McNair (52 of 82 for 514 Yards) Not Enough

Alcorn State quarterback Steve McNair, nursing a pulled hamstring, hobbled into the NCAA I-AA playoffs Friday and saw his Heisman Trophy hopes crippled by a 63-20 first-round loss to No. 1-ranked and defending national champion Youngstown State.

McNair still set I-AA records with 52 completions in 82 attempts. But 514 passing yards and three touchdowns weren’t near enough.

“Hopefully, I’m still in the hunt,” McNair said of his Heisman chances. “A lot of things have been held against me all year. I can’t worry about it. I have to go on and hope that everything works out for the best. I did all I could do today.”

Youngstown State forced seven turnovers as its defense scored or set up four touchdowns. The biggest were a 94-yard interception return by Leon Jones for a touchdown and a 95-yard fumble return by Randy Smith.

“They have a great defense. They’re very aggressive,” McNair said. “We just made too many mistakes. They put up the points they needed to put up.”

McNair broke the I-AA records of 47 completions by Jamie Martin of Weber State in 1991 and 77 attempts by Neil Lomax of Portland State in 1979.

Youngstown State (11-0-1) set school records with its 63 points and nine touchdowns. Next Saturday, the Penguins will play host to the winner of today’s Boston University-Eastern Kentucky game.