NASHVILLE - The Tennessee State defense racked up seven sacks to help the Tigers to a 43-20 win over Lindenwood at home Saturday afternoon. The win guarantees TSU a winning season, their first since 2017.
The Tigers improved to 6-2 on the year and 2-1 in Big South-OVC play, while the Lions fell to 3-5 and 1-3.
Draylen Ellis led Tennessee State's passing attack with 236 yards through the air, tossing one touchdown without throwing an interception. The signal caller also added one touchdown on the ground.
Jordan Gant led all Tigers rushers with 64 yards and two touchdowns in the contest. Gant also added 60 receiving yards. Deveon Bryant also added 34 yards on the ground, averaging 8.5 yards per carry.
The most prolific target for Tennessee State quarterbacks was Da'Shon Davis, who caught five passes for 200 yards and one score. Davis became TSU's first receiver since September of 2019 when Chris Rowland finished with 203 yards against Middle Tennessee State.
Josh Green showed out for the Tennessee State defense, collecting three tackles and one interception which he returned for six. Terrell Allen added 10 tackles, 6.5 TFL, 4.5 sacks, and two forced fumbles and Eriq George had 1.5 TFL and one recovered a fumble in the win.
The Tigers won the turnover battle in Saturday's game, forcing three turnovers while coughing the ball up one time, with Tennessee State turning those takeaways into six points. The Tennessee State offense did a good job extending drives, converting on 42.9 percent of third-down attempts. The Tigers also went 1-for-1 on fourth down.
Tennessee State's defense held up against Lindenwood's offense, giving up 287 total yards. The Tigers harassed the Lindenwood passing attack all game long, registering seven sacks and pulling down two interceptions, with Tyler Jones coming up with the Tigers' second INT.
How It Happened
Tennessee State took a 7-0 lead over Lindenwood after scoring the game's first points with 11:21 left in the first quarter. Lindenwood then tied the game at 7-7 before the Tigers responded with a 35-yard field goal from James Lowery to jump back ahead 10-7.
Tennessee State kept Lindenwood off the scoreboard and extended its lead to 23-7 with 11:55 left in the second quarter. The Tigers continued to expand their advantage, scoring again to go up 30-7.
Tennessee State continued to extend its lead, scoring again with 6:36 left in the second quarter to go ahead 37-7. The Tigers kept scoring, tacking on a field goal to increase their advantage to 40-7.
Tennessee State held the Lions off the board before scoring for a final time with 3:07 left in the third quarter, extending their lead to 43-7. Tennessee State didn't score again and Lindenwood added 13 more points to finish off the scoring.
Game Notes
» Tennessee State outgained Lindenwood 466-287, including a 168-66 advantage on the ground.
» Tennessee State won the turnover battle 3-1 after intercepting two passes and recovering one fumble.
» The Tigers scored first with 11:21 left in the first quarter and never trailed the rest of the game on their way to victory.
» Tennessee State had their highest scoring quarter in the second quarter, when they put up 24 points.
» Tennessee State converted 6 of 14 third downs while Lindenwood was successful on 5 of 14.
» The Tigers had two players with more than eight tackles in the ballgame led by Allen, who had 10.
» James Lowery knocked through three field goals for the Tigers with a long of 37 yards.
» Tennessee State scored three touchdowns in the second quarter.
» Tennessee State went 1-for-1 on fourth down, converting on 100 percent of attempts.
» Tennessee State scored on a 90 yard strike from Ellis to .
» Tennessee State allowed zero points in two Lindenwood trips to the red zone.
» The Tigers totaled 13 tackles for loss and added seven sacks.
» Tennessee State won the time of possession battle 32:30 to 27:30.
» Tyler Kubat led the Lions passing attack, completing seven of his 13 attempts for 114 yards and two touchdowns with one interception.
» Jeff Caldwell was Lindenwood's leading receiver with 65 yards and one touchdown.
The Tigers will hit the road for their next two games, as they are set to travel to Charleston, S.C., to take on Charleston Southern.
