Tarleton State builds big lead, hangs on to edge McNeese 26-23 in wild opener

Published 2:11 am Sunday, August 25, 2024

Staff, Wire Reports

STEPHENVILLE — Kayvon Britten rushed for 164 yards and Victor Gabalis passed for 140 yards and a touchdown, leading Tarleton State to a 26-23 victory over McNeese in a nail-biting season-opener on Saturday.

After leading 26-7 at halftime, the Texans managed 19 yards on four possessions in the third quarter and a 63-yard drive in the fourth ended with a missed field goal.

Meanwhile, McNeese scored on a 7-yard run by D’Angelo Durham early in the fourth quarter and Tarleton’s lead was 26-23 after an 80-yard touchdown pass from the Cowboys’ Clifton McDowell to Matthew McCallister.

The Cowboys would have one last chance to take the lead, taking possession at their own 11 with 2:56 remaining. McDowell had completions of 23 and 22 yards and ran for another 11, leading McNeese to the Tarleton 27-yard line with 10 seconds left. On third down, Tyler Larco missed a 44-yard field goal attempt.

Gabalis completed 11 of 18 passes for Tarleton and McNeese’s McDowell went 13 of 19 for 242 yards with two touchdowns and an interception.

The Cowboys outgained the Texans 445 yards to 339 but had four turnovers to none for Tarleton State.

After McNeese took a 7-3 lead on a 43-yard pass from McDowell to Jamaal Levi, Tarleton State scored the next 23 points and led by 19 at halftime. The Texans got first-half touchdowns on a short run by Derrel Kelley III, a 31-yard scoop and score from Kasyus Kurns and a 26-yard pass from Gabalis to Keylan Johnson.

Kurns had two fumble recoveries.

The Texans, ranked No. 21 in FCS, are eligible for the FCS playoffs for the first time after completing their reclassification period with a record of 25-16 from 2020 through 2023.

The game was billed as the first college game of the season played on U.S. soil. Florida State and Georgia Tech played earlier in the day in Dublin, Ireland.

Hawaii 35,

Delaware St. 14

HONOLULU — Brayden Schager threw two touchdown passes and ran for two more TDs, Tylan Hines returned a punt 44 yards for a touchdown and Hawaii beat Delaware State 35-14 Saturday night in the season opener for both teams.

Schager was 17-of-34 passing for 203 yards and had 38 yards rushing on 10 carries.

Schager’s first touchdown run, a 15-yarder, gave Hawaii the lead for good at 21-14 midway through the third quarter. He completed three passes for 42 yards and added 21 yards rushing on the eight-play, 67-yard drive.

Dekel Crowdus caught a 29-yard touchdown pass from Schager to make it a 14-point game early in the fourth quarter and Schager capped the scoring with a 1-yard TD run with 3:44 to play.

Marqui Adams completed 17 of 28 passes for 156 yards and added 44 yards rushing on 15 carries for Delaware State. Jaden Sutton ran 12 times for 56 yards.

Florida A&M 24,

Norfolk St. 23

ATLANTA — Daniel Richardson threw three touchdown passes and Florida A&M rallied to defeat Norfolk State 24-23 in the MEAC/SWAC Challenge on Saturday night.

It was the first game at Florida A&M for Richardson, who previously played at Florida Atlantic and Central Michigan. It was also the debut for James Colzie III as coach of the Rattlers.

Richardson’s 55-yard pass to Jamari Gassett gave the Rattlers their first lead, 17-14 early in the third quarter. Later in the third, Richardson threw to Gassett for a 9-yard touchdown and the Rattlers led 24-17.

Norfolk State closed to within 24-23 when Kevon King scored on a 2-yard run with 6 1/2 minutes left in the game. FAMU’s Jameel Sanders blocked the PAT but was flagged for being offsides. With the ball at the 1-yard line, the Spartans opted to go for two points and the lead, but quarterback Jalen Daniels was stopped short of the goal line.

FAMU then ran off 11 plays and 63 yards to wrap up the win.

Richardson completed 22 of 30 passes for 286 yards. Gassett had eight catches for 110 yards.

King had 14 carries for 146 yards with two touchdowns and Daniels completed 7 of 9 passes for 142 yards for Norfolk State.

Montana St. 35,

New Mexico 31

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Adam Jones scored on a 93-yard dash and Scottre Humphrey added a 4-yard run for the go-ahead score as Montana State scored twice in the final 4 1/2 minutes to stun New Mexico 35-31 in a season opener on Saturday.

The Lobos, in the debut of Bronco Mendenhall as coach, led 17-0 early in the second quarter and 24-14 at halftime. A 13-yard fumble return by Noah Avinger — the Lobos’ second scoop-and-score of the game — gave New Mexico a 31-14 lead three plays into the third quarter.

New Mexico had drives of 57 and 50 yards come up empty in the second half, but the Lobos still led 31-21 with 4 1/2 minutes remaining.

At that point, Jones took a first-down hand off and was barely touched as he raced up the left sideline to make it 31-28.

New Mexico punted with 1:59 remaining and Montana State drove 89 yards to Humphrey’s go-ahead score with 10 seconds remaining.

The Bobcats had 182 yards on their final two possessions and finished with 567 totals yards to 325 for New Mexico.

Jones had 167 yards rushing and Humphrey had 140 as they led Montana State to 362 yards on the ground. Tommy Mellott passed for 205 yards with two touchdowns.

Devon Dampier had 173 yards passing and a touchdown for the Lobos. Luke Wyson caught six passes for 95 yards.

The Lobos took a 17-0 lead early in the second quarter, having scored first on a 41-yard fumble return by Christian Ellis and adding a field goal and a 12-yard touchdown pass from Dampier to Trace Bruckler.

SE Missouri St. 37,

North Alabama 15

MONTGOMERY, Ala. — True freshman Payton Brown scored three touchdowns, redshirt freshman quarterback Carter Hensley led a second-half rally and Southeast Missouri State defeated North Alabama 37-15 on Saturday night in the FCS Kickoff Game.

Brown, who finished with 97 yards, scored on a 1-yard run late in the second quarter and a 25-yard run late in the third. His 1-yard touchdown midway through the fourth quarter was set up by a 47-yard quarterback keeper by Hensley.

In his first game action since high school, Hensley subbed in for injured starter Paxton DeLaurent and completed 10 of 14 passes for 100 yards. His 1-yard touchdown run gave the Redhawks a 34-15 lead with about 5 minutes remaining in the game.

North Alabama had 135 yards rushing in the first half while SE Missouri passed for 149 yards. The Lions had short touchdown runs by Jayvian Allen and Ari Patu. A two-point conversion after Allen’s touchdown helped produce a 15-13 halftime lead.

DeLaurent completed 14 of 17 passes for 96 yards but left the game in the second quarter with a shoulder injury.

With DeLaurent sidelined, the Redhawks found more balance in their offense and their defense held North Alabama without a point in the second half. The Redhawks finished with 196 yards passing and 176 yards rushing.

North Alabama’s only sustained drive of the second half ended in a turnover on downs late in the third quarter.

Patu completed 12 of 24 passes for 104 yards and was intercepted twice. Allen had 100 yards rushing and the Lions finished with 216 yards on the ground.

It was the seventh time the FCS Kickoff was held at the Cramton Bowl in Montgomery.