Box Score SAVANNAH, Ga. - Larry Brihm threw three touchdown passes and ran for another to lead Bethune-Cookman to a 48-20 victory over Savannah State on Saturday night at T.A. Wright Stadium.
 
Brihm, a 6-foot, 210-pound redshirt freshman from Delray Beach, Fla., finished 13-of-19 passing for 222 yards and three touchdowns of 52, 47 and 17 yards without an interception. He ran for a 12-yard touchdown.
 
A crowd of 1,271 watched as Bethune-Cookman secured sole possession of first place in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference. The Wildcats (6-1 overall, 3-0 MEAC) entered the game tied with North Carolina Central atop the league's standings but NCCU lost, 21-20, to Morgan State earlier Saturday.
 
SSU (0-7, 0-4 MEAC) kept the game close until Bethune-Cookman cornerback Thomas Finnie intercepted SSU quarterback Tino Smith for the second time in the game, snaring the ball at the Tigers' 47-yard line. On the next play, Bethune-Cookman's Brihm connected with wide receiver Jhomo Gordon for a 47-yard touchdown and a 21-7 lead with 7:39 remaining before halftime.
 
"When they went up 21-7 on us there was a momentum shift and they had the edge on us," said SSU freshman Michael Knox, who took over at quarterback when Smith suffered an injury with 1:20 left in the first quarter.
 
Bethune-Cookman improved to 35-7-3 in the series against SSU.
 
The Wildcats are No. 16 in The Sports Network poll and No. 14 in the Football Championship Subdivision Coaches poll. They came into the game ranked first in the MEAC and fourth in the Football Championship Subdivision in rushing defense, allowing 78 yards per game. B-CU limited SSU to 70 yards rushing on 28 carries.
 
Meanwhile, Bethune-Cookman ran for 289 yards on 57 carries. Michael Jones' 1-yard touchdown run, and Haden Hoggarth's kick for the extra point, gave the Wildcats a 7-0 lead in the first quarter. Jones' run capped a 12-play, 55-yard drive.
 
SSU's ensuing drive ended when Smith's pass was picked off by Finnie at Bethune-Cookman's 15-yard line. Three plays later, SSU linebacker Marquis Smith forced Wildcats running back Danny Dillard to fumble and Tigers linebacker Trevion Ashford recovered the ball at B-CU's 40-yard line.
 
On the next play, SSU's Smith threw an incomplete pass, was injured and came out of the game. Two plays later, Knox attempted the first pass of his SSU career and connected with Jaylen McGriff for a 25-yard gain to B-CU's 10-yard line. Smith then ran untouched for a 10-yard touchdown as time expired in the first quarter. John Barron kicked the extra point, tying the game at 7.
 
"I got all the reps (at quarterback) on Friday," Knox said of practice. "(Coach Wilson) put me in tonight and I got in a good rhythm."
 
Bethune-Cookman's Dre'Sean Nelson fumbled the ensuing kickoff thanks to SSU's Edward Baety and the Tigers' K'Lon Lovett recovered. But three plays later, SSU's Smith (he re-entered at QB with 9:48 left before halftime but left a second time late in the first half) fumbled and B-CU's Robert Way recovered.
 
"Mentally, we're not doing things right," SSU head coach Earnest Wilson III said. "And we need to make sure that we're teaching in a classroom setting, teaching those things to make these kids learn."
 
With 8:05 left before halftime, Bethune-Cookman's Brihm connected with Frank Brown for a 52-yard touchdown to make it 14-7.
 
Brihm's 12-yard touchdown run with 2:16 left before halftime gave B-CU a 28-7 lead it took into intermission.
 
Brihm's fourth touchdown of the night was a 17-yard pass to Jaime Wilson. Hoggarth's kick for the extra point failed and the Wildcats settled for a 34-7 lead.
 
B-CU made it 41-7 on Dillard's 34-yard touchdown with 9:31 left in the third quarter. Dillard, a redshirt sophomore transfer from the University of Miami (Fla.), ran 11 times for a game-high 87 yards.
 
The Wildcats went up 48-7 on Brett Maxie's 1-yard touchdown run early in the fourth quarter, which capped an 11-play, 78-yard drive.
 
SSU cut the score to 48-14 on Knox's 15-yard touchdown pass to Cantrell Frazier. Frazier finished with six catches for 57 yards, both team highs. Knox, 6-foot-3, 205-pound Tampa, Fla., native, finished 9-of-18 passing for 117 yards, including the touchdown. He was intercepted one time and also lost a fumble.
 
Smith finished 4-of-10 passing for 15 yards. He threw two interceptions.
 
SSU's Ker-Sean Wilson started the season opener at quarterback. He has moved to wide receiver. Leon Prunty, who started at quarterback Oct. 4 against Norfolk State, suffered a knee injury in that game. Smith started at quarterback Oct. 11 at Florida A&M and again Saturday.
 
"Ker-Sean started us out," Earnest Wilson said of SSU's quarterback situation. "Then you've got Prunty. Then Tino. And now you've seen Knox. So we've played four quarterbacks in seven games. We're hoping that (Prunty) comes back next week (at North Carolina Central University). He has a strained meniscus. We were afraid it was torn but the doctor said it doesn't appear to be as bad as they first thought."
 
SSU cut the score to 48-20 when Nicholas Bentley ran for a 1-yard touchdown to cap an eight-play, 56-yard drive. Dakota Garcia's kick for the extra point was blocked. Garcia, a freshman from Gainesville, Fla., was in the game because Barron, SSU's starting kicker, suffered an injury late in the game. Garcia already had been punting in place of starter Jacob Thomas, who is walking with the aid of crutches after suffering an injury earlier this season.
 
SSU running back Richard Williams ran 14 times for 36 yards, both team highs. He also lost a fumble.
 
The Tigers will travel to Durham, N.C., to play NCCU at 2 p.m. Saturday. The game will be radio broadcast on WHCJ 90.3 FM.