Courtesy Reggie Benson, Huntsville Times
Ulysses Banks, Alabama A&M's all-time leading rusher, is gone. So is Thomas Harris, the Bulldogs' all-time leading receiver. Despite those huge losses, A&M has quarterback Deaunte Mason back and he showed Saturday during the Maroon and White game that the Bulldogs' offense is still in capable hands. Unofficially, Mason had more than 400 yards of total offense, including 387 yards passing and four touchdowns, to lead the White to a 55-38 victory over the Maroon at Louis Crews Stadium.

"I tried to get everbody involved," said Mason, who threw an 80-yard touchdown pass to tight end Kenneth Harris on the first play of the game. "A lot of guys stepped up and made big plays. We're just trying to come together as a team."

A&M's defense dominated the offense in its last scrimmage before spring break. Saturday, Brawnski Towns' unit had no answers.

With Mason at the helm, the Bulldogs scored on six of their first eight possessions to take a commanding lead.

"The offense did a great job of playing today and we did a bad job of playing Bulldog defense," Towns said. "We didn't play with a lot of intensity and we made a lot of mistakes. We started the game off lackluster by missing a lot of assignments. We weren't concentrating today like we had all spring and it showed."

Mason threw touchdowns to three different players, including a pair of Rashad Johnson, who finished with a game-high seven catches for 101 yards. Johnson, A&M's most experienced returner, is expected to take up some of the slack with the loss of Harris.

"They played a lot of man coverage today and we were fortunate to win some battles," he said. "A couple of times, Deaunte checked off and found me. We know if we get open, he's going to get us the football."

A&M coach Anthony Jones said Mason showed what kind of player he could be.

"He has that kind of potential," Jones said. "This is a kid that led us to the (SWAC) championship game last year and he didn't know our entire offense. We've just got to surround him with some talent and we'll have a chance to be a good offense."

In addition to Johnson, the Bulldogs also got solid play from sophomore receiver Torey Smith and tight ends Harris and Bobby Goldsby. Smith had four catches for 55 yards and a touchdown, while Harris and Goldsby, who played sparingly last season, combined to catch five balls for 139 yards and a touchdown.

"Those guys got open," Jones said referring to Harris and Goldsby. "Bobby has come a long way. He has some potential. He's got to continue to work in the weight room and on his mental game."

While A&M's offense held the upper hand, the Bulldogs' defense had some highlights.

Inside linebacker Afu Okosun recovered a fumble early in the game to prevent a scoring opportunity and Kimario McFadden and Chris Faush both came away with interceptions. Denzel Cotton had a 50-yard fumble return for a touchdown. McFadden and Cotton were named co-Defensive Players of the Game.

"We had a lot of guys on the first unit, including myself, that haven't practiced a lot this spring," Okosun said. "But I'm not going to use that as an excuse. We still should have played better than we did."

Mason was pleased with the offense's effort.

"This was our best day of the spring and it was the most important day," said Mason, who was named the Offensive Player of the Game. "Those other scrimmages didn't mean anything. This is a test to see where we're going into summer camp and we had a pretty good day."

While Jones wasn't ready to declare his team ready for its 2010 season opener, he said Saturday's scrimmage gave him a good idea about his team.

"We wanted to see guys make plays on the offensive side and the defensive side and we saw some of that today," he said. "This gave us a good indication of where we are and where we need to get to."