It was a dominating performance for Tennessee State, as the Tigers handed Virginia University of Lynchburg a 60-0 beatdown.
The Tiger offense got going early, scoring on a 5-play drive that covered 58 yards and took only 2:18. Quarterback Micheal Hughes found Steven Newbold from 4 yards out for the first of his six touchdown tosses on the day. A few minutes later TSU would add to their lead when Hughes and Patrick Smith would connect on a 43-yard touchdown pass. The extra point made the score 14-0. Hughes would throw his third TD pass of the first quarter, a 51-yard strike to Steven Newbold, his second of the quarter; the Lane Clark PAT gave the tigers a 21-0 lead after one quarter.
Halfway through the second quarter, Hughes would connect with Patrick Smith for his fourth touchdown pass of the half, a 16-yard toss. The PAT made the score 28-0. Three and a half minutes later, following a fumble caused by Khalil Jones, a 20-yard field goal from Clark increased the Tiger lead to 31-0. Late in the second quarter, Hughes would get his fifth touchdown pass of the first half, 52 yards to Patrick Smith, which was his third of the half.
Tennessee State would take a 38-0 lead into the half.
After a 14-play, 62 yard drive, Lane Clark kicked his second field goal of the day, this one a 27-yarder which made the score 41-0. Hughes would throw his sixth and final TD pass of the day, a 20 yard pass to Ronnie Killings. In addition to the 6 TDs, Hughes also threw for 262 yards.
Dante’ Ferguson’s 36-yard pick-six brought the score to 55-0. On the Dragons’ next play from scrimmage, the snap flew through the back of the end zone, resulting in a safety for the Tigers and making the score 57-0. A 10-play, 28-yard drive late in the fourth would result in a 25-yard Colby Weiss field goal bringing the score to 60-0.
The statistics from the game were just as lopsided as the score. Tennessee State racked up 448 yards in offense on the day, while VUL totaled only 58. VUL was 0-12 on third down conversions and only mustered 5 first downs on the day. Conversely TSU piled up 23 first downs and was 5-12 on first down.
Tennessee State will host Southeast Missouri November 11 at Hale Stadium,. Kickoff is set for 2P.M. CST. This was the final game of the season for VUL.
