The UT Martin Skyhawks could not keep pace with the Memphis Tigers’ first-half surge Saturday night at Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium in Memphis, Tennessee, as the Tigers would go on to win 45-21.
The Skyhawks, who entered the game at 1-2, struggled early, only scoring seven first-half points compared to the Tigers’ 24.
Tigers redshirt junior quarterback Marcus Stokes converted three touchdowns in the first from 26 yards, 17 yards and eight yards. In the second, Stokes added one more from seven yards to cap off his night.
Tigers sophomore runningback Jaylin Carter, who leads the team in rushing, had 12 attempts going for 62 yards, one catch for 17 yards and a receiving touchdown. On the other hand, freshman runningback Jordan Thompson stepped up with six attempts for 110 yards, adding one touchdown on the ground.
“Hats off to UT Martin, they battled. I was hoping at one point there they would just run it and take a knee, but they battled,” said Tigers Head Coach Charles Huff. “Obviously Coach Simpson has been there a long time; you can tell by their culture that they don’t quit.”
For the Skyhawks, freshman quarterback Tate Surber recorded his first collegiate start. Surber finished with 177 passing yards, two touchdowns and zero interceptions while completing 17-of-29 attempts.
Junior runningback Tommy Ansley continued being a key piece for the Skyhawks with 10 rushing attempts for 34 yards and a touchdown.
The offensive production shined in the second-half for UT Martin, starting with graduate receiver Kaleb Washington off a 7 yard touchdown pass from Surber and being capped off by the touchdown from Ansley.
In the first half, the secondary for the Skyhawks stayed off the press, which allowed the Tigers to take control early. The team’s secondary would play better in the second half, even grabbing an interception off of Stokes with 48 seconds left in the third quarter. Redshirt junior Joel Castleberry grabbed what was his second career interception, which led to the early fourth quarter score from UT Martin.
“…Did I see some improvement from last week? Yeah I did; I like all these yards, our third down conversion…we still got work to do,” said Skyhawks Head Coach Jason Simpson.
With a lot of positive takeaways, the Skyhawks will next face the Austin Peay State Governors on Sept. 26 at 1 p.m. in Clarksville, Tennessee. The last five matchups between the two have gone 3-2 in favor of UT Martin, with the last meeting taking place in Martin, Tennessee at Hardy M. Graham Stadium on Oct. 30, 2021. It was here where the Skyhawks squeaked away with a 17-16 win.
Following the Governors, the Skyhawks have one more game on the road before returning home, where they will be taking on the Tennessee State Tigers and starting Ohio Valley Conference play on Oct. 10 in Nashville, Tennessee.
