LAKE CHARLES, La.- Derrick Fourroux threw three touchdown passes and Toddrick Pendland ran for two touchdowns as McNeese State defeated Savannah State 56-0 before a crowd of 13, 912 at Louis Bonnette Field.

The Cowboys, who entered the contest ranked #8 in the latest Football Championship Series polls, out-gained SSU 489 yards to 138 yards.

The McNeese State defense aided the offense by scoring twice. Desmun Lighten recovered a SSU fumble in the end zone for and Kentrel Butler returned an interception 44 yards for a touchdown.

MSU jumped out to a 28-0 lead after the first quarter and the Cowboys led 42-0 at the half.

Elrick Jones scored on a four-yard run with 1:32 left in the third before Butler's interception return for a score with 32 seconds remaining in the quarter.

SSU (1-2) was held to nine first downs and only crossed mid-field three times during the game.

Daniel Heslop ran seven times for 28 yards for SSU while A.J. DeFilippis completed 9 of 12 passes for 65 yards and one interception. Five different SSU players caught passes with Justin Babb catching three for 30 yards. Edward Ndem led the defense with eight tackles while Chris Reed and Jeff Robertson had seven apiece.

McNeese State (3-0) was led by Pendland who ran for 104 yards and had toucdown runs of 44 and 41 yards. Fourroux passed for 153 yards and threw touchdowns of 34, 68 and 4 yards. Chris Royal caught two passes for 84 yards while Malcom Bronson had five tackles.

SSU will travel to Augusta, GA to play Concordia-Selma (0-3) in the Southern Georgia Heritage Classic at Lucy Laney High School Stadium. Kickoff is set for 4:00 p.m. Concordia fell to Benedict 24-13 on Sept. 19 in the Miami Classic.