HOUSTON, Texas – In a game that seemed to be labeled "defense optional", Alabama A&M (6-3, 4-3 SWAC) racked up at least 50 points for just the 10^th time in their Division I history as they came from behind for a dramatic 52-49 victory at Texas Southern (3-7, 2-5 SWAC) in an NCAA Division I football game on Saturday, November 13.
 
It equals their point total in a 52-43 win at Jackson State on April 10, 2021 and is only the third such game since 2013.
 
THE STATS - ALABAMA A&M
There would be no shortage of top performers for the Bulldogs, a group led by graduate quarterback Aqeel Glass (St. Louis, Mo.) who threw for a Division I Era program record 462 yards on 33-of-52 passing. Along with that he connected for five touchdowns and no interceptions. He surpasses his own record of 446 yards set at Grambling on October 2 of this year.
 
Catching a career-high 12 of those passes was junior wide receiver Odieu Hilaire (Belle Glade, Fla.) who finished with 122 yards and a pair of scores while fellow junior wideout Abdul-Fatai Ibrahim (Miramar, Fla.) grabbed eight balls for a whopping 176 yards and two touchdowns. Catching that fifth TD was sophomore tight end Bryson Clark (Delray Beach, Fla.) from one yard out.
 
While "The Outlaws" handled the firepower through the air, Gary Quarles would be an honorary member with 80 yards on four grabs. For most players that would be a game right there – but not for the diminutive tailback who erupted for an incredible 162 yards on the ground with two of his 35 rushes ending up in the endzone.
 
Graduate linebacker Armoni Holloway (Pinson, Ala.) led the defense with eight tackles, four solo, while his twin brother, cornerback Amari Holloway (Pinson, Ala.) notched seven stops, five solo and two in the backfield. Sophomore defensive end Philip Hopkins (Montgomery, Ala.) added five tackles with one tackle for loss and sophomore corner Kenechukwu Eziomume (Decatur, Ga.) chipped in with six.
 
Sophomore punter Troy Lendvay (Montreal, Quebec, Canada) delivered an impressive day with four punts covering 185 yards. That was good for a 46.2 average with three inside the 20-yard line and a long of 49 yards.
 
THE GAME
In a game that featured more than 100 points, neither team would do anything with their opening possessions but that would not be a trend that would take hold as Texas Southern capitalized on their second drive. That would see them go 63 yards in six plays, capping it off with a 32-yard strike to Jonathan Giles to take a 7-0 lead with 10:25 on the clock.
 
The Bulldogs would respond as Quarles picked up 20 yards on a 1^st and 20 from the Tigers 43-yard line to take it down to the 23 and well within in field goal range. Following three plays that saw them lose a yard, graduate kicker Spencer Corey (New Palestine, Ind.) would then convert a 41-yard attempt to cut the margin 7-3 a little more than three minutes later.
 
Faced with a Texas Southern possession that started just on their side of the 50-yard line and drove down to the goal line in five plays, A&M's defense would stand tall. With the ball at the one-yard line they would take advantage of a TSU false start and then stone the offense on the next three plays, including forcing an incompletion on 4^th and Goal from the two.
 
Alabama A&M would not be able to do anything with their next possession, however, as they took over deep in their own end and a 43-yard punt set the Tigers up at their own 47. Field position just about wouldn't matter though as, following an incomplete pass on first down, LaDarius Owens broke free for 53 yards to find the endzone and make it 14-3 at the 2:27 mark.
 
At risk of getting run out of the building, the Bulldogs came right back as they marched down the field from their own 25-yard line with three chunk plays and a pass interference call that went their way. That flipped the script and put them at the one-yard line, a spot that Quarles would use to power to paydirt and cut it to 14-10 at the close of the opening frame.
 
Back-and-forth they would go as TSU made it their business to specialize in lightning strike plays as Andrew Body ran for 31 yards on the opening play and then rifled a ball 38-yards to Derek Morton to extend the lead to 21-10 just 42 seconds into the second quarter.
 
A&M and Glass then showed that they could move the ball in short order too as the National Football League (NFL) prospect hit Quarles for 19 yards, Hilaire for 18 and redshirt-senior tight end Kendric Johnson (New Market, Ala.) for 17 on three straight plays to take the ball down to the Texas Southern 18-yard line. Two plays later Glass would connect with Hilaire again, this time from 17 yards out and ending in the endzone to pull to within 21-17 with 12:04 on the clock.
 
Then, in a rarity for this game, the teams combined for five fruitless possessions over the remaining 12 minutes as they took that four-point lead to the break. They would more than make up for it in the third quarter.
 
A&M would take the opening kickoff and move the ball 73 yards in six plays and 2:53 as Quarles broke off a 27-yard run to take the ball to the goal line before Glass found Hilaire for an 11-yard touchdown to pull ahead 24-21.
 
It would take exactly 1:25 for the Tigers to answer as Owens got things started with a 32-yard run and Body hit Giles for 44-yards two plays later, a throw that would end up with him in the endzone to flip back to a 28-24 TSU lead.
 
The Bulldogs would then pick up only nine yards on six plays to give the ball right back to Texas Southern – something that was not a good idea on this day. The second play would see Owens bust one for 64 yards and Dominic Franklin crash in for a three-yard touchdown two plays later to extend to a 35-24 advantage by the 6:09 mark.
 
A two-play 91-yard drive would help get A&M right back within a score as Quarles scampered 15 yards on first down and a false start brought it back five yards. It wouldn't matter as Glass drilled a ball to Ibrahim that sent him 81-yards into the opposite endzone for a TD that closed the gap to 35-31 in just 46 seconds.
 
The Bulldogs would then try to sneak in an onside kick on the ensuing kickoff only to see TSU recover at the A&M 43-yard line. Set up with that short field, Body went to work with a 28-yard pass to Jyrin Johnson and then capped his own two play touchdown drive with a 15-yard run to the goal line to make it 42-31 in a span of 38 seconds.
 
The offensive onslaught would continue, just in a more deliberate manner, on the next drive as Glass engineered an 11-play, 70-yard drive that featured a pair of completions of more than 20 yards. That 4:13 drive would cap off with Quarles past the goal line from one yard and closed the Bulldogs to within 42-38.
 
Body and company would then chew up nearly four minutes into the fourth quarter as they covered 65 yards in seven plays, finishing with a 22-yard touchdown to C'ing Blanton. That put A&M in the unenviable position of trailing 49-38 with just over 11 minutes to play.
 
Once again, however, they would turn adversity into opportunity as they pounded out 10 plays and went 84 yards in 4:29, the last being a 22-yard touchdown pass to Ibrahim. A failed two-point attempt then left it at 49-44 with 6:47 to play.
 
TSU would do nothing to hurt their chances on the ensuing kickoff as Owens proceeded to run it back 69 yards to the Alabama A&M 28-yard line. For all that tremendous field position, the Tigers would manage two yards – negative two yards – and be forced to line up for a 47-yard field goal. And one that they would miss at that, giving the ball back to the Bulldogs at their own 30-yard line and 4:52 to work with.
 
As they had shown all game, time and distance didn't matter much and it didn't here as they methodically marched down the field, covering 70 yards in 13 plays and 4:10. The last of those plays would be a 4^th and Goal connection from the one-yard line to Clark with just 42 seconds left. That monster drive not only put A&M up 52-49, it salted away most of the time TSU would have to work with.
 
Even with that being the case they still managed to put themselves in position to potentially tie the game and send it to overtime. In 39 seconds they would go 36 yards down to the A&M 36, the last 24 on a catch by Owens, only to see a 54-yard field goal come up short, closing out an incredible come-from-behind 52-49 Alabama A&M victory.
 
THE STATS – TEXAS SOUTHERN
A dual threat quarterback, Body went 13-of-25 through the air for 299 yards, four touchdowns and no interceptions and added 59 yards and a score on the ground to lead the Tigers. He was joined by Owens with an impressive 179 yards on just 12 carries – a whopping 14.9 average per carry. He would also add a TD on the ground and 93 yards in returns.
 
Catching five of those passes from Body was Giles, good for 96 yards and a pair of scores while Ke'Lenn Davis had three catches for 89 yards. Defensively, Jacob Williams had nine tackles with a TFL and Cedrick Williams equaled that stop total with half of a tackle in the backfield. Marquis Walker added eight tackles, six solo and Tyler Martinez finished with seven and half a sack. Demontario Anderson, Tim Walton, Jr. and Michael Badejo each added a half sack to round out the top performers for the TSU.
 
UP NEXT
Alabama A&M will close out the 2021 season the way they did the Spring 2021 season – facing off Arkansas-Pine Bluff in a rematch of the Southwestern Athletic Conference Championship. That will come on Saturday, November 20 with a 1 p.m. kick off at Louis Crews Stadium in Huntsville, Alabama. That day the program will also recognize 25 seniors for their contributions to Bulldogs football.