GLENDORA, Calif. -- Terrell Watson became college football's first 1,000-yard rusher, contributing to Azusa Pacific's thorough 55-21 victory over No. 24-ranked Humboldt State Thursday night at Citrus Stadium.

Watson rushed for 208 yards, his third time over 200 yards this season and his second 200-yard, three-TD game against a ranked opponent at home this season. He scored three consecutive touchdowns as the Cougars answered a 14-0 first-quarter deficit by dropping 55 points over the final 46 minutes against the Great Northwest Athletic Conference's top-ranked defense.

The victory gave Azusa Pacific sole possession of the GNAC lead with a 5-1 overall, 2-0 GNAC mark, while Humboldt State drops its first game all year and now sits 5-1 overall, 1-1 GNAC.

Entering the game with 881 rushing yards this season, Watson surpassed the rushing leaders from every division of college football (NCAA Divisions I, II, III, and the NAIA) to become the first player in the country to surpass 1,000 rushing yards in the 2014 season. The 208-yard performance pushed his season total to 1,089 yards through six games, raising his rushing average to 181.5 yards per game.

He also caught two passes that went for 53 yards, part of  190-yard passing performance from redshirt freshman QB Chad Jeffries, who completed 13-of-24 passes and connected with junior WR Blake Robertson for a beautiful 55-yard score early that stretched Azusa Pacific's lead to 48-21 early in the fourth quarter.

A 61-yard Chase Krivashei punt return put Humboldt State on the board before the Lumberjacks' potent offense even took the field, and HSU QB Robert Webber used a pair of big plays in the passing game to march the offense 48 yards on three plays for an early 14-0 lead that invoked memories of Humboldt State's dominant first-half effort against Azusa Pacific when the teams first met this season in Arcata (Sept. 13).

However, the early scores that bent the Cougar defense were not enough to break open the floodgates as Azusa Pacific surrendered just seven points the rest of the way. The lone score itself was a 65-yard pass from Webber to Kelechi Nwadibia that cut the lead to 34-21 with 1:09 to play in the third quarter, but Azusa Pacific surrendered just one more TD the rest of the way on Webber's 65-yard pass to Nwadibia to trim the margin to 34-21 with 1:09 left in the third quarter.

The Cougars ended the next Lumberjack drive when sophomore rover Jonathan Thropay picked off a Webber pass to set up a short field for Jeffries, who went on a 16-yard keeper to answer the HSU TD with one of his own. On Azusa Pacific's next play from scrimmage, Jeffries found Robertson behind the Lumberjack secondary for a 55-yard scoring strike, and junior RB Ryan Adams added a late fourth-quarter score for the final 55-21 margin.

Thropay was responsible for one of the Cougars' four takeaways in the game, and the Lumberjacks fumbled the ball away in the closing seconds to preserve the 34-point win. Humboldt State failed to score in both of its trips inside the red zone, and Azusa Pacific held HSU's vaunted rushing attack under 100 yards (86 yards) for the first time this year.