14 TSU
47 SEMO
| Team | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | F |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| TSU | 0 | 0 | 6 | 8 | 14 |
| SEMO | 3 | 13 | 17 | 14 | 47 |
This certainly was not the debut Eddie George wanted.
In losing their first three games, the Southeast Missouri Redhawks have been bludgeoned by a combined 158-63; apparently they were none to happy about that and took it out on Tennessee State and also welcomed coach George to the Ohio Valley Conference by laying a 47-14 beat down on the Tigers.
SEMO used a punishing run game , which racked up 380 yards, to overwhelm TSU, while limiting the Tigers to just 14 yards on the ground. Overall, the same lack of offensive continuity that has dogged Tennessee State, outside of the John Merritt Classic, once again reared its ugly head in this game. The Tigers only generated 264 yards of offense, 11 first downs and their lone offensive touchdown came with 12:43 left in the fourth quarter. Things did not fare much better for the Tennessee State defense. In a sieve-like performance, they gave up 607 yards of offense and treated RedHawks running back Geno Hess to a career-high 205 yards in the 37:24 they were on the field.
The Redhawks got the scoring going with a a play, 64 yard drive that ended in a 33-yard field quad from Kenny Doak, which were the first 3 of 23 unanswered points. The SEMO would extend the lead to 10-0 at 14:19 of the second quarter when Geno Hess reached pay dirt from two yards out. Doak would connect on field goals from 39 and 40 yards respectively to give SEMO a 16-0 lead at the half.
Early in the third, Hess would take it 63 yards to the house to putthe Redhawks up 23-0. Tennessee State finally got on the board from Drayton Johnson 90-yard Kickoff return; the extra point failed, leaving the score at 23-6. Southeast Missouri scored the game’s next ten points via a Doak 45-yard field goal and Hess’ third touchdown of the game , from 8 yards out , to take a 33-6 lead into the final stanza.
Somehow TSU managed to put together an 8 play, 68 yard drive that ended in a 2-yard touchdown pass from Geremy Hickbottom to Vincent Perry that, along with the successful two-point conversion, cut the lead to 19 at 33-14. This would be the closest the Tigers would get. Two more touch downs, a Shamenski Rucker 3-yard run and Will Weiedemann 6-yard touchdown reception took the score to its final count of 47-14.
Tennessee State will lick its wounds and return to action , once again hitting the road, heading to Clarksville , TN to take on the governors of Austin Peay. Kickoff is set for 700 pm CST.
Team Statistics
| Game Stats | TSU | SEMO |
|---|---|---|
| Total Yards | 266 | 607 |
| Pass Yards | 252 | 227 |
| Rushing Yards | 14 | 380 |
| Penalty Yards | 10-76 | 6-54 |
| 1st Downs | 11 | 28 |
| 3rd Downs | 1-11 | 4-13 |
| 4th Downs | 1-3 | 1-1 |
| TOP | 22:36 | 37:24 |
| 1ST QUARTER | ||
|---|---|---|
 09:33 – SEMO – DOAK, Kenny 33 yd field goal 9 plays, 64 yards, TOP 3:21 | 0 | 3 |
| 2ND QUARTER | ||
| 14:19 – SEMO – HESS, Geno 2 yd run (DOAK, Kenny kick), 8 plays, 53 yards, TOP 2:48 | 0 | 10 |
| 07:52 – SEMO – DOAK, Kenny 40 yd field goal 9 plays, 28 yards, TOP 4:18 | 0 | 13 |
| 00:17 – SEMO – DOAK, Kenny 39 yd field goal 14 plays, 58 yards, TOP 4:57 | 0 | 16 |
| 3RD QUARTER | ||
| 13:21 – SEMO – HESS, Geno 63 yd run (DOAK, Kenny kick), 4 plays, 75 yards, TOP 1:39 | 0 | 23 |
 13:05 – TSU – JOHNSON, Dayron 90 yd kickoff return (ZITA, Antonio kick failed) | 6 | 23 |
| 08:24 – SEMO – DOAK, Kenny 45 yd field goal 5 plays, 39 yards, TOP 2:07 | 6 | 26 |
| 01:00 – SEMO – HESS, Geno 8 yd run (DOAK, Kenny kick), 9 plays, 88 yards, TOP 3:56 | 6 | 33 |
| 4TH QUARTER | ||
| 12:43 – TSU – PERRY, Vincent 2 yd pass from HICKBOTTOM, Ger (PERRY, Vincent pass) 8 plays, 68 yards, TOP 3:09 | 14 | 33 |
| 11:56 – SEMO – RUCKER, S. 3 yd run (DOAK, Kenny kick), 2 plays, 46 yards, TOP 0:40 | 14 | 40 |
| 06:54 – SEMO – WEIDEMANN, Will 6 yd pass from OGBONNA, CJ (DOAK, Kenny kick) 7 plays, 34 yards, TOP 4:02 | 14 | 47 |
