Courtesy of Tennessee State Athletics
MACOMB, Ill. — Early Offense and constant play along with a pair of QB scramble touchdowns by HBCU football quarterback Tevin Carter led Tennessee State over Western Illinois, 45-20, on Saturday afternoon.
| Statistics | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | OT | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
The Tigers improved to 7-3 on the year and 4-2 in Ohio Valley Conference play, while the Leathernecks fell to 3-7 and 2-4.
Draylen Ellis led Tennessee State’s passing attack with 182 yards through the air, tossing two touchdowns and one interception for the OVC’s only HBCU.
Carter led all Tigers rushers with 57 yards and two touchdowns in the contest, picking up 7.1 yards per carry. Jaden McGill also added 43 yards on the ground, averaging 4.3 yards per carry.
Gerard Bullock reeled in two catches for 53 yards. Bryant Williams got in on the action in the passing game as well, hauling in two balls for 50 yards and one touchdown.
Tyler Jones showed out for the Tennessee State defense, totaling one interception. Chris Walker added five tackles, 2.0 TFL, and two sacks and Ahmad Nelson had 11 tackles and one recovered fumble in the win.
The Tigers won the turnover battle in Saturday’s game, forcing two turnovers while coughing the ball up one time. Tennessee State converted on 64.3 percent of third-down attempts on the day. The Tigers also went 1-for-1 on fourth down.
Tennessee State’s defense held up fairly well against the run, limiting Western Illinois to 148 yards on the ground. Tennessee State out-rushed Western Illinois by 46 yards.
How It Happened
Tennessee State scored on the first drive of the game to take a 7-0 lead. After Western Illinois scored to narrow the Tigers lead to 7-3, The HBCU responded with a touchdown to make it 14-3.
Tennessee State kept Western Illinois off the scoreboard and increased its lead to 21-3 with 5:18 remaining in the second quarter. The Tigers continued to build their lead after Western Illinois closed the gap to 21-13, scoring again to go ahead 28-13.
Tennessee State kept building its advantage after Western Illinois made it a 28-20 game, scoring again with 7:30 left in the fourth quarter to make the score 31-20. The Tigers kept scoring, tacking on a touchdown to extend their advantage to 38-20.
Game Notes
» Western Illinois outgained Tennessee State 432-376 in the contest.
» TSU won the turnover battle 2-1 after intercepting one pass and recovering one fumble.
» The Tigers scored first with 11:38 remaining in the first quarter and never trailed the rest of the game on their way to victory.
» TSU had their highest scoring quarter in the second period when they put up 14 points.
» TSU converted 9 of 14 third downs while Western Illinois was successful on 6 of 15.
» Nelson led the Tigers with 11 tackles.
» TSU went 1-for-1 on fourth down, converting on 100 percent of attempts.
» TSU forced one red zone turnover in the contest.
» The Tigers ended the game on a strong note, scoring 17 unanswered points to close out the contest.
» Nathan Lamb led the Leathernecks passing attack, completing 24 of his 45 attempts for 266 yards and one touchdown.
» Lamb led the Western Illinois rushing attack with 74 yards and one touchdown.