HATTIESBURG — Caleb Evans threw a pair of touchdown passes to Marcus Green, and Louisiana-Monroe handed Southern Miss its first loss of the season, 21-20 Saturday night at M.M. Roberts Stadium.

Evans was 15-of-28 passing for Louisiana-Monroe (2-0), and Green caught four passes for 96 yards. Green’s 49-yard touchdown in the first quarter and 4-yarder in the third provided the bulk of the scoring. The Warhawks also recovered a fumble in the end zone for another touchdown.

Southern Miss (1-1) got within a point on Parker Shaunfield’s 47-yard field goal with 6:50 left in the game. It had the ball late with a chance to win it, but Jack Abraham threw an interception near midfield with less than a minute to play.

Abraham completed 31 of 46 passes for 378 yards, with two touchdowns and two interceptions. Jaylond Adams caught nine passes for 158 yards, including a 75-yard touchdown on the first play of the game on a shovel pass. Quez Watkins had 11 receptions for 81 yards and a touchdown.

Shaunfield kicked two field goals, but also missed from 49 and 53 yards. The 49-yard attempt came with 5:42 left in the game.

Alcorn State 78, Louisiana College 0
Alcorn State piled up 381 rushing yards, 629 total yards, and had nine different players score touchdowns as it decimated Division III opponent Louisiana College 78-0 in its home opener Saturday night.

The 78 points scored by Alcorn were the second most in its history. The record came in a 101-0 win over Paul Quinn in 1967. The Braves beat Prairie View A&M 77-48 in 2014, and have scored 70 or more seven other times.

Noah Johnson completed 7 of 9 passes for 95 yards and two touchdowns for Alcorn (1-1), and also ran for a score.

Twelve players had at least one rushing attempt, led by Marquise Forman. Forman had seven carries for 58 yards, both team highs, and one touchdown.

Ten players caught at least one pass, including a 15-yard touchdown by former Vicksburg High star Tavares Johnson, Jr.

The Braves scored four touchdowns in the opening quarter.

Jonathan Hauer blocked a punt and Alvin Wilson scooped it up and ran 8 yards for the game’s first score. Two minutes later, Johnson completed a 54-yard scoring pass to Raidarious Anderson, P.J. Anderson ran for a 9-yard score and Johnson threw a 14-yard touchdown to Chris Blair for a 27-0 lead. Then, early in the second, Johnson ran it in from 5 yards out to make it 34-0.

Three touchdowns in the second quarter and a field goal made put the Braves up 51-0 at halftime.

Louisiana College was held to minus-20 yards of total offense in the first half. For the game, it had three first downs, 36 total yards and minus-26 rushing yards. The Wildcats ran a total of three plays in Alcorn territory — all on a second-quarter drive that started at the Alcorn 45-yard line and resulted in a three-and-out and a punt.