MEAC Recap Week 3
Bethune-Cookman Earns Programs First FBS Victory with Victory over FIU
MIAMI, Fla. – Bethune-Cookman registered its first victory over a FBS program Saturday with a 34-13 victory over FIU at Alfonso Stadium.
Cary White scored two touchdowns, and Anthony Jordan rushed for 150 yards and a touchdown as the 23/22 ranked Wildcats (3-0) became the 13th Football Championship Subdivision team to beat a Football Bowl Subdivision team so far this season.
Leading 14-7 at halftime, B-CU pulled away with touchdowns on its first two possessions.
Quentin Williams scored on a 15-yarder with 7:06 left, than White broke free on a 43-yard scamper that made it 28-7 three minutes later.
A 92-yard Tim Burke "pick six" – the fourth longest in program history, gave B-CU its biggest lead at 34-7 with 14:38 remaining.
Jordan gave B-CU an early 7-0 lead on a career-long 58-yarder on the Wildcats' opening possession.
FIU (0-3) tied the game with 6:51 remaining in the second quarter on an 8-yard Jake Medlock pass to T.J. Lowder after the two combined a 48-yard strike to put the ball inside the Wildcat redzone.
B-CU answered with an 11-play 66-yard drive that culminated in White's 5-yard run with 1:58 remaining in the half, giving B-CU a 14-7 halftime lead.
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Eagles Force Seven Turnovers in 40-13 Rout of Charlotte
CHARLOTTE, N.C. – North Carolina Central University forced seven turnovers and used the second-longest kickoff return in school history to cruise to a 40-13 victory over the Charlotte 49ers in front of a sellout crowd of 16,630 fans inside Jerry Richardson Stadium.
Charlotte entered the contest unbeaten, having out-scored its two opponents 99-14, including 41-0 in the first quarter. However, NCCU scored the first 33 points of the game on Saturday and kept the 49ers off the scoreboard until midway through the fourth quarter.
NCCU struck first when junior Oleg Parent kicked a 39-yard field goal with 6:56 on the first-quarter clock.
On the ensuing possession, Charlotte posted a 13-play, 54-yard drive to set up a 37-yard field goal try by Blake Brewer, but his kick was blocked by NCCU sophomore Ryan Smith.
On the next play from scrimmage, the Eagles lost momentum and the pigskin when a Shaheed Swinson fumble was recovered by the 49ers at the NCCU 19-yard line.
Two plays later, NCCU took the momentum back when junior linebacker Demontray Ryland scooped up a fumble and rumbled 50 yards to the Charlotte 22-yard line. That play set up a 21-yard field goal by Parent to give the Eagles a 6-0 lead with 1:24 remaining in the opening quarter.
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A&T Defeats Elon
GREENSBORO, N.C. – Lewis Kindle threw for 288 yards including a touchdown as North Carolina A&T defeated Elon 23-10 in its home opener Saturday night at Aggie Stadium.
After a scoreless first quarter, A&T got on the board with a 32-yard field goal from Cody Jones. Just minutes later, Lewis threw a 60-yard touchdown pass to Demonta Brown to give the Aggies a 10-0 lead with 6:58 remaining in the second quarter. A&T used another field goal from Jones, this time from 38 yards to take a 13-3 advantage into halftime.
With 17 seconds left in the third quarter, Elon quarterback Mike Quinn threw a 41-yard touchdown pass to Tracey Coppedge to cut A&T's lead to 16-10.
A&T put together a 13-play, 80-yard drive over six minutes in the fourth quarter to extend its advantage to 23-10 with 1:22 to play. The drive was capped off by a 1-yard run from Dominique Drake.
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Late Comeback Dooms Pirates against Tennessee Tech
HAMPTON, Va. - The Hampton University football team has struggled on offense to open the season, and Saturday night was more of the same, as Tennessee Tech defeated the Pirates 30-27 in their opener at Armstrong Stadium.
The Pirates fell to 0-3 on the season, while Tennessee Tech improved to 2-1.
Averaging 216 total offensive yards and just eight points per game, head coach Donovan Rose was well aware of how imperative it was for his offense to produce.
The Pirates showed flashes of improvement early, but finished with 245 yards and never kept the groove going.
After Tennessee Tech took a 3-0 lead on a Zach Sharp 23-yard field goal, sophomore quarterback Jaylian Williamson ran in a 7-yard touchdown with two minutes left in the first quarter to put Hampton up 7-3.
The Golden Eagles then took a 10-7 lead on a Darian Stone 1-yard touchdown run with 13:12 left in the second quarter.
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Bears Topped By Flames
LYNCHBURG, Va. – Morgan State fell to Liberty, 38-10 on Saturday night during the Flames' Hall of Fame game at Williams Stadium before a home-opener crowd of 15,488. The Flames (2-1) rolled up 431 total yards of offense and scored five rushing touchdowns.
MSU redshirt freshman Moses Skillon made his starting debut against the Flames, completing just 3 of 11 passes for 28 yards, but he led the Bears ground attack with 90 yards. Robert Council finished with 14 yards on eight carries.
The junior running back duo of Desmond Rice and Clifton Richardson led the Flames. Rice had 97 yards on nine carries and scored three touchdowns, while Richardson added 86 yards and a pair of touchdowns for the Flames, who posted their second straight win and improved its series record against the Bears to 3-1 since 1995.
Redshirt-sophomore quarterback Josh Woodrum had an efficient night for Liberty by completing 9-of-15 passes for 101 yards, including 42 rushing yards.
Liberty took a 14-0 lead after the Flames' first two possessions of the first quarter. Demond Rice scored on Liberty's first drive of the game when raced in for a 14 yard TD run. On their second possession, the Flames capped a 10 play 71-yard drive when Clifton Richardson took a pitch and raced just out of the reach of defensive end Micale Smith-Murray for a score.
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No. 4 Towson Too Much for DSU
TOWSON, Md. - Towson University lived up to its No. 4 national ranking with a 49-7 victory over Delaware State in the Tigers' home opener before 10, 302 fans at Johnny Unitas Stadium this evening.
The Tigers scored the first 49 points of the game en route to its third victory in three games this season. The Hornets fell to 0-2.
Towson racked up 408 yards of total offense, 209 by the pass and 199 rushing.
All-America candidate Terrence West rushed for 82 yards and a school-record tying five touchdowns on 16 carries in the contest. West has scoring runs of 1, 3, 1 and 2 yards in the first half; and a 17-yard touchdown in the third quarter.
Towson quarterback Peter Athens completed 16-of-24 passes for 209 yards and a touchdown.
For the second straight week, Delaware State tallied more passing yards than the opponent but failed to muster much of a running game.
Hornet quarterback Corey Murphy connected on 26-of-53 passes for 234 yards and a touchdown. Murphy has 536 yards passing in the first two games this season.
DSU netted just 15 yards on the ground. The Hornets had 42 positive rushing yards, but lost 17, including 16 on five Towson sacks.
Other MEAC Scores:
Savannah State 26, Fort Valley State 20
Samford 28, Florida A&M 20
South Carolina State 32, Alabama A&M 0
Howard 19, Old Dominion 76
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