Faulkner used a varied passing attack to overcome four turnovers and notch the first home win of the Shayne Wasden era Saturday in a 42-20 victory over Union College. 

"It's a great feeling. Since I've been here, we've gotten such great support from our student body and our fans. You don't want to let them down. It's all about the players and them being successfully ultimatey.," Wasden said of the win. "You're really just proud that your players played well and they won and they did that for the students and for the university." 

The Eagles never trailed in the contest, opening the scoring with a 38-yard touchdown strike from Mason Blocker (JR/Covington, La.) to Reagan Amos (SR/Woodstock, Ga.) with 10:38 left in the opening quarter. Faulkner punched it in on a 2-yard run by Justin Lewis (FR/Montgomery, Ala.) on the first play of the second quarter to drive the lead to 14-0. 

The Eagles appeared poised to run away with the game when Union forced a fumble midway through the second. Undaunted, the Eagles threatened again late in the opening half when Terrance Sims (SR/Cantonment, Fla.) returned a punt 39 yards to the Union 3. Two plays later, the Eagles coughed the ball up again. 

"I think you have to address it. That has been an issue for us every game. We've got to find a way to eliminate the turnovers," Wasden said. "It's hard to play a whole game and be turnover free. We turned it over five, four, and three times in three games respectively. We were fortunate enough today that our defense really bailed us out on some key turnovers. It's something we've really got to improve." 

Union made the most of its new life, going 94 yards in seven plays to cut the lead in half. The big play in the drive came on a 52-yard screen from Kendrick Furness to Izayah Riettie. That combination also capped the drive with a 20-yard touchdown strike with 13.1 left in the first half. 

Faulkner marched 65 yards on six plays to open the third quarter, scoring on a 2-yard Josh Gaines (JR/Birmingham, Ala.) touchdown run to move the lead to 21-7. 

After a sack by Keith Bryant (SR/Delray Beach, Fla.), Furness got his team back in the game on a third-and-desperate when he tucked out of a sack, stepped up and slung the ball down the field to Darian Patterson for an 81-yard touchdown play. 

Five plays later, Blocker hit Malik Kimbrough (SR/San Jacinto, Calif.), who skied over the top of a defender to haul in a 14-yard touchdown throw. 

Union fought right back as Furness found Bradley Elkins for a 33-yard play to help set up a 5-yard scoring pass to Patterson. Demarcus Glover (SR/Pensacola, Fla.) followed with a blocked extra point to keep the lead at 28-20.

Daylon Fox (JR/Southhaven, Miss.) picked off a pass to thwart the next Bulldog drive. One play later, Lewis sprinted in from 20 yard out. Gaines capped the scoring with a 1-yard touchdown run. 

Blocker finished 19 of 25 for 293 yards and two touchdowns while completing passes to nine different receivers. 

"We have some plays that are designed to go to certain players, but other than that on any given play, any player can get the ball," Wasden said. "It makes it tough on defenses to have to defend everybody. It's really by design." 

Amos caught seven passes for 11 yards and a score. Lewis paced the rushing attack with 103 yards and two touchdowns on 14 rushes. Faulkner recorded five sacks on the day including two by Glover. Garrett Hallmark (FR/Helena, Ala.) also intercepted a pass. 

Furness shined for Union, going 17 of 29 through the air for 305 yards and three touchdowns. Riettie caught 10 passes for 125 yards and a score while Patterson had four catches for 108 yards and two end zone trips. 

Faulkner (2-1) hosts Cincinnati Christian next Saturday at noon.