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Game 4: Tennessee State (1-2) at #24/#25 Murray State (3-0)
Date: Sunday, Mar. 21, 2021
Location: Murray, Ky.
Stadium: Roy Stewart Stadium (16,800)
Time: 2:00 p.m. CT
TV: ESPN+
Audio: Big Blue Network
Live Stats: Statbroadcast

TV: ESPN+. Neal Bradley will serve as play-by-play along with Josh McKeel who will provide analysis.

Audio: Big Blue Sports Network will carry the game live with Greg Pogue (play-by-play) and Will Brown (analyst). Pregame will begin at 1:45 p.m. CT.

Series Information: This is the 31st meeting with Murray State holding a 17-13 advantage. The teams first met in 1988, a 22-7 win for Murray State on their home field. After the Racers took the first two meetings, Tennessee State came back to earn its first win, 23-17, in 1990 at MSU. The win started a five game streak for the Big Blue before the Racers grabbed the next three contests. MSU went on its own five game win streak from 2008-12. The Tigers won two consecutive meetings before the Racers took the last four games in the series.

Head Coach Rod Reed: Coach Reed is in his 11th season at the helm of the Tigers and holds a 57-58 record. Only two coaches have produced more wins at TSU. John Merritt claimed 174 victories in his 20 years (1963-83) for a .806 winning percentage (174-35-7), while Harry Kean spent 10 years in charge of TSU from 1944-54 and compiled a 93-15-3 record (.838). TSU is 9-2 in season openers under Rod Reed, including a 17-10 win at FBS opponent Georgia State in 2017. The loss to Austin Peay was the first opening day defeat since a 12-9 decision to Bethune-Cookman in 2013.

Tennessee State: The Tigers fell improved to 1-2 with a last second 21-20 victory over Eastern Illinois at Hale Stadium. The Big Blue found themselves behind for the third consecutive game. EIU took an early 3-0 lead before Antonio Zita kicked the first of his three field goals of the day. Zita booted a career long 51-yarder to even the score at 3-3. The Tigers battled back from two scores down to pull within two points with rushing touchdowns by Shawn McColley and Devon Starling. The touchdowns were the first rushing scores of the season for the Tigers. Zita set a new career best with an OVC tying 62 yard field goal to give TSU a late fourth quarter lead. Zita came back four minutes later to kick the game winning field goal from 35 yards out. The clincher came two plays after Isaiah Green hit Cam Wyche fo a 48 yard pass play. Green completed 21 of 32 passes for 257 yards, finding Wyche six times for 125 yards. Wyche leads the OVC and ranks 14th in the nation, averaging 91.0 receiving yards per game. Josh Trueheart recorded career highs in receptions (6) and yardage (63). Starling led the TSU rushing game with 80 yards on 23 carries. Freshman Kenyon Andrews led the defense with eight stops on the day, seven solo. Davoan Hawkins made seven stops, 3.5 for loss and 1.5 sacks.

Last 10 Results:
2019 - Murray State 31, Tennessee State 17
2018 - Murray State 45, Tennessee State 21
2016 - Murray State 38, Tennessee State 31
2015 - Murray State 46, Tennessee State 43 OT
2014 - Tennessee State 48, Murray State 33
2013 - Tennessee State 17, Murray State 10
2012 - Murray State 49, Tennessee State 28
2011 - Murray State 58, Tennessee State 27
2010 - Murray State 28, Tennessee State 23
2009 - Murray State 9, Tennessee State 6
 

One Leg After Another
Antonio Zita is another in long line of productive kickers at Tennessee State. TSU has used just five players from 2001-21 to handled the majority of the kicking duties. Joey Hudak was the Big Blue kicker for four seasons from 2001-2004 until Eric Benson took over for the next four campaigns, 2005-08. After Benson graduated, the Tigers only attempted six field goals during the 2009 season. Jamin Godfrey came to TSU and took over the kicking duties from 2010-13 ahead of Lane Clark who was the primary kicker for four seasons (2014-18) before passing the torch to Antonio Zita. The five rank as the top five kickers in field goals made in program history. Hudak left as the career leader and was surpassed by Benson who was then passed by Godfrey. Clark is second on the list behind Godfrey, but holds nine of the top 16 longest field goals at TSU. Zita has climbd the ranks and is six field goals behind Clark.

Scoring Streak
Tennessee State has scored a point in 73 consecutive games. The last time the Tigers were shutout was on Nov. 2, 2013 at Eastern Kentucky (44-0). The streak is the second longest current streak in the OVC. Jacksonville State has scored in 98 consecutive games dating back to a 23-0 loss at Florida on Nov. 17, 2012. The longest all-time streak at the FCS level belongs to Montana with 406 dating back to 1989.

Playing Behind the Line
The Tigers recorded 12 Tackles for Loss and three sacks in week one at Austin Peay. The top game in 2019 for TFLs came against Eastern Illinois on Nov. 9. The last time the Tigers amassed at least 12 stops behind the line of scrimmage came on Nov. 4, 2017 versus Virginia Lynchburg. The last time TSU finished with 12 or more TFLs against an NCAA D-I came on Nov. 7, 2015 against Murray State. The Big Blue picked up another eight stops in the backfield against Eastern Illinois, led by Davoan Hawkins 3.5. Hawkins is averaging 1.7 per game which ranks first in the OVC and 33rd in the FCS. James Green is third in the conference averaging 1.3 per game. The Big Blue made seven stops behind the line of scrimmage versus Jacksonville State without recording a sack.

Meet You at the Quarterback
The TSU defense recorded four sacks against Eastern Illinois. The Panthers had allowed just two over the first two games of the season. Nate Sutton led the way with 2.0, ahead of Davoan Hawkins 1.5 and Terray Jones' 0.5. In the opener, the Tigers had three sacks against APSU. A season ago, the defense collected two sacks in each of the final four games. The last time the Tigers registered four sacks in an outing was versus Tennessee Tech on Oct. 20, 2018.

Jar It Loose
The Tigers have forced five fumbles and recovered three through three games in the 2021 spring season. The five forced fumbles are one less than the entire 2019 when the Big Blue jarred six balls loose. The three recoveries have already surpassed the two the squad pounced on a season ago. The 2019 totals were the lowest in TSU history. In 2018, the defense caused eight fumbles and recovered three. The 2017 season was the last time the Tigers jumped on more than three fumbles. The 2017 squad recovered six of the 16 forced fumbles they caused. The most forced fumbles by a Tigers team came in 1983 with a total of 41. The 1977 squad recovered a program best 22.

The Hole
Tennessee State will play all of its home games this spring in Hale Stadium. TSU is one of the few teams in the nation that splits games between two home sites. This marks the first season since 1998 to play a full season in "the Hole". The Tigers used the on-campus stadium from 1953-1998 before moving into Nissan Stadium in 1999. TSU returned to Hale in 2012 and has gone 9-9 since then. The Big Blue dropped all four games in Hale Stadium in 2019. In total, TSU is 182-66-5 at home all-time.

Fresh Starts
The 2021 spring season has seen 16 Tigers earn their first start in blue. Sophomore David Dorsey and transfer Nate Sutton received the nod versus Eastern Illinois. Against Jacksonville State, three offensive players and two defensive gained the nod. True freshmen Kenyon Andrews and Ahmad Nelson picked up their first starts, along with transfers Isaiah Green and Brandon Jones. Sophomore Dayron Johnson has played in 12 games for the Tigers before earning his first start. In all, 30 players have seen the field for the first time as a part of the Big Blue. In week one at Austin Peay, six Tigers on offense gained their first start. Deveon Bryant, Cam Wych, Vincent Perry, Sean McMoore and Robert Lacey all gained starts in their first action for the Tigers. Shawn McColley earned his first start for the Big Blue after playing in nine contests in each of the last two seasons. Transfers Curt McDonald, Davoan Hawkins and Tadarrius Patterson each gained their first start at Austin Peay.

Snap To It
True freshman Carson Buchanan has taken over as the long snapper for punts and field goals. Buchanan takes over a spot that has been manned by three players since 2010. Thomas Newberg spent four seasons as the first step on the special team's operation team. Newberg replaced Aaron Woods who handled snaps from 2012-15. Woods spent the 2014 season as a redshirt, sitting behind Hunter Howard who took over the duties in 2010. Buchanan takes over from a line of snappers that were tagged with just three errant snaps in 10 years.

Condensed Schedule
Due to the pandemic the 2020 season was reduced to a conference only spring season. The schedule consists of a seven game round robin facing each team in the OVC with the exception of Eastern Kentucky. The Colonels opted out after playing nine games in the fall. In 2018, the Tigers played just nine games due to two cancellations due to weather. The Southern Heritage Classic versus Jackson State was cancelled due to lightning. The following week, the Tigers game at Hampton was cancelled due to Hurricane Florence. The seven game slate is the smallest for TSU since 1957. The Big Blue under the direction of Howard Gentry finished the '57 campaign at 5-0-1.

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