Virginia Union University wasted little time letting Johnson C. Smith University know how good the Panthers are in football this year, downing the Golden Bulls 43-7 on Saturday, September 25, in Charlotte, N.C.
 
"I'm proud of the entire program for going on the road to earn a great conference victory" said VUU Head Football Coach Dr. Alvin Parker.  "Multiple guys made plays and the staff put together an excellent game plan, this was definitely a total team win".
 
VUU scored their opening touchdown with 10:07 left in the first quarter when Jaiden Reavis took the ball in from 14 yards out to cap an 8 play, 65 yard drive.
 
Things only got worse for the Golden Bulls from there.
 
Union's James Jackson hauled in a 10-yard pass from Khalid Morris to give the Panthers a 13-0 lead with over six minutes left in the first quarter.
 
Less than three minutes later VUU's Desmond Smith grabbed a 55-yard pass from Morris to make the game 19-0 in favor of Virginia Union, still in the first quarter.
 
Morris would pass for five touchdowns when all was said and done, one short of the VUU school record of six, set by Carl Wright in 1991 and equaled by Lamar Little in 2007.  Morris connected on 20 of 31 passes for 390 yards through the air.
 
"Khalid had a big day, he found open guys and they were able to make big plays when he got them the ball," Parker said.
 
Virginia Union's Charles Hall was Morris' favorite receiver, catching six passes for 193 yards and two touchdowns.  Hall's average per catch was 32.2 yards.  His touchdown receptions went for 77 and 60 yards, respectively.
 
VUU's Armonii Burden and Mikal Dobbins both had five tackles to lead the Panthers on defense. 
 
"The defense performed well and did a great job controlling the line of scrimmage," Parker said.
 
Virginia Union is now 2-2 and 1-0 in CIAA play.  Johnson C. Smith falls to 0-3 overall and 0-1 in the CIAA.
 
VUU now returns home to face Shaw University at 1:00 p.m. on Saturday, October 2, at Hovey Stadium.  The game will be saluting the 2021 inductees of the Virginia Union University Athletics Hall of Fame.