After grinding it out on the road, the Sul Ross State football team returned home on a mission to capture a victory.

On Saturday afternoon, quarterback T.J. DeShields threw seven touchdowns to help the Lobos come out on top over Austin College 55-14 at Jackson Field.

It came down to execution for the Lobos.

"I'm very happy for our guys and our coaches. They've worked their tails off all through camp to get this win," said Sul Ross interim head coach Barry Derickson.

The Lobos got on the board with 5:57 in the opening quarter when DeShields connected with Austin Ogunmakin for a three-yard touchdown. After a missed extra point attempt, the score was 6-0.

With 2:27 on the clock, DeShields helped out his own cause by barreling into the end zone on a one-yard keeper to extend the lead to 13-0.

The offense got into a rhythm from that point on.

DeShields hit a wide-open Vicente Luevano for a 63-yard touchdown pass to put Sul Ross up by 20 points in the second quarter.

The Kangaroos later erased the shutout with a one-yard touchdown run by Tyler James.

For the third time, DeShields found the end zone with a nine-yard touchdown pass to Luevano just before halftime to make the score 27-7.

Luevano caught another touchdown pass to keep the offense rolling with 9:52 in the third quarter, this time he caught a 59-yard pass to extend the Sul Ross lead to 27 points.

DeShields threw his fifth touchdown in the form of a 13-yard connection to Eddie Sinegal with just under three minutes to go in the third quarter.

With 13:17 in the final quarter, DeShields found Ozias Wright for a shovel pass that went 13 yards for a touchdown to put Sul Ross up by 41 points.

Luevano caught the seventh touchdown from 28 yards out with 5:11 left in the contest.

Being at home and coming out with the victory serves as a huge boost of confidence for the Lobos.

"We came together as a team. We knew we were going to have a chance to put up some points in this game. I think we just came out with the right mindset," DeShields added.

>> BREAKING THE RECORD: DeShields broke the single game touchdown record set by A.J. Springer in 2012 and Charlie LaFoon in 1949.

DeShields' 550 yards passing surpass the school record of 507 set by Monte Morales in 2010. DeShields was also one touchdown shy of tying the conference record for toucdowns in a game. Luevano tied the school record with his four touchdown receptions. The previous mark was set by Lee Carothers in 2012.

Luevano was 48 yards shy of tying the school record for receiving yards in a game. He finished with 237 and the record is 285, which was set in 2015 by Byron Jones. 

"Offensive line gave me plenty of time to throw it, which is great. I love all those guys up front," DeShields said. "They work their tails off every day in practice.

"I was just playing the game trying to give them everything I had, putting everything out there for those guys. Those are my guys. That's family and I love every single one of them."

>> BIG TIME: This was the first time the Lobos have defeated an opponent by 35 or more points since Oct. 21, 2017, when they won a 37-point decision over Howard Payne.

"Austin College — don't knock them. They're going to be rolling in the next four or five games running that triple option," Derickson said about the win over Austin College. "Our defense did their jobs. We stressed it all week."

>> UP NEXT: Sul Ross travels to Seguin for a 6 p.m. kickoff on Saturday, Sept. 24.

"It's going to be another short turnaround. We still got to prepare for another good team coming up," Derickson added. "This week was very stressful just because it was all about execution and trying to stop on the defensive side."

DeShields said: "I think it's just a confidence builder. Going into next week we just got to stay focused and continue to do what we're supposed to do."

>> RECORDS: Sul Ross 1-2 (0-1); Austin College 0-3 (0-1)