HBCU Football Shakeup: Grambling Dethrones Jackson State, Mississippi Valley State Crashes the SWAC East Lead, and Marshall Faulk Gets His First Win

GRAMBLING, La.

The last unbeaten team in HBCU football fell Saturday night, and it fell the hard way. Grambling State rallied from 14-0 down, traded the lead four times in the second half and beat No. 22 Jackson State 45-38 at Eddie G. Robinson Memorial Stadium in front of 15,434 fans — a result that blew the SWAC East race wide open and headlined the wildest Saturday of the HBCU season so far.

The backup stole the show. Grambling quarterback Jacobe Robinson came off the bench and accounted for five touchdowns, completing 17 of 21 passes for 212 yards and four scores and running for another, according to Grambling State Athletics. Jackson State opened a 14-0 lead on a Li'Darious Pryor touchdown run and a fumble return by Justin Foster, and the game was tied 21-21 at the half. Grambling pushed ahead 35-24 early in the fourth quarter, only for Pryor — who finished with 166 rushing yards and three touchdowns — to rip off a 79-yard run and score from three yards out for a 38-35 Jackson State lead with 9:21 left. Robinson answered: a 30-yard strike to Nae'Saan Dickerson set up D'Shaun Ford's one-yard touchdown run with 1:36 remaining, and after an interception, a 24-yard field goal sealed it.

The cost for Jackson State goes beyond the loss column. The Tigers lost starting quarterback Jared Lockhart to an injury on the final play of the first half; he was carted to the locker room, the Clarion Ledger reported. Backup Caron Tyler threw for 111 yards and a touchdown but was intercepted twice. Head coach T.C. Taylor said afterward that Lockhart would be evaluated and that the team would “still got to figure out ways to go win a game” without him. Taylor, in his fourth season, has still never beaten Grambling — the G-Men have won this meeting three straight years. Jackson State is 5-1 overall and 2-1 in the SWAC.

And then there is the fairy tale. Mississippi Valley State was picked to finish last in the SWAC preseason poll. On Saturday in Houston, the Delta Devils trailed Texas Southern 31-14 late in the third quarter — then scored 24 points in the fourth to win 38-34. Quarterback Josh Brown accounted for all five Valley touchdowns, MVSU Athletics reported: 266 passing yards and two scores through the air, 100 rushing yards and three more on the ground, 366 yards of total offense. His 71-yard touchdown pass to Dayvian Bluitt with 4:42 left cut it to three, and his 16-yard touchdown run with 42 seconds remaining won it. It was Valley's second straight comeback win — the Delta Devils beat Prairie View A&M 28-27 a week earlier — and, as HBCU Sports noted, the program's first consecutive victories since 2021. Terrell Buckley's team is 3-4 overall and 2-1 in the league: tied for first place in the SWAC East.

Marshall Faulk is on the board. Southern went to Prairie View and won 28-14, giving the Pro Football Hall of Fame running back his first Division I victory as the Jaguars' head coach. Southern trailed 14-7 before scoring 21 unanswered points: Trey Holly rushed for 121 yards and the go-ahead touchdown, Damien Henderson Jr. caught two touchdown passes for 115 yards, Herman Brister III made 10 tackles and the defense produced a late touchdown to seal it. The other sideline tells the weekend's other story. Prairie View A&M — the defending SWAC champion, which played in the program's first Celebration Bowl last December — fell to 2-5. On Monday, head coach Tremaine Jackson reassigned offensive coordinator Christopher Buckner and defensive backs coach Darren Garrigan and promoted Clifford Fedd to offensive coordinator, HBCU Sports reported. The Panthers are averaging 22 points per game, nine fewer than a season ago.

Friday night belonged to the Rattlers. In a game moved to Friday with Tropical Storm Isaias in the picture, Alabama State led its homecoming 27-14 in the fourth quarter — and then Florida A&M quarterback Armond Parker found A.J. Burris for touchdown bombs of 88 and 89 yards. FAMU won 28-27, dropping Alabama State to 3-3 overall and 1-2 in the SWAC while the Rattlers climbed to 2-4 and 1-1.

Around the horn. Alabama A&M hammered Bethune-Cookman 55-17 to reach 5-2 and join the three-way tie atop the East at 2-1; Bethune-Cookman is 3-3. Alcorn State hung 63 on Arkansas Baptist in a 63-7 win and, at 4-3 and 2-1, sits tied with Grambling atop the West. North Carolina A&T beat New Hampshire 30-27 in overtime, Morgan State edged Robert Morris 28-27, Delaware State blanked Franklin Pierce 34-0, and Norfolk State routed Virginia-Lynchburg 62-0 with four non-offensive touchdowns, per the USA TODAY Sports Network. The reigning Celebration Bowl champions took a lump: South Carolina State fell 49-39 at Charleston Southern in a nonconference test, North Carolina Central lost 17-14 to William & Mary, and Howard fell 24-20 to Penn. In Division II, Johnson C. Smith stayed hot with a 49-6 win over Shaw, Virginia State rolled Livingstone 59-7, Benedict beat Allen 37-24, and Bowie State shut out Winston-Salem State 21-0 — a game that went viral for the ragged field markings at Bowman Gray Stadium, which Winston-Salem State athletic director Eric Burns publicly took responsibility for on Monday, according to HBCU Gameday.

What Saturday brings. The race tightens on October 17. Florida A&M visits Jackson State for the Tigers' homecoming (2 p.m. CT, ESPN+), with Lockhart's status hanging over the game. Grambling travels to Alabama A&M in a meeting of 2-1 teams whose division races both pivot on the result. Bethune-Cookman goes to Itta Bena, where Mississippi Valley State's fairy tale gets its next test. Southern visits Texas Southern looking for a streak, and Alabama State heads to Arkansas-Pine Bluff needing a response. Six weeks in, the SWAC has no king — and that is what makes it fun.