SATURDAY'S SCORES
Houston Baptist 33,
@Eastern Kentucky 30
@Florida State 41,
Jacksonville State 24
HOUSTON BAPTIST 33, EASTERN KENTUCKY 30
RICHMOND, Ky. - Eastern Kentucky fell behind by 14 early and trailed by 17 at halftime, but clawed back to within one point late in the fourth quarter of a 33-30 loss to visiting Houston Baptist on Saturday at Roy Kidd Stadium.
With the Colonels (1-3) down seven, Keyion Dixon caught a 27-yard pass over the middle in the end zone to draw within one. The extra point attempts was blocked and returned for two points, pushing HBU in front by three with 4:04 remaining to play.
Facing 4th-and-1 at the Huskie 31 yard line, Parker McKinney kept the drive alive with a 4-yard completion to Matt Wilcox Jr. On the next play, McKinney found Dixon for six points.
EKU had a chance to tie or win, but a fumble near midfield with 2:03 left in the game ended the comeback bid.
The two offenses combined for 1,000 yards. HBU totaled 520 yards of offense, including 380 through the air. Eastern Kentucky had 480 yards – 184 on the ground and 296 through the air.
The Colonels turned the ball over three times while the Huskies did not have a turnover.
McKinney finished 25-of-40 for 296 yards. He threw three touchdown passes and rushed for 59 yards but had two interceptions. Alonzo Booth led the team with 108 yards on the ground and scored a touchdown. Dixon finished with six catches for 112 yards and a touchdown. Wilcox had 27 yards and two touchdowns on his four catches. Linebacker Matthew Jackson had a game-best 15 tackles, including one for a loss.
Bailey Zappe was 35-of-46 for 380 yards and tossed three touchdown passes for HBU.
Houston Baptist (1-3) took a 14-0 lead on an 8-yard touchdown pass from Zappe to Vernon Harrell and a 42-yard scoring pass from Zappe to Jerreth Sterns. The second score came with 6:01 left in the first quarter.
The Colonels got on the board with just over a minute and a half left in the first. McKinney capped an 11-play, 75-yard drive that took 4:29 off the clock, with a 10-yard toss to Wilcox in the end zone. The extra-point made it 14-7.
The Huskies added a 24-yard field goal and a 1-yard touchdown run by Dreshawn Minnieweather in the second quarter to take a 24-7 lead into the locker room at the break.
EKU opened the third quarter with a 10-play, 75-yard drive that resulted in a 7-yard pass from McKinney to Wilcox. The ensuing extra-point closed the gap to 10, 24-14. On the second play of the drive, Booth gained 19 yards on a run. Jackson Beerman had an 18-yard catch. A 15-yard rush on a reverse by Dixon set up the touchdown play.
With 1:36 left in the third quarter, Alexander Woznick connected on a 26-yard field goal to make it a 7-point game, 24-17.
On HBU's next possession, Zappe found a streaking Josh Sterns over the middle for a 65-yard touchdown and a 31-17 advantage.
Booth's 29-yard touchdown run with 13:21 on the clock in the fourth quarter made it a 7-pont game.
FLORIDA STATE 41, JACKSONVILLE STATE 24
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - Kicking off its season in October for the first time since 1926, Jacksonville State led Florida State for a majority of the afternoon Saturday before dropping a 41-24 decision at Doak Campbell Stadium.
The Gamecocks, playing the first of their abbreviated four-game fall schedule, led the Seminoles of the Atlantic Coast Conference by a touchdown at halftime before a socially-distant crowd of 13,589.
Jacksonville State raced to a 14-0 lead less than 10 minutes into the third meeting between the schools, but Florida State (1-2) made a quarterback change that sparked its offense and gave head coach Mike Norvell his first FSU victory.
"There are no moral victories in this game," said Jacksonville State head coach John Grass. "We had a chance to win this game and expected to win this game. But we just weren't able to hang on.
"Being their third game and our first caught up with us. I've never in all my years of coaching faced that situation. We just could not get off the field in the second half, and their size and depth was too much for us. But I was proud of the effort."
Scouts from the NFL, Reese's Senior Bowl and CFL witnessed an impressive performance by Jacksonville State quarterback Zerrick Cooper.
The record-setting senior from Jonesboro, Ga., completed 22-of-30 passes for 232 yards and had a 2-yard touchdown run in moving past Montressa Kirby into second place on JSU's career total offense list. Dave Russell III caught seven Cooper throws for 74 yards in his first career start.
Jacksonville State's defense produced the first points when Florida State starting quarterback Tate Rodemaker threw a pick-six to safety Kolbi Fuqua, who rambled 13 yards to the end zone. Placekicker Alen Karajic's extra point made it 7-0 with 10:54 left in the first quarter.
The lead became 14-0 when the Gamecocks drove 69 yards in six plays midway through the first. Josh Samuel, a transfer from Western Kentucky, scored on a 20-yard run and Karajic added his second PAT at the 5:08 mark.
Samuel's run turned out to be the longest of the day for the Gamecocks. JSU was limited to 63 yards on 22 rushes.
Cooper directed another six-play touchdown drive as Jacksonville State went ahead 21-7 midway through the second quarter. He kept the drive alive with a brilliant 41-yard completion to Logan McVay, who caught the pass while falling backward with two FSU defenders on him. Cooper's 2-yard TD run and another Karajic extra point gave the Gamecocks a 14-point lead with 4:30 remaining before halftime.
Karajic kicked a 21-yard field goal to put Jacksonville State in front 24-21 with 9:57 left in the third quarter.
Jordan Travis, who replaced Rodemaker in the first quarter, turned out to be the difference in leading the Seminoles back from two 14-point deficits. He passed for 210 yards and one touchdown while running 12 times for 39 yards, including a 1-yard TD run just before halftime.
Florida State outgained the Gamecocks 531-307. The Seminoles had 358 yards after halftime.
Former Alabama Mr. Football La'Damian Webb from Beauregard scored twice and had 55 yards on 10 carries for Florida State.
Nicario Harper and Darius Joiner led Jacksonville State defensively with eight tackles each.
The Gamecocks will visit Florida State again on Sept. 11, 2021, for a matchup scheduled prior to the announcement of this year's game.