Box Score COLUMBIA, S.C. – Bowie State University had no trouble in its first road game of the season, cruising to an easy 28-14 nationally televised, non-conference victory over Benedict College. The win improves the Bulldogs to 2-0 while the Tigers drop to 0-2.

Bowie State drew first blood at the 9:59 mark of the first quarter on a 9-yard touchdown run by redshirt sophomore Keith Brown. Redshirt sophomore Mario Diaz-Aviles converted the extra point for a 7-0 Bulldogs lead. Brown scored his second touchdown run of the evening, scampering a career-year 76 yards to increase Bowie State's lead to 13-0 with 1:11 remaining in the opening period.

The Bulldogs controlled the clock in the first half, holding on to the pigskin 10:28 and ground out 118 rushing yards. Benedict missed a perfect opportunity to put points on the board in the first quarter, but Bowie State's defense stopped the Tigers deep in Bulldogs territory.

Sophomore Eric Walters recovered a Benedict fumble, caused by BSU senior Bekwele Amadi, and returned it 59 yards down to the Tigers eight yard line. Brown penetrated the Tigers end zone for the third time at the 13:23 mark, padding Bowie State's lead to 21-0.

Bowie State added six more to the Charlie W. Johnson Stadium scoreboard after a 15-yard run by junior Corwin Acker. Diaz-Aviles converted the extra point to push the Bulldogs lead to 28-0 with 7:03 left in the first half.

The Bulldogs struggled with their running game in the season opener, but were clicking on all cylinders at Benedict. Bowie State rolled up 211 rushing yards in the first half while the Bulldogs defense held the Tigers to 71 yards in total offense (47 rushing, 24 passing) in the first half of play. 

Benedict finally scored on a Bowie State fumble as DaMonte' Searcy returned the missed exchange between Bowie State senior Tyrae Reid, Jr. and Acker and rumbled 74 yards for the touchdown with 1:05 left in the third quarter.

Benedict took advantage of another Bowie State miscue, when Searcy recovered another fumble, this time in the Bulldogs end zone to close the gap to 28-14 with 2:08 left in the game.
 
Bowie State rushed for 321 total yards in the game with Brown personally responsible for 130 on just nine carries and three touchdowns. Two of Brown's touchdown runs came in the first quarter and the third occurred less than two minutes into the second quarter. Acker also accounted for triple digit rushing, carrying the ball 12 times for 126 yards.

Reid came in at quarterback for injured redshirt sophomore Jared Johnston early in the first quarter and completed 11-of-20 passes for 110 yards. Bowie State freshman Garry Cropper led all receivers with 58 yards on four catches.

Defensively, Amadi and redshirt freshman Antoine Young led the Bulldogs with six tackles each and sophomore Oladimeji Layeni added four tackles. As a team, the Bowie State defense held Benedict to just 120 total yards (48 rushing, 72 passing) all night.

Chris Johnson was Benedict's top offensive producer, netting 37 yards on the ground and 21 reception yards. Teddy Joseph came off the Tigers bench to lead four different quarterbacks with 32 passing yards, completing 3-of-4. The Benedict duo of Reynard Parks and Joshua Wade paced the Tigers defense with seven tackles apiece.

The Bulldogs return to the gridiron – Saturday, September 15th, hosting the Fighting Falcons of Fairmont State University. Fairmont State lost its second game of the year (9/6), falling 41-21 at Glenville State College.  Kickoff time is set for 1 pm in BSU's Bulldogs Stadium. Benedict will host Virginia State (9/15) at 4 pm in the Palmetto Capital City Classic.