BATON ROUGE, La. — On a cloudy Saturday in Baton Rouge, there weren’t a lot of bright spots for Alabama A&M.
The Bulldogs were held to their lowest rushing yards since the opener at UAB while giving up the most points in three weeks in a 35-14 defeat to Southern University.
It was the first conference loss for Alabama A&M (2-1 SWAC, 2-4 overall) while the Jaguars (1-1, 3-3) picked up their first SWAC victory this season.
A&M was held to just 52 yards rushing on 19 attempts. Quarterbacks Aqeel Glass and Damion May combined to pass for 199 yards.
Glass, who started the game, was 4-for-19 for 54 yards and an interception.
May was 13-for-30 for 145 yards. May had a touchdown pass to Isaiah Bailey and also had an interception.
The Jaguars led 14-0 at the half and widened the lead to 21-0 before the Bulldogs got on the board late in the third quarter.
Taking over on their own 32 after Southern scored, the Bulldogs engineered a 12-play, 68-yard drive capped by Trevon Walters’ dive into the endzone from two yards out. Walters rushed for 29 yards in the drive – including a 20-yard burst.
May completed a pair of third-down passes of 17 yards each to Ledarion Heath and Roderick Randolph to keep the drive alive.
The Jaguars scored early in the fourth quarter for a 28-7 lead when the Bulldogs put together their other scoring drive of the afternoon.
With first down on the A&M 22, May took off on a 17-yard scamper then followed with a 5-yard pass to Heath.
May and Bailey then combined on three straight passes, including a 35-yarder for a touchdown. Bailey helped keep the drive going when he reached out to catch a pass while on his back. Nick Carden’s second point-after of the game made the score 28-14.
Bailey led all receivers with 137 yards passing – the first 100-plus yards game of his career.
Harvey Harris was the leading tackler with six solos and one assist and Dylan Hamilton had a pair of tackles for loss and two sacks.
The Bulldogs are back home next Saturday when Mississippi Valley State visits Louis Crews Stadium for a SWAC East Division clash. Kickoff is 2 p.m.
Courtesy: AAMU Athletics