Texas Southern Beats Grambling State 23-20 in Overtime as Athean Renfro Jr. Runs for 232 Yards

Athean Renfro Jr. needed two carries to flip a game Grambling State had controlled for three quarters. Cam'Ron McCoy needed one snap in overtime to finish it.

Renfro broke touchdown runs of 75 and 86 yards in the first four minutes of the fourth quarter, Grambling State answered to force overtime, and McCoy ran in from 6 yards out on the third play of the extra period to give the Texas Southern Tigers a 23-20 win over the Grambling State Tigers on Halloween night in Houston. Renfro finished with 232 rushing yards on 21 carries, and Texas Southern won its second straight SWAC game.

Two Teams Looking for Footing

Grambling State arrived at 4-3 overall and 2-2 in the SWAC after a bye, still stinging from a 61-31 loss at Alabama A&M in which the Tigers led by two touchdowns and then gave up 44 unanswered points. That followed a wild stretch in which Mickey Joseph's team beat Alcorn State 63-59 at homecoming and knocked off No. 22 Jackson State 45-38.

Texas Southern was 2-5 and 1-3 under third-year head coach Cris Dishman but riding its best feeling of the season. A week earlier, Miguel Arana III had beaten Southern with a 46-yard field goal at the buzzer, making the kick twice after being iced. The formula was simple: run the ball, protect it and trust the kicker. For three quarters on Saturday, Texas Southern could not do the second part.

A First Half Built on Near Misses

Texas Southern opened with a 14-play, 73-yard march that burned more than eight minutes, only for Renfro to fumble at the Grambling 7, where Christen Williams recovered. The next possession went 13 plays and ended with a 47-yard Arana field goal early in the second quarter.

Grambling answered when Ashton Frye found Nae'Saan Dickerson for 40 yards and kept the drive alive with a fourth-and-1 run, and Theodore Caballero tied it with a 29-yard field goal at 8:36 of the second quarter. Field position took over from there. Brian Mays boomed a 53-yard punt that pinned Grambling at its own 5, and Grambling, with Jacobe Robinson now taking snaps, answered with an 11-play drive that flipped the field before Alexander Davis punted for a touchback. Texas Southern got one more look before the break, with McCoy hitting Fatu Mukuba for 23 yards and Kordell Rodgers for 14, but on third-and-16 Lonell Cunningham intercepted McCoy at the Grambling 3 and returned it 27 yards. It was 3-3 at halftime, and Demone Green already had two sacks.

Grambling took the second-half kickoff and went 75 yards in 10 plays, helped by a Texas Southern offside and a face mask penalty, and Frye scored on a 6-yard run for a 10-3 lead at 9:52 of the third quarter. Late in the quarter, Grambling ground out an 11-play drive from its own 2 to midfield that ate 6:44 before a sack forced a punt.

Renfro Breaks It Open

Grambling led 10-3 when Davis pinned Texas Southern at its own 21 early in the fourth quarter. After a 4-yard McCoy keeper, Renfro took a handoff to the right side, found a crease and was gone, 75 yards for a touchdown at 13:53. Arana tied it at 10.

Grambling's next possession stalled near midfield, and Davis punted to the Texas Southern 14. On the very next snap, Renfro went straight up the middle and outran everybody for 86 yards and a 17-10 lead at 11:10. A running back who had 47 yards on 14 carries through three quarters had piled up 161 more on two.

Grambling Answers

Davis then dropped a 46-yard punt at the Texas Southern 10, and the Grambling defense got the break it needed. Two snaps after a 26-yard Texas Southern run, Jacob Washington was hit behind the line and lost the ball, and Williams recovered at the Texas Southern 40 with 7:39 to play.

Tony Phillips Jr. ran for 6 yards and then 25 more up the middle to the 9. On third-and-goal from the 6, after a Texas Southern timeout, Frye found Lantavious Murphy over the middle for a touchdown with 4:50 left, and Caballero's kick tied it at 17.

Texas Southern's last regulation drive survived a holding call and a false start when McCoy hit Rodgers for 35 yards on second-and-18, but it stalled at the Grambling 47. Mays punted to the Grambling 14 with 30 seconds left, and Grambling took a knee.

Overtime

Grambling got the ball first in overtime. A false start pushed it back to the 31, Frye hit Jordan Bride for 17 yards to the 14, and the next three snaps netted nothing. Caballero, perfect on the night, made a 31-yard field goal for a 20-17 lead.

Texas Southern needed a field goal to extend the game and did not settle for one. Renfro went up the middle for 20 yards to the 5 on the first snap. After Renfro was stopped for a 1-yard loss, McCoy kept it around the right side for the 6-yard touchdown that ended it.

Renfro's Night and Grambling's Defense

Renfro's 232 yards came on 21 carries, and 161 came on two plays. On Renfro's other 19 carries, Grambling did most of what it wanted against the Texas Southern ground game, which makes the two breakdowns all the more painful. McCoy completed 6 of 15 passes for 115 yards with an interception and ran for 20 yards and the winning score. Rodgers caught two passes for 49 yards, and Donovan Jones led the defense with 10 tackles.

For Grambling, Green was a problem all night with eight tackles, two sacks and three tackles for loss. Cunningham also had eight tackles to go with the interception, and Williams recovered both Texas Southern fumbles. Frye completed 9 of 21 passes for 98 yards and a touchdown and ran for 56 yards and a score. Phillips led the team with 61 rushing yards on seven carries, and Dickerson caught four passes for 61 yards.

The Turning Point

Grambling's defense forced three turnovers and held Renfro to 47 yards through three quarters, and it still lost. The game turned on the 75-yard run at 13:53. Until then, Texas Southern had not reached the end zone and had needed 13 plays to get its only points. One run erased a 10-3 lead built over 45 minutes, and less than three minutes later the 86-yard run turned a tie into a chase. Grambling found a way back, but it spent the rest of the night reacting to a running back it had otherwise contained.

The Numbers That Matter

Texas Southern outgained Grambling 431 to 286 and ran for 316 yards at 7.9 per carry, but it turned the ball over three times and was flagged nine times for 65 yards. Grambling held the ball for 32:37, converted 8 of 18 third downs and did not commit a turnover. On most nights, a plus-three turnover margin wins a game. Renfro's two long runs and the overtime drive were the difference.

What It Means

Texas Southern moves to 3-5 and 2-3 in the SWAC with back-to-back league wins, both decided on the final play. Dishman's team hosts Alabama State on Nov. 7 before road trips to Alabama A&M and Arkansas-Pine Bluff.

Grambling falls to 4-4 and 2-3 and has lost two straight. Joseph's team hosts Arkansas-Pine Bluff on Nov. 7, then visits Bethune-Cookman on Nov. 14 before the Bayou Classic on Nov. 28.

The Last Word

Grambling did almost everything right for three quarters. It forced three turnovers, kept the Texas Southern passing game quiet and held the ball for more than half the night. It just could not catch Renfro twice, and in a game this close, twice was enough.

Sources: ESPN box score (opens in a new tab), Grambling State Athletics, Texas Southern Athletics. More college football coverage on Undrafted.

Photos: Grambling State Athletics.