Only a few weeks ago, it seemed as if Carson Earp would finish his senior season at Lamar as a backup to Andrew Allen.

With Allen injured, Earp registered some big numbers in recent games and played hero in his most recent outing.

Earp’s engineering of Lamar’s come-from-behind home win over Northwestern State earned him the honor of Southland Conference Offensive Player of the Week. Earp threw two touchdown passes in the final 1:43 of the 32-31 victory Saturday, completing a 36-yard strike to Marcus Daggs and a 22-yard pass to DeWan Thompson with 6 seconds remaining.

“We definitely had a lot of adversity throughout the game,” Earp said Saturday. “It seemed like when we would get something going, something bad would happen like a penalty or a turnover. But, our guys just kept playing, and we just had the mentality that, whatever it takes, no matter what we have to do, I don’t care what it looks like, we just have to keep playing.”

Earp had four touchdown passes Saturday, the other two going for 10 (to Michael Handy) and 86 yards (to Thompson). He completed 29 of 54 for 412 yards.

The quarterback earned the starting role going into the season after sharing time with Joe Minden as a transfer from Navarro College but struggled mightily in his first two games, causing Woodard to go with junior transfer Austin Allen as the starter against Sam Houston State. Earp rushed twice for 67 yards and a touchdown in that game after Allen went down, and he’s completed 54 of 86 for 753 yards and five touchdowns in his three starts since, all victories.

“Carson, the last three weeks, has really played well,” Cardinals coach Ray Woodard said. “That was tough on him to have that much on his shoulders, but he really played well. I think he’s just getting started. I think he’s going to get better and better the more he plays in this offense.”

INJURY REPORT

Not lost in all the frenzy of Lamar’s comeback was the injury to senior running back Kade Harrington.

Woodard said an MRI was done Monday on Harrington’s injured foot, with results expected back no later than Tuesday morning. Freshman Austin Krautz of Nederland shouldered much of the rushing duties in Harrington’s absence, finishing with 51 yards on 20 carries Saturday.

Harrington had 42 yards on nine carries before leaving in the second quarter.

Handy, who had just come off a combined five-game suspension for academic issues and a team violation, sustained a concussion on a helmet-to-helmet hit on Lamar’s sideline. His status for this Saturday’s game at Central Arkansas is questionable.

POLL WATCH

With five-time defending FCS champion North Dakota State’s loss to then-No. 11 South Dakota State, Sam Houston State has elevated to the top of the STATS FCS Top 25 poll.

The Bearkats (6-0, 5-0 Southland), who handed Lamar its most recent defeat (44-31) on Sept. 17, received 113 out of 165 first-place votes in moving up from No. 2. Jacksonville State, Eastern Washington and North Dakota State, each 5-1, are second through fourth in order this week, with The Citadel (6-0) fifth, Richmond (6-1) sixth and South Dakota State (4-2) seventh.

Another previous Lamar opponent, Coastal Carolina (4-2) is tied for 17th with Cal Poly. Lamar’s next adversary, Central Arkansas (5-1, 5-0 Southland), is 20th.

“Probably the first game I got to see on television this year was them playing,” Woodard said of the Bears. “They impressed then and they impress me now. They’re probably playing their best football of the year right now. They’re coming off a very impressive win in Lake Charles [35-0 win over McNeese State], which makes it even more impressive.”

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I.C. Murrell: 721-2435. Twitter: @ICMurrellPANews