Alabama State 27, Texas Southern 15

September 10, 2005

LONGVIEW, Tex. – Tarvaris Jackson threw for 323 yards and two long touchdowns as Alabama State overcame a third-quarter deficit to defeat Texas Southern 27-15 at Lobo Stadium.

Trailing 15-13 five minutes into the third quarter, Jackson threw a screen pass to tailback Robert Randolph, who broke a few tackles and scampered 86 yards to give the Hornets (1-1, 1-0 SWAC East) the lead.

“That gave us our confidence back,” said Jackson, who completed 16-of-27 passes and also ran for 25 yards. “It shows we have big-play capabilities. But we need to have some more long drives and wear people down.”

On the ensuing drive, the Tigers (0-1, 0-1 SWAC West) fumbled and ASU went 76 yards in nine plays, culminating in a 4-yard scoring run by Keldrick Williams to put ASU ahead 27-15 and – for the first time – gave ASU some breathing room.

Texas Southern, which has now lost 15 consecutive games dating back to 2003, led 6-3 after the first quarter on two field goals (33 and 45 yards) by Kyle Watson. But Alabama State regained the lead on a 79-yard touchdown pass from Jackson to Alvance Robinson (four catches, 105 yards) with 10:34 remaining in the first half.

Both teams traded field goals in the waning moments of the first half, with Anthony Johnson booting a 26-yarder with 24 seconds remaining to give the Hornets a 13-9 advantage at halftime.

Two plays after blocking a Johnson punt, TSU regained the lead when quarterback Tino Edgecombe threw a 14-yard touchdown pass to Tyrone Reed that gave the Tigers a two-point advantage before ASU took control.

Even in the victory, Alabama State continued to struggle in some areas. For the second consecutive game, Alabama State had trouble controlling the opposition’s ground game. Texas Southern had more than 200 rushing yards in the first half alone en route to 245 yards for the game. Ronald Gilmore led the charge with 129 yards on 16 carries.

“We’ve got to go back and look at our defense,” ASU head coach Charles Coe said. “Teams are just running the ball on us. It’s the same thing that happened last week.”

Alabama State was more balanced offensively, with Williams rushing for 109 yards on 25 carries, but this was definitely Jackson’s show.