SAVANNAH, Ga.-- Al-Terek McBurse ran for a career-high 218 yards and three touchdowns to lead Florida A&M University to a 47-7 victory over Savannah State University in a Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference football game Saturday night.

A crowd of 4,356 on “Church & Community Day” at newly reconstructed T.A. Wright Stadium watched as FAMU improved to 4-3 overall and 2-2 in the MEAC. SSU fell to 1-6, 1-3.

McBurse, a 5-foot-11, 205-pound junior who transferred from Purdue University this fall, ran 14 times for touchdowns of 5, 60 and 31 yards. He spearheaded a FAMU attack that generated 448 yards of total offense, including 291 yards on the ground.

“He was cutting back and our outside linebacker, whether that was SAM or WILL, wasn't staying at home, and (was) over-running the play,” SSU head coach Steve Davenport said. “We work on that every day in practice. We've got a cutback guy. Ball goes away, we've got a cutback guy. And we over-run it (tonight).

“But in their defense, they're eager and trying to go make plays. But you've got to do your assignment. We talk about everybody doing their assignment. And when you've got one guy who over-runs the play, it gets cut back. The same thing happened to us last week (at Morgan State University).”

SSU ran for a season-high 196 yards on 33 carries, eclipsing the previous high of 159 yards on 48 carries in the Tigers' 33-30 victory over North Carolina Central on Sept. 24.

Senior Justin Babb ran for a team-high 117 yards, including a 62-yard gain, on 10 carries. Sophomore Sheldon Barnes ran for 61 yards, including a 38-yard touchdown, on seven carries.

“Anytime you have 196 yards on the ground that's positive. That's very positive,” said Barnes, whose touchdown run, along with senior Derek Williams' kick for the extra-point, helped SSU cut the score to 28-7 with 11:09 left in the third quarter.

Barnes credited Babb with setting up the scoring opportunity.

“He kept gashing them, gashing them, gashing them, and I scored on a counter (play),” Barnes said.
Babb credited SSU's offensive line for creating running lanes that allowed the Tigers to produce their most yards rushing this season.

“We had an opportunity to get our running game established today,” Babb said. “Coach (Terance) Mathis (SSU's offensive coordinator) has been stressing that we need to get our running game established. We opened it up with our running game so we could get into the passing game. We still have a lot to work on.”

SSU senior A.J. DeFilippis, who started at quarterback, finished 6-of-19 passing for 97 yards. He was intercepted three times, all in the end zone. SSU sophomore Antonio Bostick finished 3-of-4 passing for 23 yards.

After the game, Davenport said he will continue to start DeFilippis at quarterback.

“We are who we are,” Davenport said. “A.J. won the job. He's the best quarterback on this team. Changing for changing's sake is not what we want to do. We've done some things in terms of protecting the kid and giving him opportunities. Obviously, he struggled tonight. But changing doesn't necessarily mean you're getting better. A.J. won the job at quarterback.”

FAMU freshman quarterback Damien Fleming finished 10-of-14 passing for 83 yards, including a 13-yard touchdown pass to red shirt freshman wide receiver Lenworth Lennon for the game's first points.

Fleming ran for a 19-yard touchdown in the second quarter to give the Rattlers a 28-0 lead, which stood at halftime.
In the fourth quarter, FAMU sophomore backup quarterback Austin Trainor threw a 16-yard touchdown pass to senior Edmond Baker, and junior running back Eddie Rocker ran for a 5-yard touchdown.

FAMU was 8 of 12 on third-down conversions, while SSU was 3 of 11. The Tigers fumbled seven times and lost the ball one time.

SSU senior strong safety Chris Asbury made a game-high 10 tackles. Senior defensive end Reginald Givens made six tackles, including 2 ½ sacks for minus-20 yards, and forced a fumble. Junior defensive lineman James Briscoe recovered a fumble. He and Givens produced back-to-back sacks in the first quarter.

SSU's next game is 2 p.m. Oct. 29 against MEAC opponent Hampton University. It is the Tigers' Homecoming at T.A. Wright Stadium.