Lincoln knew Saturday's game against Texas College was a must-win.
The Blue Tigers achieved that goal, and they did so in decisive fashion.
Morris Henderson ran for four touchdowns and Owen Jordan threw for three as Lincoln cruised to a 62-6 Homecoming win against the Steelers in front of 4,136 fans at Dwight T. Reid Stadium in Jefferson City.
"It was a must-win for us," Henderson said. "We came in with two close losses in back-to-back games. Homecoming on top of that... it was a must-win and it's great to get the W."
Henderson ran for 222 yards on 14 carries, while Jordan was 17-of-33 for 261 yards for the Blue Tigers, who snapped a three-game losing streak and picked up their first Homecoming victory since 2012.
"The crowd that was out here, that made it even better for us," Lincoln defensive end Davon Walls said. "We needed that support. The whole Homecoming experience - that's just what we needed. We needed an uplift as a team. We saw all these people come out and we had to give them a show."
Walls had six tackles - 3 1/2 for a loss - and added a sack for a Lincoln defense that forced four interceptions while limiting Texas College (0-8) to 302 total yards.
Now, the Blue Tigers are hoping to build from Saturday's success.
"This is definitely a game we can build off of," Walls said. "Hopefully our offense will build off of it, because they can be unstoppable if they just put their minds to it. Defensively, we're going to continue to build off our games."
Despite its struggles early in the season, Lincoln (2-5) is still set on accomplishing its No. 1 goal.
"It's going to be a long stretch, but our goal is still to have a winning season," Lincoln head coach Mike Jones said. "That means we've got to play well the rest of the way."
Lincoln's next test won't be an easy one. The Blue Tigers travel to Indianapolis, which is 6-1 overall and 4-0 in the Great Lakes Valley Conference. The Greyhounds lead the league in scoring offense (34 points per game) and scoring defense (14.8).
While Lincoln compiled 600 yards of total offense against Texas College, the Blue Tigers don't plan on getting complacent.
"This is definitely a game we can build upon," Jordan said. "We've got the 24-hour rule - enjoy it for 24 hours and then it's on to Indianapolis."
Lincoln set the tempo early against the Steelers when Henderson ran for a 66-yard score on the second play of the game. The senior running back followed with a 42-yard touchdown run on the first play of Lincoln's next drive to give the Blue Tigers a 14-0 advantage with 9:37 to play in the first quarter.
That was just the beginning.
"Offensively, it started up front," Jordan said. "They did a great job. Morris got us going with the running and that set us up with the pass."
Jordan connected with Bryson Winfrey with a 19-yard touchdown pass to cap off a 3-play, 66-yard drive and Kerry Roby returned an interception 40 yards for a score to give Lincoln a 28-0 lead with 2:54 left in the second quarter.
Henderson found the end zone for the third time with a 5-yard run to put the Blue Tigers up by 35 with 32 seconds left before the half.
"It's a credit to the team," Henderson said. "Without them, I can't do anything. They did a good job blocking down field and made my job a lot easier today."
Texas College got on the board in the third quarter when Milton Harper connected with Ja'Marius Allen for a 9-yard touchdown pass that capped off 75-yard drive with 11:36 left in the period.
That's all the Steelers would get.
Henderson countered with a 21-yard touchdown run and Jordan followed with back-to-back touchdown passes to Khiry Draine and Vanzell Richardson to give Lincoln a 55-6 edge with 8:28 to play in the fourth quarter.
"It was a bounce-back game for (Jordan)," Jones said. "I thought last week he struggled a little bit. He didn't come in this week and say, "Coach, why did you bench me?' He said, "What can I do to get better?'
"He came in with the right mind set. When you do that, you're going to become a better player, and that's what he has done."
Freshman quarterback Dennis Vinson capped off the scoring for the Blue Tigers with a 22-yard touchdown pass to Christopher Willis with 1:28 to play.
Harper was 16-of-41 for 211 yards and threw four interceptions. He also ran for 38 yards on 13 carries to lead the ground attack for Texas College.
"I thought we needed to do a better job of keeping the quarterback in the pocket," Jones said. "He was mobile, did a good job of scrambling. We only allowed six points. Now granted, they did move the ball on us a little bit, but the bottom line is keeping them out of the end zone, and that's what we did."
And more importantly, Lincoln came out with a victory in front of a hometown crowd.
"We haven't had the season we've wanted, so far," Jordan said. "We knew we were a better team than what the record reflects. Just getting that win and seeing (the score) on the board really helped with the confidence."