In a game where UTM made too many early mistakes to overcome the Skyhawks fell to Tennessee State, 29-15.
In the first half alone, the Skyhawks (4-3, 2-2 OVC) managed 11 penalties for 81 yards. They also turned the ball over on an interception and a fumble and had a 40-yard field goal blocked and returned for a touchdown.
The TSU (7-1, 4-0 OVC) defense scored 16 points in the first half compared to UTM’s offense putting up zero.
“They’re a good football team,” said head coach Jason Simpson. “That’s the best TSU team we’ve played and give them credit. Their statistics don’t lie. They didn’t just sneak in here; we knew how good they were. The things we didn’t want to do, we did, and they get the win and we’ve got to get better.”
For most of the first quarter TSU was held to negative yardage and UTM was held under 10 yards, but with 2:09 left in the quarter Tigers’ quarterback Ronald Butler found Ryan Mitchell for a 51-yard touchdown pass giving them the early 7-0 lead.
On the next series, the Skyhawks attempted a 40-yard field goal, but it was blocked by defensive back De’Ante Saunders and returned for the touchdown.
With quarterback Dylan Favre missing his second straight game, Jarod Neal went 13-of-22 for 124 yards with a an interception returned 20 yards by TSU defensive back Daniel Fitzpatrick to give the Tigers the 21-0 lead in the first half.
Simpson confirmed after the game that Favre had MCL surgery this past week week.
“He had MCL surgery late in the week and it’s something we hope he can play through, but it’s painful; we just need to get it fixed … he’ll probably be out until the Murray State game.”
As the second half was winding down the Skyhawks found themselves in field goal range, but with clock confusion from the scoreboard clock malfunctioning UTM wasn’t able to get the kick off before time ran out.
It wasn’t until the 9:04 mark in the third quarter that the Skyhawks found the end zone with an 11-yard touchdown pass to Jeremy Butler.
The Skyhawks forced the Tigers to punt on the next possession, but Butler lost control of the ball and TSU was able to recover and added another three points, extending their lead 26-7.
Neal finished the game 24-of-45 for 242 yards with 1 touchdown and 1 interception. Butler totaled 10 receptions for 129 yards and one touchdown while running back DJ McNeil finished with 17 carries and 67 yards.
On defense, linebacker Ben Johnson totaled nine tackles with 1.5 tackles for a loss.
Punter James Satterfield averaged 35.8 yards per punt with a long of 48 and pinned TSU inside the 20-yardline 4 times. He also converted a fake punt for a first down on a 21-yard run, which was enough to make him second in rushing yards for the Skyhawks in the game.
The TSU defense allowed 327 yards and finished with five sacks and three turnovers while UTM’s defense held the Tigers’ offense to just 229 yards.
The two teams combined for 32 penalties and 255 yards with UTM totaling 19 penalties and 146 yards, 22 yards more than their rushing total for the game
Next week the Skyawks will travel to Austin Peay to take on the Governors.
