Here is how dominate Alcorn State was in their 56-16 win over Southern Saturday.
Of the Braves 682 total yards the offense accumulated 410 came on the ground.
Quarterback John Gibbs Jr., and running backs Anthony Williams III and Darryan Ragsdale torched the beleaguered Southern defense all day to the tune of 6.9 per carry.
“I thought we ran the ball pretty well,” said head coach Jay Hopson, who has beaten Southern two straight seasons. “We really executed on offense.”
And the Southern defense was left searching for answers.
“It gets frustrating,” SU linebacker Brian McCain said. “You’re in a battle and you don’t know what to expect. You load up to stop the run, and then they complete a pass behind you. It was frustrating, and it led to 50 points on the scoreboard.”
Jackson State quarterback LaMontiez Ivy has been an easy target over the last two weeks after accounting for seven turnovers in losses to Tennessee State and Grambling State.
The redshirt sophomore has also heard criticism that he hadn’t used his legs to make plays.
In probably the Tigers biggest game of the season so far, Ivy performed anything but the signal-caller who head coach Harold Jackson said had been down on himself.
With JSU trailing by a field goal in overtime against a desperate Arkansas Pine-Bluff team that looked lifeless in a blowout loss to Alabama State nine days earlier, Ivy used his feet to score a 15-yard touchdown to secure a 30-33 win.
“People been talking to me about running, so I put it in my head that if I have an opportunity to run I’ll run,” Ivy said, who finished the game with 82 rushing yards and didn’t turn the ball over once. “So on the last play, the play before that, we had trips (formation). And nobody lined up on the same receiver side. So I told Coach to go to the draw on the other side, and I would just have to beat one person. So we called it, and I got to the end zone. And I beat him.”
Grambling State left the annual State Fair Classic leaders of the SWAC West after sneaking past Prairie View 26-20 Saturday with big performance by third-string quarterback Johnathan Williams.
After injuries to D.J. Williams and Stephen Johnson, head coach Broderick Fobbs inserted Williams, and he played a masterful game completing 21 passes for 250 yards and two touchdowns.
It was poise not expected from a freshman quarterback who had limited reps with the first team.
With the win, Grambling is in first-place in the SWAC West for the first time since 2012.
Norfolk State epitomized winning ugly in their MEAC opener after losing their first four games in similar fashion.
The offense looked bland, disoriented and at times, could not move the ball against Morgan State. Through three quarters, NSU played like a team that hadn’t won a game all season. 
A Tyler Clark touchdown with less than 30 seconds left in regulation got the Spartans a 15-14 win.
“We’re right where we want to be right now,” Spartans coach Pete Adrian said after the win.
It was supposed to be easy for the No. 1 ranked HBCU Sports football program in the country until it wasn’t for Bethune-Cookman.
Division II upstart Florida Tech frustrated B-CU all day Saturday. The Panthers were fearless. They were bold. They were a 2-point conversion attempt late in the fourth quarter away from stealing a win.
With Bethune-Cookman clinging to a slim 34-33 lead and Florida Tech going for the victory after scoring a touchdown with 19 season remaining in regulation, Donald Smith intercepted a pass in the endzone to help the Wildcats dodge a bullet after sweating many of them Saturday.
“It was good win,” head coach Brian Jenkins said with a chuckle during the postgame press conference. “It was another heart attack.”
PLAYER OF THE WEEK:
North Carolina A&T running back Marquell Cartwright carried the ball 33 times for 135 yards and scored two touchdowns in the Aggies 38-22 win over Howard.
QUOTE OF THE WEEK:
“We just need to win one for anybody right now,” Norfolk State head coach Pete Adrian said prior to the Spartan’s game versus Morgan State.
