BATON ROUGE, LA - Brad Nelson threw four touchdown passes - the last a 10-yard strike to Greg Peitz with just under five minutes to play - as South Dakota State University rallied from a 21-7 deficit to defeat Southern University 31-24.

Southern, the 2003 black colleges national champion, scored on its first three possessions, taking a two-touchdown lead on a 13-yard pass from Thomas Ricks to James Vernon with 13:52 left in the second quarter.

Then the Jacks rallied. Solomon Johnson scored on a 26-yard pass from Nelson with 4:20 to play in the second quarter, making it 21-14 at halftime.

Then SDSU took the third quarter kickoff and marched 90 yards in 13 plays, ending the drive with a 10-yard TD strike to Josh Davis, and the game was tied.

Southern went back on top 24-21 on a 21-yard field goal by Breck Ackley, but a 36-yard interception return by Chris Coauette set SDSU up for a 35-yard field goal by Parker Douglass.

SDSU's winning drive covered 83 yards on 13 plays.

Southern then marched into SDSU territory but a three incomplete passes set up a fourth and ten play, and the Jacks took over on downs at their own 24 with 3:03 to play. Key runs by Anthony Watson (11 yards) and Cory Koenig (nine yards) gave SDSU first downs as the Jacks killed the clock.

Southern gained 151 yards total offense in the first quarter but SDSU finished with a 387-324 advantage in total yards.

Nelson completed 19-of-34 passes for 223 yards with Davis catching 12 for 138, including two touchdowns. Watson rushed 27 times for 110 yards.

Hank McCall led the SDSU defense with 10 tackles while Coauette had eight, six of them solos. Mike Blackbourn also had eight tackles.

SDSU, now 3-1, returns to Great West Football Conference action next Saturday at Cal Poly. Southern is now 2-2.