Game 7: Tennessee State 23, Southeast Missouri 46
Records: TSU (2-5), SEMO (4-4)
Venue: William J. Hale Stadium
Location: Nashville, Tenn.
Weather: Sunny, 71
Kickoff Time: 2:36 p.m.
Game Duration: 3:34
Attendance: --- 2,187
 

NASHVILLE --- Tennessee State closed out the 2021 spring season dropping a 46-23 decision to Southeast Missouri at Hale Stadium.
 
The Redhawks jumped out to a 9-0 lead on a safety and a touchdown five minutes into the game. The visitors from Cape Giradeau, Mo. continued to put pressure on the Tigers in all aspects of the game, gaining 507 yards and blocking two kicks.
 
The Tigers tried to fight back by amassing 367 total yards, including the third 100 yard rushing performance by redshirt freshman Devon Starling.
 
Quarterback Deveon Bryant finished the day with 88 yards on the ground and 154 through the air after completing 7-of-23 passes.
 
Trailing 9-0, Bryant hit Josh Trueheart down the middle of the field for a 39 yard touchdown. The lead was cut to three at 9-6 after the extra point attempt went off the left upright.
 
The Redhawks responded on their next drive and went on to build a 39-9 lead after three quarters.
 
On the final play of the third quarter, Bryant teamed up with Cam Wyche for the 10th longest pass play in program history.
 
Wyche found himself wide open in the middle of the field and made his way down to the SEMO seven yard line for an 80 yard pass play. TSU scored three plays later on a three yard touchdown blast by Starling. The scored stayed at 39-15 as the two-point conversion fell short.
 
Bryant capped off the scoring on the day with a 10 yard touchdown run. The Tigers produced the final score, 46-23, as Starling ran in the two-point play.

TOTALS

• Southeast Missouri outgained TSU 507-367 in total yards
• The Tigers rushed for 213 yards and passed for 213
• The defense surrendered 325 yards on the ground and 182 through the air
• The Tigers ran 61 plays, averaging 6.0 yards per play
• SEMO finished with 26 first downs while TSU picked up 18
• The Redhawks won the Time of Possession battle, 30:28-29:32
• TSU converted 2-of-12 on third down attempts
• The Tigers finished 3-of-3 in Red Zone Scoring Chances
• The Big Blue committed only six penalties for 44 yards
• The defense recorded three sacks, broke up three passes and forced a fumble

INDIVIDUAL

• Devon Starling finished with a game high 104 yards rushing on 19 carries.
• Deveon Bryant added 88 yards on 13 touches.
• Both scored a rushing touchdown
• Bryant finished 7-of-23 passing for 154 yards.
• Cam Wyche and Josh Trueheart each caught two passes.
• Wyche went for 79 yards, while Trueheart finished with 54 yards and a touchdown.
• Josh Green led both teams with 10 tackles and nine solos.
• Michael Crawford recorded 2.0 tackles for loss, including one sack.
• James Reese IV forced a fumble allowing Jeshon Ingraham to collect the recovery.

FIRST QUARTER

• Southeast Missouri jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead as an errant snap on a punt attempt hit an up back in the end zone.
• The Redhawks took the ensuing kick after the safety and traveled 38 yards in five plays for a touchdown and a 9-0 advantage.
• Tennessee State used a pass interference and two offside's to move into SEMO territory.
• The Tigers converted the field position into a 39 yard touchdown strike from Deveon Bryant to Josh Trueheart.
• Bryant used a quick pass to his tight end in the seam, allowing the redshirt junior to out race the defense 30 yards, cutting the lead to 9-6.
• The Redhawks responded with a five play 63 yard touchdown drive to go ahead 16-6.
• SEMO amassed 181 yards in the first 15 minutes, opposed to the Tigers 70.

SECOND QUARTER

• The Redhawks needed just one play in the second quarter to complete a touchdown drive, making the score 23-6.
• The Tigers rushing game kicked into gear as Devon Starling broke off runs of 19 and seven yards.
• TSU used a SEMO offside call to continue the drive.
• Bryant immediately found Dayron Johnson for a 13 yard play to cross midfield to the opponents 41.
• The running game continued to thrive as Bryant rushed twice for 13 yards and received a 23 yard blast up the middle by Sabree Curtis Jr.
• After a pair of incomplete passes, the Tigers settled for an Antonio Zita 20 yard field goal to bring the deficit back to within two possessions, 23-9.
• The defense provided its first stop, but the offense was held to a three-and-out.
• On the punt, SEMO's Zack Smith took the ball off the foot of punter Kaleb Mosley at the goal line for a touchdown increasing the deficit to 21, 30-9.
• Bryant opened the next drive with a 25 yard run and was followed by Starling picking up 10 yards on two carries.
• The Tigers had to settle for a Zita 49 yard field goal attempt.
• The Redhawks special teams stepped up again with a block and returned the ball to the TSU 30.
• The Tigers outgained SEMO 101-39.

THIRD QUARTER

• SEMO moved 64 yards on the first series of the second half before James Reese IV reached in a stripped the ball away from a Redhawks runner.
• Jeshon Ingraham pounced on the ball at the TSU 20 to give the ball back to the Big Blue offense.
• The Tigers would pick up a first down on the legs of Bryant and another on a pass to Trueheart for 15 yards.
• The Tigers were unable to move past midfield, punting the ball back to Southeast Missouri.
• The Redhawks would go on to score 10 points in the quarter to jump up 39-9.
• On the final play of the period, Bryant found Cam Wyche alone in the middle of the field.
• The wide receiver made a move on the last defender and out raced a pair of Redhawks before being pushed out of bounds at the seven by a third defender.
• The Tigers gained 117 yards in the quarter, while SEMO put up 168.

FOURTH QUARTER

• The Tigers opened the quarter with a three yard scoring run by Devon Starling to make the score 39-15.
• The two-point attempt fell a yard short as Bryant was hauled down just before the goal line.
• SEMO answered on the next drive to keep their distance, 46-15.
• Bryant and the Tigers continued to battle as they recorded an eight play, 75 yard scoring drive.
• The redshirt sophomore quarterback took off for a 36 yard gain on a third and 11 to keep the drive alive.
• Starling added a 21 yard run down the right sideline on a fourth and one to put the Big Blue first and goal from the 10.
• On the next play, Bryant found pay dirt on a run up the middle.
• Starling added the two-point conversion to make the score 46-23.
• SEMO continued to outgain the Tigers in the final quarter, 119-79

GAME NOTES

• James Green served as the captain for the Tigers.
• SEMO won the coin toss and deferred.
• Kickoff occurred at 2:36 p.m. under clear skies with 7 mph winds and 73 degrees.
• Junior tight end Josh Trueheart scored the first Tiger touchdown of the afternoon and the first of his career. Prior to this reception, Trueheart had caught just two passes in his career. This marks the fourth receiving touchdown of the season.
• With Zita's second-quarter field goal, he moved into the OVC's top ten in field goals made and ranks second in all-time TSU history, under Lane Clark.
• SEMO converted on each possession until halfway through the second quarter, punting for the first time at 8:15 on the clock.
• Jeshon Ingraham recovered the first fumble of his career.
• The 80-yard pass play between Deveon Bryant and Cam Wyche tied for 10^th in all-time history. The play served as the second longest in TSU history that was not a touchdown.
• After 11 seasons, Rod Reed has led the Tigers to a 58-61 record. In OVC action, Reed is 31-51.

WHAT'S NEXT:
The Tigers completed the spring season at 2-4. TSU will begin the 2021 season on Sept. 5 as they take on Grambling State in the Black College Hall of Fame Classic in Canton, Ohio.

QUOTES
Head Coach Rod Reed 

On the game:
Again guys. This was a very disappointing loss. We knew coming into the game we were going to be short-handed. We had 22 guys available on defense and after the first series James Green went down and it started to go downhill a little bit. We had 22 guys on offense. Cam Durley got hurt early and we didn't respond well. I talked to the team last night. I know a lot of the rumors that are going around are going to be addressed. I had to address that with my team. I can neither confirm nor deny any of those rumors. All I know is we had a job to do and I had to address it with my football team. We did that last night. I won't be answering any questions on that. If you have any questions about that game, I can surely answer. At the end of the day, it's my job to get the team ready to play. Personally, this will be the last time I coach this team. I will field any other questions relating to the game.
 
What was the game changer today:
I said this is the last time I'd coach this team. We have another team coming back in the fall. It felt like any other game to me. We wanted to go out there prepared. We got a kicked blocked today which is very uncommon for us. We've got the best kicking game in the league. I was disappointed because we had two touchdowns over two botched kicks which blew the game open.  
 
When will you address the coaching situation:
When the situation arises. I'm sure when something happens I or the media relations staff will let you guys know.
 
On the team and the year's performance:
We played some impressive football this year. I think was like spring ball for us. We have a lot of young guys out there. This team only has six seniors on it. Guys that are making plays out there. The freshmen kids have been doing really well. I think that our sophomore and junior class is Grade A. I just told them that I see a great future for these guys. There's some real talent on the team. If we can get everyone in the room playing at the same time, we had a kid out with COVID today. He did not get an opportunity to play. Jahsun Bryant is a kid who is probably the Defensive Player of the Year candidate at the linebacker spot that didn't get a chance to play a snap this year. Raymond Horton didn't play at all. Larry Wilhoite, Aaron Cauthen was one of our starting tight ends. He didn't have a chance to play this year. The young guys. The James Greens, the Josh Greens, Kenyon Garlington of the world. Those guys I think the future is really bright for them. I think this team has a championship pedigree. This team is like the 2010, 2011 recruiting class that we had. Next year will be the year that they will really start to blossom.

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