HATTIESBURG — Southern Miss ripped off four touchdowns and 26 straight points in the second half against Texas State.

Unfortunately, it needed to reach the end zone one more time and couldn’t.

The Golden Eagles made things interesting by erasing most of a 32-point halftime deficit, but ran out of steam late in the fourth quarter and lost 50-36 to Texas State on Saturday night.

Ismail Mahdi returned the opening kickoff 100 yards for a touchdown, and finished with 89 rushing yards and three TDs for Texas State (4-1, 1-0 Sun Belt Conference). His 8-yard touchdown run with 3:22 remaining in the second quarter put the Bobcats ahead 42-10.

Southern Miss (1-4, 0-2) came out firing in the second half, however. Billy Wiles threw two touchdown passes and ran for another, and Frank Gore Jr.’s 1-yard touchdown run with 6:16 to go in the fourth quarter pulled the Golden Eagles to within 42-36.

Southern Miss got the ball back with 3:12 to go, but only gained one first down on the possession. Wiles’ pass on fourth-and-17 from his own 18-yard line was incomplete, and Texas State added an insurance touchdown on a 14-yard run by Malik Hornsby with 1:45 left. Drew Donley tacked on the two-point conversion on a shovel pass to make it 50-36.

Wiles finished 21-of-45 passing for 275 yards and two touchdowns for Southern Miss. Latreal Jones caught six passes for 124 yards. Gore carried the ball 24 times for 130 yards and two touchdowns.

Alcorn State 23, Alabama State 20, OT
Noah Kiani kicked three field goals, including a 24-yarder on the final play of regulation and a 30-yarder in overtime, as Alcorn State (2-3, 1-1 Southwestern Athletic Conference) beat Alabama State (1-3, 0-2).

Kiani had another field goal blocked, and it was returned 75 yards for a touchdown by James Burgess to give Alabama State a 20-17 lead with 9:20 remaining in the fourth quarter.

Alcorn converted a fourth down near midfield on a 13-play, 89-yard drive to end regulation. Kiani’s field goal as time expired tied the game, and then his 39-yarder on the first possession of overtime put the Braves ahead 23-20.

Alabama State kicker Jayden John missed a 37-yard field goal on his team’s overtime possession to end the game.

Alcorn quarterback Aaron Allen was 32-of-46 passing for 370 yards and two touchdowns. Monterio Hunt caught six passes for 109 yards and a TD, and Malik Rodgers caught five for 87 yards.

Delta State 47, West Alabama 17
Delta State quarterback Patrick Shegog completed 9 of 12 passes for 106 yards and one touchdown, added 32 rushing yards and another TD, and the Statesmen (5-0, 3-0 Gulf South Conference) scored touchdowns on offense, defense and special teams as they cruised past West Alabama (2-3, 1-2).

Marlon Windham returned an interception 33 yards for a touchdown, and Robbie Evans had a 71-yard kickoff return TD for Delta State. The Statesmen also recorded a safety as they built a 37-3 halftime lead.

Mississippi College 30, Shorter 14
Cameron Davis threw two touchdown passes and Ben Pledger kicked three field goals to lead Mississippi College (2-3, 1-2 GSC) past Shorter (2-3, 1-2).

Davis had a rare big passing day for the Choctaws by completing 19 of 26 passes for 204 yards. The team had 223 total passing yards in its first four games. It was the first time since 2017 that an MC quarterback has thrown for more than 200 yards in a game.

The Choctaws also totaled 225 yards on the ground, led by 143 from Marcus Williams and 66 from R.J. Wilson. Wilson also scored on a 29-yard run in the second quarter.

Former Warren Central standout Jaylin Thompson had one solo tackle and one assist for Mississippi College’s defense.

The win was also the 100th of MC coach John Bland’s career.

Belhaven 35, North Carolina Wesleyan 14
Tim Johnson threw two touchdown passes to Jacobey James-Grace, Kolbe Blunt rushed for 202 yards and two long touchdowns, and Belhaven (4-0, 2-0 USA South) remained undefeated by beating North Carolina Wesleyan (0-4, 0-1).

Blunt scored on runs of 34 and 52 yards as part of a 35-0 scoring surge by Belhaven, after North Carolina Wesleyan carried a 7-0 lead into the second quarter.

Belhaven finished with 287 rushing yards as a team. Johnson was 10-of-16 passing for 130 yards, and James-Grace caught three passes for 68 yards and the two touchdowns that covered 30 and 34 yards.

Millsaps 14, Birmingham-Southern 8
Gray Jennings threw two touchdown passes to Connor Ladner in the second half as Millsaps College (1-4, 1-2 Southern Athletic Association) defeated Birmingham-Southern (1-4, 0-3).

Millsaps earned its first win of the season and snapped a nine-game losing streak overall.

Jennings was 10-of-29 passing for 130 yards, and Ladner caught three passes for 56 yards. The two hooked up for a 23-yard touchdown late in the third quarter and a 24-yarder in the opening minute of the fourth. The latter was set up by Anthony Mayfield’s interception inside Birmingham-Southern territory.