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Ill-timed miscues proved to be Tennessee State’s undoing as they came up short in a hard-fought 41-27 defeat to Montana in the first round of FCS Playoffs.
Montana struck first when Ty Morrison kicked a 39-yard field goal, giving the Grizzlies a 3-0 lead. Later in the quarter, Tennessee State responded with a James Lowery field goal, tying the game at 3 as time expired in the period.
Montana then scored the first touchdown of the evening with a 7-yard run by Eli Gillman, capping off a 10-play, 57-yard drive. Following a Tennessee Stats three-and-out Montana added to their tally via a Morrison 31-yard field goal that extended their advantage to 13-3 with 0:10 left in the first half.
Handling the ensuing kickoff proved a task too great for Tennessee State as it was fumbled and recovered by the Grizzlies at the TSU 33-yard line. Harrison booted his third field goal of the half, this one from 50 yards as time expired to push the advantage to 16-3 heading into halftime.
The defense would lead to Tennessee State’s next score. Meonta Kimbrough forced a fumble, which was recovered by Chris Waker at the Montana 37. After a 30-yard completion from Draylen Ellis to Karate Brenson that set the Tigers up with first and goal at the Grizzlies 7, TSU seemed poised to make it a one-possession game. However, a pair of penalties pushed the Tigers back, ultimately leading to a 26-yard James Lowery field goal to cut the lead to 16-6.
The Grizzlies answered back on their next possession when Harrison connected on his fourth kick of the evening, from 30 yards out, to push the advantage to 19-6. The subsequent Tennessee State drive quickly fizzled out, forcing them to punt.
Unfortunately, the kick coverage issues that plagued them in the Gardner-Webb game ( TSU allowed 19.0 yards per punt return and 32.5 yards per kickoff return) reared their ugly head when Junior Bergen returned the punt 52 yards to the house. A successful two-point conversion pushed the Grizzlies’ advantage to 27-6 with 1: 02 left in the third quarter.
After Craig Cunningham’s 63-yard return set up the Tigers at the Montana 12-yard line, one play later Ellis found Benson from 12-yards on a scoring toss that cut the Montana lead to 27-13.
As they had earlier in the contest, the Tennessee State defense created an opportunity for the offense when Chris Walker forced another Montana fumble, which was recovered by Sanders Ellis at the Montana 11-yard line. Just a single play later, Ellia scampered into the end zone to pull the Tigers to within a single score at 27-20.
Sanders Ellis recovered an Eli Gillman fumble as Montana appeared on their way to another score, giving the ball, and even more momentum back to the TSU offense. After picking up a pair of first downs Tennessee State looked to be on the path to putting together a drive that could potentially tie the contest. However, the Tigers proved to be their saboteur as a bad snap and a penalty, transformed a 1st and 10 at their own 39 to 3rd and 34 back at their 15-yard line. Forced to punt, the Tigers would once again be let down by their kick coverage as Junior Bergen returned the punt 54 yards to paydirt as the Grizzlies took a 34-20 lead with 6:14 left in the contest.
Tennessee State responded with an 11-play, 75-yard drive that ended when Ellis linked up with Brenson on a scoring toss that trimmed the lead back to a single possession at 34-27.
Unfortunately for Tennessee State the coffin on their comeback aspirations was slammed shut on Eli Gillman’s 59-yard touchdown gallop that gave Montana breathing room as it put them up 41-27.
A late interception from Draylen Ellis sealed the Tiger’s fate, securing the Montana win.
Draylen Ellis, in his last game donning a TSU gamer, completed 29-of-39 passes for 296 yards, 2 touchdowns, and an interception. Karate Brenson turned in another stellar game in what was a breakout season for the wideout, hauling in 11 passes for 122 yards and 2 touchdowns.
The Tigers’ defense forced 3 fumbles but did allow 254 yards of rushing and special teams surrendered a pair of return touchdowns.
Up next for Tennessee State is an offseason buoyed with hope and a program renewed with increased expectations.
