Lindsey Scott accounted for four touchdowns, Collin Guggenheim ran for 123 yards and a score as the Colonels routed the Huskies at Houston.
Scott completed 18 of 27 pass attempts for 214 yards and two touchdowns and rushed for 161 yards and two more TDs for Nicholls State (3-4, 2-2 Southland).
Orion Olivas passed for 149 yards and a touchdown
for the Huskies (0-6, 0-3).
PRAIRIE VIEW A&M 48 SOUTHERN 21
Jawon Pass threw for 280 yards, Lyndemian Brooks ran for another 108 and the Panthers pulled away in the second half to defeat the Jaguars at Baton Rouge, La.
Prairie View (6-1, 5-0 Southwestern Athletic Conference) led 21-14 midway through the third quarter before finishing with a stretch of five scores in five possessions.
Pass completed 19 of 27 passes and had two TD throws. Stewart added 83 yards rushing with two scores. Brooks also scored twice.
STEPHEN F. AUSTIN 37 DIXIE ST. 20
Trae Self threw three touchdown passes and the Lumberjacks downed the Trailblazers at Saint George, Utah.
Self completed 20 of 30 passes for 326 yards. Gipson finished with eight receptions for 208 yards.
Miles Reed added 103 yards rushing and a touchdown for Stephen F. Austin (4-3, 1-2 ASUN-Western Athletic Conference).