SAVANNAH, Ga. – T.J. Bell's 6-yard touchdown pass to Derek Kirkland with 19 seconds to play, and John Barron's kick for the extra point, gave Savannah State a thrilling 31-27 Homecoming victory against Howard University on Saturday at T.A. Wright Stadium.

It was an historic achievement for SSU, which now has beaten multiple Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference teams in the same season for the first time. SSU, which joined with the MEAC in 2011, beat visiting Bethune-Cookman, 16-10, on Sept. 24.

"We've only had two home games but we've found a way to win both of them," said SSU first-year head coach Erik Raeburn, whose Tigers (2-4 overall, 2-2 MEAC) improved to 1-9 in the series against Howard (1-8, 1-5). The Tigers lost, 55-9, last season in Washington, D.C.

The last time SSU won two games in a season was in 2009, when the Tigers beat non-Football Championship Subdivision teams Livingstone and Edward Waters.
SSU, coming off a 33-3 loss at North Carolina Central on Oct. 15, had a bye last week and had two weeks to prepare for Howard. The Tigers jumped out to a 14-0 lead in the first quarter to the delight of an announced crowd of, 8,119.

SSU running back Nicholas Bentley's 1-yard touchdown run, and Barron's first of four extra-point kicks, capped a four-play, 13-yard drive that gave the Tigers a 7-0 lead with 7:15 left in the first quarter.

The Tigers made it 14-0 when wide receiver Arshon Spaulding ran for a 53-yard touchdown with 3:32 left in the first quarter. The other big play of the two-play scoring drive was Bell's 22-yard pass to tight end Paris Baker.

"Everybody tries to go extra-hard at home because our people are here," Spaulding said. "We try to put on a show for them. We love them so much so we try to give our all because they didn't have to come to the game. We feel like we owe that to them."

SSU started Bell at quarterback. Blake Dever came in at quarterback during the Tigers' third series but suffered an injury to his left arm midway through the first quarter. Dever did not return to the game and wore a sling on his left arm on the sideline.

SSU's Bell was intercepted by Howard's Craig Johnson at SSU's 29-yard line with 13:10 left in the second quarter. Howard capped a six-play, 29-yard scoring drive when running back Anthony Philyaw ran for an 11-yard touchdown, and Dakota Lebofsky kicked the extra point, cutting it to 14-7 with 10:32 remaining before halftime.

SSU responded on the ensuing series with a six-play, 72-yard scoring drive. Bell connected with Baker for an 11-yard gain, found Cantrell Frazier for a 38-yard gain and hit Kendarius Dukes for an 11-yard pick-up. Bell's 17-yard touchdown run gave the Tigers a 21-7 lead with 7:04 left before halftime.

Howard's Lebofsky cut it to 21-10 with a 25-yard field goal as time expired to end the first half.

Howard cut it to 21-13 on its first drive of the third quarter on Lebofsky's 25-yard field goal. SSU answered on its ensuing possession with Barron's 36-yard field goal to give the Tigers a 24-13 lead.

In the fourth quarter, Howard's Kalen Johnson capped a 13-play, 80-yard drive by connecting with Robert Mercer for a 19-yard touchdown, cutting the score to 24-19. Johnson's pass during a two-point conversion attempt was incomplete.

With 7:53 to play in the game, SSU's Barron attempted a 40-yard field goal but the ball sailed wide right.

Howard took its first lead of the game with 5:17 to play when Kalen Johnson connected with Kyle Anthony for a 37-yard touchdown. Johnson found Guy Lemonier for a two-point conversion, giving the Bison a 27-24 advantage. The Bison drive covered 77 yards in seven plays.

SSU, facing fourth-and-3 at Howard's 48-yard line, had its series end when Bell's pass to Frazier fell incomplete.

Howard took over with 3:31 to play but was forced to punt. SSU took over with 1:47 remaining. It didn't look good for the Tigers, who were facing second-and-31, but Bell found Spaulding for a 52-yard gain to Howard's 18-yard line. Bell then connected with Kirkland for a 9-yard gain and found Tino Smith for a 3-yard gain to Howard's 6-yard line. Bell spiked the ball, stopping the game clock. His next pass was the game-winner to Kirkland.

"We run that play every day in practice," Bell said. "There's not a day we don't run that play in practice. I put the ball on him, in a good spot so he could catch it, and he got us in the end zone."

With 15 seconds to play, the Bison began their drive from their own 17-yard line but Kalen Johnson's pass was intercepted by SSU's Raheim Davis to seal the Tigers' victory.
"I'm proud that our guys kept battling even though we didn't have a great third quarter or most of the fourth quarter," Raeburn said. "We squandered some opportunities to extend our lead but, man, they kept fighting and found a way to make it happen at the end so I'm super-proud for them and happy for them."

SSU came into the game ranked last in the 11-team MEAC in scoring offense (6.6 points per game), total offense (154 yards per game), rushing offense (68.8 yards per game), passing offense (85.2 yards per game), first downs (9.2 per game), third-down conversions (15.9 percent) and time of possession (24:37 per game).
Saturday, SSU finished with 378 yards of total offense, 137 yards rushing, 241 yards passing, and 14 first downs. The Tigers were 2-of-12 on third-down conversions and maintained possession for 25:35.

"Offensive line-wise, we made a ton of progress today," Raeburn said. "They've been taking a lot of heat. We haven't felt like we've blocked well up front most weeks but this week they did the job. They answered the call. I thought this was easily the best we've played up front."

SSU's Bell finished 16-of-31 passing for 241 yards, a touchdown and an interception. He ran for 21 yards, including a touchdown, on eight carries. Spaulding ran for a game-high 102 yards and a touchdown on 14 carries. Kirkland had six catches for 54 yards and a touchdown, while Spaulding made two catches for 55 yards.
"It's a great feeling," Kirkland said. "Especially since it's Homecoming."

Howard's Kalen Johnson finished 23-of-48 passing for 278 yards, two touchdowns and an interception. He was the Bison's leading rusher with 39 yards on 10 carries.
SSU defensive end Marquis Smith made a game-high 13 tackles, including five for minus-30 yards. He had two sacks for minus-14 yards and also forced a fumble.

"This is home," Smith said. "We've got to protect this house by any means necessary. That's the mindset we have. We've got to protect our house. And that's what happened today. As long as there's time on that clock, we've got a chance. We believed that today. We believe in each other. We believed that we were going to win."

SSU linebacker Mulik Simmons made 10 tackles for the Tigers. Stefen Banks forced a fumble.

Craig Johnson led Howard with nine tackles and an interception.

SSU's next game will be at 5 p.m. Nov. 5 against Norfolk State at T.A. Wright Stadium for Senior Day.