SPARTANBURG, S.C. – A balanced offensive attack enabled the Wofford College football team to come away with a 31-14 win over Norfolk State on Saturday afternoon at Gibbs Stadium. With the game tied at 14 early in the third quarter, the defense did not allow a first down on the Spartans' last four drives while the offense scored 17 unanswered points to secure the win.
 
Wofford opens the season at 1-5, while Norfolk State is 1-6 overall. The Terriers were led by Ihson Jackson-Anderson with 113 rushing yards and a touchdown, while Gerald Modest Jr. added 18 rushing yards and a touchdown. J.T. Fayard was 23-of-34 passing with two touchdowns. The Spartans were led by Ott Kuhns with 16-of-29 passing with two touchdowns and Kam'Ryn Thomas with eight catches for 112 yards.
 
"It's a gratifying win," said coach Shawn Watson. "We had opportunities to really play the kind of football that we envision ourselves playing, on both sides of the ball. It was a pretty complete game. We had some errors in there, such as some dropped passes that will get corrected. I can't be any happier with the performance today. I thought the running backs ran really hard. Those two kids are really good football players. The offensive line really came through. They're getting better and better as we move forward. And you know, what really lit us up today was J.T. Fayard. He did a phenomenal job of managing the offense and made some big plays. The defense did a great job and they had a really good plan. We got guys back and it just makes all the difference in the world to have our people back on the defensive side of the ball."
 
The Spartans won the toss and elected to receive. They picked up two first downs and then converted a pair of fourth-and-ones to move into the red zone. A 14-yard touchdown pass ended the drive as the Spartans took a 7-0 lead with 9:15 on the clock. On the first possession by Wofford, Ihson Jackson-Anderson had a 44-yard run and then a 22-yard touchdown pass from J.T. Fayard to Isaiah Scott tied the game at 7-7 at the 7:20 mark of the first quarter. The Spartans went three-and-out and punted, and the Terriers had one first down before punting. Norfolk State had one first down before a pass was intercepted by Caleb Oliver. Wofford faced a fourth-and-five from just across midfield and the pass to the end zone was incomplete. With the ball back, the Spartans had two first downs before a 35-yard field goal attempt was wide right.
 
Wofford had two first downs before a fumble was recovered by the Spartans. They went three-and-out and punted. With the ball back, the Terriers had two big pass plays to Isaiah Scott and C.J. Adams to move inside the five-yard line. Ihson Jackson-Anderson scored from three yards out to give Wofford a 14-7 lead at 5:35 in the second quarter. After the Spartans went three-and-out and punted, Wofford had one first down and punted with ninety seconds left in the half. Norfolk State went three-and-out and Wofford ran three plays before the half ended.
 
To begin the second half, Wofford had a pass intercepted on third down. The Spartans converted a fourth-and-one and then hit a 33-yard touchdown pass to tie the game at 14-14 with 11:48 on the clock. The Terriers had two rushing first downs but had to punt. Norfolk Stats went three-and-out and punted after a sack by Marion Smokes Jr. Wofford then had a first down catch by Colby Alexander with a 15-yard roughing the passer penalty. Another first down catch by Alexander was followed by a 23-yard touchdown catch by C.J. Adams with 2:42 on the clock in the third quarter. Wofford's defense forced a three-and-out and took over at the 37-yard line. The Terriers put together a 13-play scoring drive – their longest of the season – and added a 41-yard field goal by Sam Spence to take a 24-14 lead with 9:07 left in the game.
 
After the Spartans went three-and-out and punted, Wofford kept the ball on the ground and had four first downs by Ihson Jackson-Anderson. Gerald Modest Jr. ended the drive with a two-yard touchdown run as the Terriers extended the lead to 31-14 with 1:55 remaining. The Spartans faced fourth-and-ten and the pass was short of the line to gain, giving Wofford the ball back with 1:22 on the clock. After a pair of kneel downs, the Terriers had their first win of the season.
 
Wofford had a season-high of 435 total yards on offense, with 248 of those passing yards. Norfolk State had 242 total yards, with 169 of those passing yards. Wofford had 23 first downs to 12 for the Spartans. Wofford was a season-best 10-of-17 on third down and 0-of-1 on fourth down. Norfolk State was 1-of-13 on third down and 2-of-3 on fourth down. Norfolk State was called for six penalties, while Wofford was called for eight. Wofford had a 36:51 to 23:09 time of possession advantage, the largest of the season.  
 
Wofford vs. Norfolk State Post-Game Notes
This was the first meeting between the two teams.
 
The game was the 80^th Homecoming game at Wofford. The Terriers are 50-28-2 all-time in Homecoming games.
 
The interception by Caleb Oliver in the first quarter was the first of his career.
 
The 187 rushing yards were the most in a game this season. The rushing touchdown in the second quarter was the first by the team this season.
 
Ihson Jackson-Anderson had 17 carries for 113 yards, the first 100-yard rusher since Ryan Ingram had 103 against The Citadel (11/16/24).
   
The defense was led by Darius Malcom, Jr. for the second-straight game with eight tackles. Wyatt Ward added seven tackles. Marion Smokes Jr. had the lone sack for the Terriers.  
 
Game captains were Quincy Hughes, Seth Foster, Brandon Maina, and Maximus Pulley.
 
Attendance at Gibbs Stadium was 4,844.   
 
Wofford will remain at home for the third-straight Saturday when the Terriers host Furman on October 18 at noon at Gibbs Stadium.