Tennessee State football can't hold on to early lead, falls to UT Martin 20-10
The Tennessee State football team was poised Saturday night to take control of the Big South/Ohio Valley Conference jumping to a lead on two-time defending champion and host UT Martin.
The Tigers were coming off a win over preseason favorite Gardner-Webb, and a win over the No. 22 Skyhawks would have put them in the driver's seat in the league race.
That 10-0 lead, however, would not hold up. UT Martin scored 20 unanswered points and held on to beat TSU 20-10.
TSU was without starting quarterback Deveon Bryant, who suffered an ankle injury against Gardner-Webb. Draylen Ellis stepped in and did well early. But TSU (2-2, 1-1) sputtered, and UT Martin running back Sam Franklin, playing with an injured left shoulder, led the Skyhawks (4-1, 1-0) to the victory.
UT Martin has now gone six second-half quarters without being scored on.
"We just didn't execute on the key plays we needed to execute on in the key points in the game and they did," TSU coach Eddie George said. "They're used to that. We'll go and we'll learn from it and we'll have another oportunity to execute in those moments."
TSU loses momentum
TSU's offense was clicking, and the defense was keeping UT Martin off balance with less than 100 yards well into the second quarter and Franklin was on the sideline.
That’s when it all went awry for the Tigers. Backed up against their own 12, punter Jackson Foster, a transfer from Western Michigan, shanked a punt that went out of bounds at the TSU 30.
With Franklin back in the game, UT Martin went four plays before Skyhawks quarterback Kinkead Dent tossed a 15-yard TD to tight end D.J. Nelson.
UT Martin added another touchdown four minutes later and led 14-10 at the half.
"I'm not going to blame it on (the shanked punt)," George said. "We've got to learn how to overcome those moments in a postitive way. We just didn't do it. We had opportunites to make plays. We had dropped passes on third down, a critical interception that was dropped, a missed fumble. Opportunites to create turnovers and we just didn't do that."
Facing Sam Franklin
TSU went into the game having already faced several outstanding running backs but was prepared to face the best yet in Franklin. He went in averaging 163.3 yards per game, best in the FCS or FBS, and had scored six touchdowns.
TSU came in ranked seventh in the Big South/OVC and 73rd in the FCS against the rush (177.7 yards).
Franklin, coming off a 221-yard rushing game against North Alabama, did not touch the ball on the Skyhawks’ first two series. They had only 17 total yards on their first two possessions.
Late in the first quarter, Franklin was being tended to by the medical staff, which was working on his shoulder.
He finally returned and carried the ball for the first time midway through the second quarter. By the third quarter, he appeared back to normal and started punishing TSU's defense.
He ended up with 132 yards on 20 carries.
UT Martin, which is deep at running back, finished with 253 rushing yards; TSU had only 105. The Tigers were slowed by the loss of starting running back Jalen Rouse, who left the game near halftime with a foot injury.
Draylen Ellis gets first start at quarterback for TSU
Ellis, who started 10 games at quarterback last season, had lost the starting job to Bryant. But Bryant suffered an ankle injury late against Gardner-Webb, and Ellis came in to lead the Tigers to the win.
George had said Bryant would be a game-time decision.
Ellis led TSU to the UT Martin 24 on seven plays on the opening drive. That set up a 42-yard field goal by James Lowery.
He finished by completing 16-of-33 passes for 180 yards. He also was TSU's leading rusher with 46 yards on six carries and a touchdown.
Reach Mike Organ at 615-259-8021 or on X, formerly Twitter @MikeOrganWriter.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Tennessee State football falls to UT Martin after grabbing early lead
