South Alabama scores the most points by an FBS team since 1991 as it routs Northwestern State, 87-10
By Jamie Barton, CNN
(CNN) — The South Alabama Jaguars racked up the most points scored by an FBS team in over 33 years on Thursday, as they thrashed the Northwestern State Demons 87-10.
Remarkably, the Jaguars did so in just 51 minutes, as both head coaches agreed to shorten the fourth quarter to a six-minute running clock.
South Alabama’s point total is the highest by an FBS team in a single game since Fresno State beat New Mexico 94-17 in October 1991. It is also all-time school record for the Jaguars, as well as an all-time record for the Sun Belt Conference.
South Alabama dominated the running game with 363 yards on the ground to go with six touchdowns from four different players. Both Fluff Bothwell and Kentrell Bullock had over 100 yards rushing and two TDs a piece.
In a difficult night for the Demons, the Jaguars scored on all but two of their possessions – one a missed field goal attempt from 50 yards in the second quarter, and the other when they knelt the ball, content that at 87-10, the game was probably over.
Having lost to North Texas and Ohio in his opening two games, it is head coach Major Applewhite’s first win in charge. While he will have been hoping for a victory in the lead-up to the game, it is unlikely he would have imagined it would come by this margin.
“I’m proud of the way our guys played, the way they responded coming off of a loss,” he said after the game, according to AL.com. “In a short week, the staff did an outstanding job. I know people say that a lot, it sounds cliché, but they did.”
Jaguars quarterback Gio Lopez was a key part of the action on his return from injury, throwing 15-of-19 for four touchdowns and 257 yards during the two and a half quarters he spent on the field.
“It was a great time,” Lopez said, per AL.com. “It was hard last week just watching … It was fun just to be back out there.”
South Alabama got off to a flying start, scoring two touchdowns despite running just one offensive play in slightly over four minutes, as Jamaal Pritchett scored a 62-yard punt return touchdown and Lopez found Jeremiah Webb in the endzone.
The teams traded blows in the rest of the first quarter, which ended 24-10, but what followed was a second quarter that would comprehensively end any lingering hopes the Demons may have held.
Four touchdowns from South Alabama stretched the lead to an impressive 52-10 at halftime, but still the Jaguars did not let up. Four more uncontested touchdowns meant the third quarter ended 80-10.
Both coaches agreed to shorten the fourth quarter to six minutes, but there was still time for South Alabama to put the icing on the cake, getting another turnover in Demons territory and making the most of it with a four-yard Jarvis Durr touchdown run.
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