Mississippi Valley State got what it expected - and what it badly needed.
MVSU saw its struggling offense finally get on track against a hapless Texas College team in a 61-6 homecoming victory in front of a sun-splashed crowd of 4,987 at Rice-Totten Stadium in Itta Bena Saturday.
The Delta Devil offense had scored just 17 points in the team's first three games but found the going quite easy against the Steer defense, which came in allowing an average of 76 points a contest. Senior quarterback Paul Roberts carved up the Steers by completing 24-of-35 passes for 329 yards and five touchdowns with one interception in three quarters of play.
"We found some offensive continuity that we had been lacking, and that was good to see," Valley coach Willie Totten said. "Paul really played well and did a good job of distributing the ball."
MVSU, which came in last in the SWAC in total offense and scoring offense, finished with 549 total yards.
Totten knows things will get much tougher this week on the road against Alcorn, but he believes this win will be a confidence-booster for his guys.
"We can build off this. Hopefully, it will get us ready for Alcorn. That's a big game for us coming up," Totten said.
Texas College, a NAIA team from Tyler, Texas, falls to 0-5 and has been outscored 348-12 so far this season.
There were several statistics that jumped out for Valley, but the top one had to be that it didn't punt one time in the game. MVSU was also 7-of-8 on scoring chances inside the red zone.
Roberts threw touchdown passes to four different receivers, with Cameron Russ getting two.
Both of Russ' touchdown grabs came in the first half as Valley built a 33-6 lead by halftime.
Seven Delta Devils caught at least two passes, with Paul Cox leading the way with six catches for 76 yards. He had a 3-yard TD reception early in the third quarter to put Valley up 40-3.
Brandon Stargell had four catches for 76 yards and a touchdown.
Running back Chris Watkins of Greenwood had two catches for 50 yards and added 21 rushing yards on five carries.
Roberts, who was sacked twice, was the leading ground gainer with 32 yards on four carries.
The Valley defense held Texas College to just 155 total yards as it registered seven sacks and forced two turnovers.
The Steers finished with 18 rushing yards on 33 carries.
