Savannah State 14, South Carolina St 9

The contest was between old friends as Savannah State head coach Bill Davis once served as an assistant for S.C. State head coach Willie Jeffries, and succeeded the latter as Bulldog head coach in 1979.

S.C. State, which fell behind 14-0 early in the contest and trailed 14-2 at the half, closed the gap to 14-9 with just under nine minutes left in the third and had a chance to pull out the victory in the closing seconds, but Brett Young's fourth-down pass to Johnny Allen at the one-yard line with 13 seconds remaining bounced off the receivers' hands and the Tigers took over and ran off the final seconds.

The loss dropped the Bulldogs to 1-1 on the season, while Savannah State -- a 69-6 loser to Division I-AA top ranked Georgia Southern last week - evened its record at 1-1.

It was a bitter loss for S.C. State, which is seeking a proper sendoff for Jeffries, who is retiring as head coach at the end of the season.

"It was a very tough loss," said the Bulldog mentor. "We just could not generate any offense. We made some mistakes that caused them to score an early touchdown, but we just couldn't get things going on offense. It was as simple as that.

"It looked like (Johnny) Allen should have caught that one at the end, but as a team, we are just not holding on to the football. It happened to us last week (against Morris Brown) as well.

"But give Savannah State credit. Although they lost big last week, I knew Coach Davis and his staff would have them ready to play. I didn't expect anything else. They were ready to play, but we didn't play like we are capable of. We have to get back to work and correct our mistakes. It's a long season still and we have time to be a much better football team than what we've shown so far."

Davis was philosophical about the win and expressed his admiration for Jeffries, his friend and mentor.

"I played psychologist (to my team) last week, he said. If we had lost this week, I was going to have to go to the state hospital and have someone work on their (the players' mind). We would have been pretty low.

"But, the gods smiled on us. It was a great win, one that we needed, but I have some feelings for my friend (Jeffries) across the way."

Brooks, who finished with 99 yards on 16 rushes and completed 7-14 passes for 83 yards, raced 19 yards to pay dirt midway the opening period and connected with Mario Belton from three yards out early in the second period to account for both Tiger touch-downs. Frank Kyren connected on both extra points for Savannah State.

Brooks' scoring run came with 8:02 on the first period clock and completed a five-play, 43-yard drive following a Bulldog fumble. The point after touchdown put Savannah State ahead 7-0.

The visitors struck again on the second play of the second quarter when Brooks connected with Mario Belton from the three with 14:17 left on the first-half clock. The drive covered 80 yards in 10 plays. The extra point by Kryren gave the Tigers a 14-0 cushion.

The Bulldog special team got S.C. State's first points of the game on a safety with 11:02 left in the half when Tiger punter Nicholas Hudson failed to handle a high snap, and after running the ball down threw it out the back of the end zone. The Bulldog score close the gap to 14-2, a margin coach Bill Davis' team took to the locker room

S.C. State, after misfiring on its first two possessions in the third period, finally got its first touchdown of the game when Kambui Maxwell climaxed a five-play, 80-yard drive with a four-yard run with 8:55 left in the period. The score was setup by Young's 61-yard completion to Terrance Metcalf. Guy Depalo tacked on the point after touchdown to pull S.C. State to within 14-9 with 8:55 left in the third.

An S.C. State fumble and solid play by the Savannah State defense stymied the Bulldogs on their next three possessions, but Jeffries team got one last chance when he defense stopped the Tigers on downs at the Tiger 31 with 2:51 left.

After a short punt, the Bulldogs took over at midfield and moved to a first and goal at the Savannah State nine, following an 11-yard pickup by Kambui Maxwell with about 30 seconds remaining.

Young sandwiched two incomplete passes around a one-yard run and suddenly it was down to one final play. And on fourth-and-goal from the Tiger nine-yard line. Allen broke free near the one-yard line but the senior receiver could not pull Brett's toss for what would have been the game winner. Instead, the ball went over to Savannah State with 13 seconds left for the game's final play.

Maxell rushed 16 times for 88 yards to lead S.C. State, which, for the second week in a row, was victimized by turnovers. The Bulldogs lost three fumbles in the contest.

Young, who split the signal calling duties with Reese McCampbell, completed only nine of 27 attempts for 193 yards, including the big one to Metcalf.

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