Jackson, Tenn. - (October 31, 2009) -The Golden Tigers, coming off an emotional come-from-behind victory against Albany State the week before, avoided a letdown Saturday when they played SIAC doormat Lane College in Jackson, Tenn.

The Golden Tigers, 7-2 overall and 7-1 in the SIAC, steamrolled the winless Dragons 40-6 as they had their highest point total of the season and continued their march toward a fourth consecutive SIAC championship.

"We tried to take every precaution that we could to guard against a letdown,'' Coach Willie Slater said. "We warned them about every possible scenario. They responded well. They did what they had to do. We're growing up a lot.''

Quarterback Joshua Harris had a breakout game in the first start of his career. Harris replaced redshirt freshman Jeremy Williams, who is recovering from a shoulder injury that he suffered against Albany State, and completed 14 of 21 passes for 191 yards and three touchdowns as nearly matched his season total for passing yards (197). Harris and Williams have split playing time most of the season, and the sophomore left-hander's performance in the last two games validates Slater's two-quarterback philosophy.

"I've always believed in that,'' Slater says. "I guess it started when I was playing. Two of us played. I've always tried to make sure we had two quarterbacks ready to play. If one went down I didn't want to lose because of that.''

Harris had touchdown passes of 20 yards to Wayne Williams, 26 yards to Markus Douglas and 22 yards to Mark Hughes.

Little-used freshman running back Xavier Bacon was the Golden Tigers' other offensive star. Bacon had only rushed nine times for 50 yards and didn't see action in three of the Golden Tigers' first eight games, gained 144 yards - the season high for a Golden Tiger runner - on 22 carries. He scored a pair of touchdowns on runs of one and 11 yards.

The Golden Tigers put the game away with a second-quarter outburst. They scored on their first three possessions of the period. After going ahead 7-0 in the first period on Harris's touchdown pass to Wayne Williams, Nykeem Barton scored on a six-yard run in the second period after Rodney Anthony recovered a fumble for the Golden Tigers at Lane's 40-yard line. Bacon scored on a one-yard run on the Golden Tigers' next possession. When they got the ball again, Harris and Douglas connected on a 26-yard touchdown pass.

"It was important that we got off to a good start,'' Slater says.

Sophomore wide receiver Michael Adebiyi fumbled at the Golden Tigers' 35 with 5:15 left in the fourth quarter, and the Dragons converted the turnover into a touchdown.

The Golden Tigers had another stellar defensive effort. They limited Lane to 119 total yards, the low for the season for an opponent, as they barely missed posting their first shutout of the year.

"I have confidence in the way we're playing defense,'' Slater says. "It helps knowing you got guys who will get out there and tackle. We did well until the end. We did some good things.''

The Golden Tigers lost the shutout when Lane returned a recovered fumble 35 yards for a touchdown with 5:15 remaining in the game.

The Golden Tigers, who have a 22-game home winning streak, wrap up the conference portion of their schedule Saturday when they host Stillman College for Homecoming. The Golden Tigers and Albany State have identical 7-1 conference records. With a victory against Stillman, the Golden Tigers will win the title outright due to head-to-head competition.  Tuskegee defeated Albany State 21-19 on Oct. 24th.

Stillman is 0-4 all-time against the Golden Tigers. However, Slater expects a difficult game.

"Offensively they have a good player in their running back (Quinn Porter),'' he says. "We'll have our hands full. They got better and better as the year went on. They have gotten better each week.'

Porter is the leading rusher in the SIAC with 1,005 yards. The Golden Tigers are No. 3 in rushing defense, allowing 118.9 yards a game. Only two backs have rushed for 100 or more yards against them, Ulysses Banks of Alabama A&M (107) and Winston Thompson of Clark Atlanta (116).