Arkansas-Pine Bluff Routs Bethune-Cookman 63-21 on Homecoming With Two Pick-Sixes

The betting line called this a coin flip. By the time the homecoming crowd in Pine Bluff had settled into its seats, Arkansas-Pine Bluff led by three touchdowns, and the game was effectively over before the first quarter was two minutes old.

The Arkansas-Pine Bluff Golden Lions scored on their first offensive snap, returned two interceptions for touchdowns and built a 49-0 halftime lead on the way to a 63-21 Southwestern Athletic Conference win over Bethune-Cookman in Pine Bluff on Saturday. UAPB ran for 333 yards at 9.8 yards per carry, and the defense intercepted five passes from four different Wildcats.

UAPB improved to 5-3 overall and 3-2 in the SWAC. Bethune-Cookman, which came in tied for first place in the East Division, fell to 5-4 and 3-2.

Three touchdowns in 112 seconds

Nobody in the building needed long to figure out how this afternoon would go. On the first play from scrimmage, Jaylen Jennings broke through the line and ran 87 yards for a touchdown with 14:45 left in the opening quarter. Trey Glymph added the extra point, and UAPB led 7-0 fifteen seconds into the game.

The Golden Lions got the ball right back on a short field, and Jennings finished a two-play, 22-yard drive from a yard out with 13:50 left. Then the defense joined in. On Bethune-Cookman's next possession, Camare Jackson intercepted a Joel Morris pass and returned it 37 yards for a touchdown at the 13:08 mark.

That was 21 points in 112 seconds of game clock. Bethune-Cookman had beaten No. 22 Jackson State 24-21 a week earlier, a late win that pulled the Wildcats into a share of first place, but nothing from that game carried over to Pine Bluff.

UAPB tacked on one more before the quarter ended. Jack Schierholz found Demetric Whitlock for a 7-yard touchdown with 4:40 left, finishing a three-play, 10-yard drive, and it was 28-0 after one.

The drive that summed it up

Bethune-Cookman's best chance to steady itself came early in the second quarter, and the way it ended told the whole story of the day.

The Wildcats put together their longest drive of the half, 13 plays and 49 yards that took 7:04 off the clock. When the drive stalled, coach Raymond Woodie's team tried a pass from punter Isaac Gallagher-Cheetham. Du'Wayne Paulhill Jr. intercepted the pass and went 79 yards the other way for a touchdown with 11:27 left in the half. A drive that could have cut the deficit to three scores instead made it 35-0.

UAPB kept pressing. Jalen Williams scored on a 14-yard run with 3:58 left in the half to cap a four-play, 71-yard drive. With 1:39 to go, Schierholz hit Whitlock again, this time for 35 yards, and the Golden Lions went to the locker room up 49-0.

Forty-nine points in a half is a lot against anyone. Against a team that had won three of its first four league games, it was a statement.

Whitlock completes the hat trick

The third quarter began the same way the first two had. UAPB went 46 yards in three plays, and Schierholz threw a 2-yard touchdown pass to Whitlock with 13:05 left in the period. That gave Whitlock three touchdown catches on the day and pushed the lead to 56-0.

From there, UAPB began rotating in other quarterbacks, and Bethune-Cookman finally got on the board. Cordan Patterson led a seven-play, 61-yard drive and found Myles Morales for a 16-yard touchdown with 1:10 left in the third quarter. Aiden Lanier's kick made it 56-7.

The Wildcats kept fighting in the fourth. Deanwar Johnson capped a nine-play, 61-yard drive with a 2-yard run with 10:25 left, and Patterson ran one in from 9 yards out with 6:43 to go, finishing a five-play, 24-yard drive. Chris Hicks Jr. closed the scoring with a 1-yard run with 2:39 left, finishing a six-play, 75-yard march that took 4:04 off the clock.

The stars

Jennings needed only five carries to make the biggest impact on the ground. The UAPB running back finished with 103 yards and two touchdowns, with the 87-yarder on the first snap doing most of the work. Williams added 80 yards and a score on five carries, and Hicks ran six times for 66 yards and a touchdown, including a long of 50. Za'Marion Webber chipped in 34 yards.

That depth is what made the UAPB rushing attack so hard to handle. Six different Golden Lions had a run of 15 yards or longer, and the team averaged 9.8 yards per carry.

Schierholz did not have to do much through the air, but the passes that mattered landed. The UAPB quarterback went 9 of 18 for 118 yards and three touchdowns without an interception. Whitlock caught four passes for 48 yards, and all three of the touchdowns went to Whitlock. D'Avery Robinson led UAPB with 65 receiving yards on three catches.

The defense was the other headline. Paulhill and Jackson each scored, Arsenio Bolds Jr. returned an interception 11 yards, and Josh Narcisse and JaiTeriyas Robinson added picks of their own. Tylan Cole recorded two sacks, and linebacker Danarius Hilliard led the Golden Lions with seven tackles.

For Bethune-Cookman, Patterson was the bright spot. Patterson completed 7 of 13 passes for 108 yards and a touchdown, and also ran for a score. Rashon Brown ran 19 times for 87 yards, and Josh Evans caught three passes for 52 yards. Morales had three catches for 50 yards and the Wildcats' first touchdown, and Rickie Shaw II, the hero of the Jackson State win, added three catches for 37 yards. Linebacker Stephen Sparrow made seven tackles, and Myron Shafer III intercepted a pass from UAPB backup Champion Edwards.

The numbers that matter

The box score has a couple of numbers that look strange next to a 42-point margin. Bethune-Cookman ran more plays, won the first-down battle 23 to 18 and held the ball for 37:18 to UAPB's 22:42.

None of it mattered, because of two other numbers. Turnovers: Bethune-Cookman 5, UAPB 1. Yards per rush: UAPB 9.8, Bethune-Cookman 3.1.

UAPB outgained the Wildcats 451 to 346 despite running far fewer plays. The Golden Lions scored 14 points directly off interception returns and turned a short field into another early touchdown. Bethune-Cookman passers combined to go 13 of 31 for 180 yards with one touchdown and five interceptions. The Wildcats converted 7 of 18 third downs and 1 of 4 fourth downs. Penalties were not a factor, with Bethune-Cookman flagged four times for 40 yards and UAPB six times for 40. The full numbers are in the box score (opens in a new tab).

What it means

For UAPB, this was the most complete performance of the season and a perfect homecoming. The Golden Lions came in ranked No. 10 in the BOXTOROW HBCU FCS Coaches Poll after a 31-28 homecoming win at Florida A&M a week earlier, and they backed that ranking up against a team that had been sharing first place in the other division. At 3-2 in league play, UAPB stays in the West Division conversation, and a running game that can produce 333 yards on 34 carries gives the Golden Lions a chance against anyone left on the schedule.

For Bethune-Cookman, the loss is a hard reset after the high of the Jackson State win. The Wildcats are still 3-2 in the SWAC, but five turnovers and a 49-0 halftime hole will leave a lot of film to study. Things do not get easier. Bethune-Cookman travels to Southern on Nov. 7, and the Jaguars are coming off a 42-14 rout of Florida A&M built on 311 rushing yards.

The last word

Bethune-Cookman controlled the ball for more than 37 minutes and still lost by six touchdowns. That is what five interceptions, two of them returned for scores, and an 87-yard run on the first snap will do.

UAPB did not need to dominate the clock. It just needed to make the big plays, and it made them from the first snap to the last.

Sources: ESPN box score and play-by-play, UAPB Athletics. More college football coverage on Undrafted.

Photos: UAPB Athletics.