HOUSTON, Tex. - Bethune-Cookman football wraps up its final road contest of the 2024 season as the Wildcats head to Houston to take on the Tigers of Texas Southern Saturday, Nov. 16 at 3 p.m. EST from Shell Energy Stadium.

The game will be broadcast live on the SWAC Digital Network. Fans can catch the home radio call free on 1380 WELE Daytona Beach or at YouTube.com/CatEyeNetwork. Fans can also catch a brand-new episode of Hail Wildcats Radio premiering live one hour before kickoff. 



Saturday, Nov. 16
Opponent: Texas Southern (3-4, 2-4 SWAC)
Time: 3:00 p.m. EST
Location: Houston, Tex. | Shell Energy Stadium 
Live Stats: https://tsusports.com/sidearmstats/football/summary
Watch: https://www.youtube.com/@swacsports1920
Listen: https://wele1380thecat.com/
Tickets: https://seatgeek.com/texas-southern-tigers-football-tickets/ncaa-football/2024-11-16-3-30-am/6445627



The Wildcats gave SWAC west-leading Southern all it could handle on the road, but came up just short as the Jaguars outlasted B-CU, 25-23 in five overtimes, Saturday afternoon at A.W. Mumford Stadium. 

Southern won the toss, electing to defer. The Wildcats, with Cam'Ron Ransom returning to the starting role at QB after the injury to Luke Sprague in the home finale, immediately drove down the field on nine plays, marching down to the Southern 11 yard-line. Cade Hechter lined up for a 29-yard field goal attempt, but it clanged off the left upright to keep things scoreless. 

The Jaguars were not so successful on their opening drive, advancing only 16 yards before punting the ball away to the B-CU 30. 

Again the B-CU offense had success moving the ball as the Cats were able to again set up a Hechter field goal attempt in the dying seconds of the first quarter - this time a 45-yarder. Hechter's second attempt of the game ran true, and B-CU headed into the second quarter with a 3-0 advantage.

After defensive end Dallaz Corbitt's sack snuffed out another Southern possession, B-CU again charged down the field on a 16-play, 91-yard drive that powered the Cats all the way down to the Southern one-yard line. On fourth down, the Cats attempted a QB sneak to power Ransom across the plane, but the Jaguar defense stood tall, stuffing the Cats and forcing the turnover on downs. 

Southern finally crossed midfield on its ensuing drive, but another huge Corbitt sack, this time for a 14-yard loss, forced yet another Southern punt to send the game into the half with B-CU leading, 3-0. 

To open the second half of play, neither team crossed midfield until the four-minute mark, when B-CU barely crossed over to the Southern 48 before a punt gave the Jaguars the ball with 3:37 remaining.

A 31-yard Kobe Dillon rush gave the Jaguars some life on offense, as they found themselves all the way down at the B-CU one-yard line. On the final play of the third quarter, Kendric Rhymes was stuffed at the goal line by Corbitt and Ebenezer Dibula to set up a fourth-and-one at the goal line for Southern. Another attempt at a rush up the middle by Rhymes to open the fourth was unsuccessful, as Raymond Woodie III and Johnny Harris III returned Southern's favor with a goal-line stand to turn the ball over on downs for B-CU.

One drive later, Southern finally found offensive success as they took the lead with an 18-yard touchdown pass from Jalen Woods to Chandler Whitfield to move the Jaguars in front, 7-3. 

B-CU did not go quietly, as Ransom engineered a scoring drive of his own, finding Jostein Clarke for a 12-yard strike to move B-CU ahead again, 10-7.

The back-and-forth continued as Southern ate another three minutes off the clock with a drive that culminated in a 27-yard field goal to knot things at 10-all. 

On its next drive, Southern made what looked to be a critical mistake, as Andrew Volmar picked off Woods just past midfield to set the Cats up for a chance to win the game on a field goal in regulation with just under a minute to play. Unfortunately for B-CU, a 13-yard Southern sack forced a Wildcat punt, sending the two teams into overtime at 10-10. 

A thrilling overtime saw Southern start with the ball, scoring on 2nd-and-6 as CJ Russell gave the Jaguars the 17-10 lead. 

Just one play later, Dennis Palmer locked things up again at 17-17 with a 25-yard touchdown run. 

Southern answered again on just one play as Rhymes did his best Palmer impression with a 25-yard rushing score of his own. The Jaguars mandatory 2-point conversion attempt was unsuccessful. 

The Wildcats were not finished yet, as a Jaguar pass interference penalty and a 13-yard touchdown reception by tight end Thomas Nance gave B-CU a chance to win the ballgame with the two-point conversion. A broken play saw Ransom attempt to scramble for the score, but the game continued at 23-23.

Each side failed on its first two 2-point conversion attempts before finally Dillion punched through the endzone for Southern to put the Jags in front , 25-23. Ransom attempted to answer with a rush of his own, but B-CU's luck ran out as Southern held firm for the win. 



Texas Southern is 3-6 overall on the season, and 2-4 in SWAC play. After a promising start saw the Tigers open the season with a 27-9 conference win over Prairie View A&M, the Tigers dropped three straight and four of six, including conference losses to Jackson State, Florida A&M, and Alcorn State. 

Texas Southern ranks in the bottom half of the SWAC on both sides of the ball - scoring an average of 20.6 points per game while allowing 31.6. They produce the fewest yards per game offensively in the conference at just 245. The Tigers rush for an average of 139 yards per game, led by junior running back Quinn Quintell, who has rushed for an average of 5.3 yards per carry with four touchdowns. The Tigers passing game has struggled, putting up just over 100 yards per game in the air with seven touchdowns to five interceptions behind the quarterback tandem of Jace Wilson and Jordon Davis.

Defensively, Texas Southern has managed 14 sacks, seven picks, and 10 forced fumbles in what has been a middle-of-the-pack unit in the SWAC. Senior linebacker Javius Williams has been one of the top defensive players in the conference, with 68 total tackles, 8.5 tackles for loss, a sack, three pass break-ups, a hurry, and three forced fumbles. Freshman corner MJ Hinson Jr. is just one off the SWAC lead with three picks on the year. 



DENNIS THE MENACE
With two games remaining, true freshman running back Dennis Palmer 112 yards away from surpassing 2023's leading rusher Jimmie Robinson III's yardage numbers of 582 on the year - in two fewer games played (Palmer will have played in 9 games this season to Robinson's 11).

WHAM, BAM, THANK YOU CAM

With two games remaining, QB Cam'Ron Ransom has accounted for 14 total touchdowns - 8 passing and 5 rushing. That is the most total touchdown by a Wildcat since QB Jalon Jones passed for 14 and rushed for 5 in 2022.

Cam heads into the home stretch of the season having completed 131 of 207 pass attempts. Should his 63.3% completion percentage hold or improve, he will finish the season with the best completion percentage by a B-CU QB with over 100 pass attempts since Quentin Williams finished the 2015 season at 67.7%.

LETS GET FREDERIQUE-Y
B-CU punter Anthony Frederique is on the precipice of program history with two games remaining on the season. On 56 punts, he has averaged 43.30 yards per punt. That number would place him even with former B-CU Athletic Director, Lynn Thompson at second-place in program history in punting average in a season. Thompson reached that number in both 1976 and 1978. Frederique would be less than a yard short of the program record in average punt yards on a season of 44.1, set by Clewis Wright all the way back in 1965. Frederique's previous season-best was 41.15, set last season.



Saturday marks the tenth meeting all-time between Texas Southern and B-CU. The Wildcats hold a 5-4 advantage in the series, but are just 1-3 on the road. 


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