title image via Tennessee State Football
Despite gaining their opponents in rushing yards (164 to 63), passing yards (187-133) total offense (351-196), getting more first downs ( 21-10) as well as dominating time of possession the Tigers lost the critical turnover battle, 2 to 0, as they were defeated at home by Western Illinois 17 to 16.
Tennessee State got the afternoon scoring via a 48-yard field goal off the foot of Freddie Perez I’ll be at it took TSU 13 plays to travel just 38 yards. The leather mix would respond with 14 straight points on consecutive drives to take a 14 to 3 lead in the second quarter. The first came on a scoring pass from Western quarterback Caleb McCreary to Anthony Taylor that capped off a 5-play 75-yard drive. The second of the two scores is the result of a Cason Carswell 40-yard connection with Demarai Davis.
Later in the quarter, Perez, who was previously unsuccessful on a 53-yard attempt, converted a 25-yard kick that capped an 8-play, 88-yard drive that made the score 14-6 with 3:59 remaining in the half. After the Tigers defense was able to stop the Western offense from wreaking further havoc, Tennessee State was able to march 75 yards in 6 plays in 3:38, getting in the endzone for the first time on the afternoon when quarterback Byron McNair connected with Connor Ruth from 8 yards out draw the Tigers to within a single point at 14-13 as the game headed into halftime.
TSU’s defense was able to force punts on Western Illinois’ first two possessions of the second half. Taking advantage of the Leathernecks’ stymied offense, Tennessee State was able to pull back in front with a 13-play, 51-yard drive that ended with Perez’s third field goal of the day, this one from 41 yards out, making the score 16-14 with 3:14 left in the quarter.
Western Illinois responded on their next possession, an 11-play, 42-yard drive that culminated in an Antonio Chadha 51-yard field goal, pushing the Leathernecks Xfinity xback in front 17 to 16.
A potential go-ahead field goal was no good and was Perez’s second miss of the day leaving the Tigers still down by a point. Tennessee State’s defense was able to force a pair of quick and fruitless possessions from the Western Illinois offense. On both ensuing possessions, the Tennessee State offense approached the fringes of field-goal range, however sacks on both possessions pushed the Tigers out of range. The latter of which effectively ended the game as TSU did not have enough time to get to the line of scrimmage for a final play.
To losing effort Byron McNair was relatively efficient, completing 18 of his 27th passes for 187 yards one touchdown as and one interception. Tyson Edwards pulled in three passes for 72 yards, Zach Simmons Brown led the TSU ground game, recording 98 yards on 18 carries.
The loss dropped Tennessee State to 2-6
overall and at 0-4 in conference play the Tigers are still looking for their first win within the Big South OVC. Up Next for the Tyshome game this time, they’ll be playing host to Lindenwood. The Lions have defeated the Lions in their two previous matches including the 24th to 20 victory last season.
