The UT Martin Skyhawks defense forced four turnovers on their way to their best defensive showing of the season, allowing just seven points to the Gardner-Webb Runnin’ Bulldogs. The Skyhawks held the Bulldogs to their lowest point total of the entire season.
“I told them, ‘Teams in your league think you’re vulnerable right now,'” said head coach Jason Simpson. “They haven’t seen you at your best. These guys responded—tough travel day yesterday—like we said, scoreboard doesn’t care. Nobody wants to hear any excuses.”
Offensively, the Skyhawks handled business, scoring their highest point total of the season with four different players getting into the end zone. With 244 yards on the ground, the Skyhawks rushed their way to the program’s largest margin of victory on the road since a 42-3 win over Tennessee Tech in 2021.
It was a three-headed monster for the Skyhawks’ backfield, with three different players going for over 50 yards. The group was led by senior John Gentry, who ran for 90 yards and a touchdown on 18 carries. Behind Gentry was sophomore Chris Franklin, who ran for 73 yards and a touchdown on just five carries—taking one to the house from 66 yards out. Finally, sophomore power back Thomas Ansley ran for 53 yards on 17 carries.
Starting quarterback Jase Bauer continues to show complete control over the offense with elite efficiency while being a constant danger to make a play with his legs. Bauer came an incompletion short of a perfect game, completing 15 of 16 passes for 164 yards and a touchdown while rushing for 31 yards on six carries and another touchdown.
The Skyhawks opened things up with a field goal on an 18-play, 56-yard drive, and they wouldn’t look back from there. The defense held the Bulldogs to a three-and-out before finding the end zone with a Bauer scramble drill on their second drive.
After scoring 23 points unanswered, the Bulldogs would get their first touchdown of the game with 13:11 remaining in the fourth quarter. The Skyhawks would respond to that with 14 more unanswered points to put the nail in the coffin for Gardner-Webb and secure their third Ohio Valley-Big South Conference win–and their second win in a row for the first time this season.
Gardner-Webb’s offensive drives before the fourth quarter would go: punt, punt, interception, punt, interception, interception, turnover on downs–a testament to the effort of a Skyhawk defense that had consistently struggled on the road.
The first of the Skyhawks’ interceptions was an immaculate effort by senior corner Chris Rhodes, who broke up a route across the middle. Both he and the receiver juggled the ball in the air before Rhodes secured it for the Skyhawks at the Gardner-Webb 22-yard line.
The second interception was a one-handed effort by sophomore corner Jamal Mayers, who followed a wheel route all the way into the back of the end zone before leaping up and plucking the ball out of the air with his right hand.
The third interception was made by senior corner JaMichael McGoy Jr., who set a UT Martin record for career pass breakups after adding two on the day—bringing his total for his career to 37.
“That’s why I made [McGoy Jr.] a captain today. You got to step and make some plays. The defense needs you and he did that today,” said Simpson.
The Skyhawk defense would put the game away with a strip sack by junior linebacker Keyshawn Johnson that would end up in the hands of senior nose tackle Toby Camp.
The Skyhawks put together their most complete game of the season to dominate Gardner-Webb and go into the bye week 3-5, with some momentum to carry through the final stretch of the season.
Next week, the Skyhawks will be on a bye week before they travel to Charleston, Illinois, to take on the 3-4 Eastern Illinois Panthers on Saturday, Nov. 1, at 2 p.m.
