A&M was held to 197 yard in total offense, including just 69 in the second half, and failed to score a offensive touchdown for the first time since a 31-6 loss at Grambling in 2007, a span of 33 games, as Texas Southern pulled away in the fourth quarter for a 32-9 victory before an announced crowd of 6,347 at Delmar Stadium.
The Bulldogs trailed 10-9 at halftime and 12-9 entering the fourth quarter before self-destructing and virtually handing the Tigers the victory.
"The defense played great," said running back Tony Green, who is from San Antonio. "If there's anybody to blame, it has to be the offense. We just couldn't get it going."
A&M fell to 1-2 overall and 0-1 in league play. Texas Southern improved to 1-2 and 1-1.
"This is pretty bad what we're doing offensively," Jones said. "We've got to find some answers."
The Bulldogs couldn't find any Saturday, managing just three Chance Wilson field goals. Even so, A&M was in the game until the fourth quarter.
Derricus Purdy intercepted a pass from A&M quarterback Deaunte Mason and returned it 20 yards for a touchdown to put Texas Southern up 19-9. Mason was 16-of-27 for 107 yards with two interceptions and was sacked seven times.
Then, Brendan Johnson fumbled the ensuing kickoff and the Tigers recovered. Six plays later, Arvell Nelson found James Davis with a 10-yard touchdown pass to make it 26-9 with just under nine minutes to play and the game was over.
"We made a game of it and we had two turnovers and it was over," Jones lamented. "This is our second bad loss. We've got to go back to the drawing board and start over. We've got major problems on offense across the board.
"It has to start with our protection. If you get a quarterback who's jumpy back there for whatever reason ... (Deaunte's) not looking downfield at the routes. He's worrying about where the pressure is coming from. We are not doing a good job offensively."
The game started off well enough.
After Texas Southern grabbed a 3-0 lead midway through the first quarter, A&M answered thanks to a 48-yard scamper by Green that led to a 37-yard field goal from Wilson that made it 3-3.
Branson Parson's 30-yard interception return gave the Bulldogs a first down at the Tigers' 12-yard line later in the first quarter, but the Bulldogs couldn't take advantage of it and had to settle for a 27-yard Wilson field goal that gave them a 6-3 advantage.
Texas Southern took the lead for good on Marcus Wright's 1-yard run with just over three minutes left that made it 10-6, but Wilson's 24-yard field goal just before halftime pulled A&M within 10-9 at intermission.
Unfortunately, the Bulldogs struggled mightily in the second half and will try to regroup Saturday at home against Southern before the season gets away from them.
"We've got a lot of young guys and they're not used to this," said inside linebacker Afu Okosun, who finished with seven tackles in his debut after sitting out the first two games due to a mandated NCAA suspension. "We've been here before. We've got to corral everybody and tell them not to get down, especially on offense. The season is still young. We've got to go back home and correct our mistakes and get ready for Southern."
Alabama A&M will face Southern University next on Saturday, September 25 in the Hall of Fame game on "The Hill" at 6 pm.
