Mississippi Valley State pulled off one of the most interesting feats in college football in Week 5, coming back from 24-7 down at halftime against the SWAC champion Prairie View A&M Panthers. Mississippi Valley ultimately scored 28 points in the second half to ultimately emerge victorious. Their accomplishment impressed Delta Devils head coach Terrell Buckley. And proved “they are him.”
After falling behind 24-0 to defending SWAC champion Prairie View A&M, Delta Devils coach Terrell Buckley challenged his team to prove something.
"Show me you are him." pic.twitter.com/QYkvo5uvMf
— HBCU Sports (@HBCUSports) October 5, 2026
Buckley spoke about it during Monday's SWAC coaches' call. He specifically spoke about his message to the players both before the game and during halftime, as they stared down a significant disadvantage.
Article Continues Below“The theme that we had for this week, this past week, was: ‘Are you him?' You have a lot of guys walking around like they are that person, and I wanted them to show it, show me. Down 24-0, that's all I kept saying: ‘Show me, are you him?' We came in at halftime, kind of had the same conversation, and they went out and showed me, yes, they are ‘him'.”
Mississippi Valley State has had a rough start to the season, with its only win coming against Division II opponent Lincoln University of Pennsylvania. Against Prairie View A&M, the Delta Devils trailed 24-7 at halftime, then outscored the Panthers 21-3 after the break. Josh Brown connected with Caleb Brownlow on a 35-yard touchdown to tie it 27-27, and Luka Sari's PAT put Mississippi Valley State ahead 28-27.
Prairie View A&M falls to 2-4 overall and 2-1 in the SWAC, and next up is a matchup with Marshall Faulk and Southern University. Meanwhile, Mississippi Valley State will face SWAC West contender Texas Southern.