TSU Football Falls to Nationally-Ranked SEMO

PHOTO GALLERY | BOX SCORE

Game 7: Tennessee State 21, Southeast Missouri 38
Records: TSU (3-4, 2-3 OVC), Southeast Missouri (7-2, 5-1 OVC)
Venue: Houck Field
Location: Cape Girardeau, Mo.
Weather: Partly Sunny, 53
Kickoff Time: 1:05 p.m.
Attendance: 3,481

CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. --- Facing a ranked team for the first time this season, the Tennessee State football team suffered a 38-21 road defeat at the hands of Southeast Missouri on Saturday afternoon at Houck Field in Ohio Valley Conference action. Saturday marked the final road game of the 2018 season for TSU.

TSU (3-4, 2-3 OVC) moved the ball offensively with Te’Kendrick Roberson (137 yards) and Earl Harrison (105 yards) both going over 100 yards on the ground. Southeast Missouri (7-2, 5-1 OVC), ranked 24th at the FCS level, showed its own offensive power with 484 yards of total offense and four touchdown passes from Daniel Santacaterina.

The Redhawks took a 24-14 halftime lead and was able to extend the advantage to 38-21 in the third. TSU was unable to cut into SEMO’s lead in the fourth quarter.

TSU’s defense was led by the linebacker duo of Blair Edwards and Terry Straughter, who finished with 10 and eight tackles respectively.

TOTALS

• The offense totaled 508 yards, ahead of Southeast Missouri’s 484.
• This marks the third time this season the Tigers breached the 500 yard threshold.
• The Tigers produced a balanced attack gaining 255 yards through the air and 253 on the ground.
• Running attacked averaged 7.2 yards per carry.
• The defense registered seven stops behind the line of scrimmage, including two sacks.
• The Big Blue was credited with nine quarterback hurries.
• TSU was held to 5-of-14 on third down attempts.
• The Tigers held a 32:21-27:39 advantage in Time of Possession.
• SEMO scored 14 points off turnovers.

INDIVIDUAL

• Te’kendrick Roberson led all runners with 137 yards on 13 carries.
• The junior running back averaged 10.5 yards per touch on the ground.
• Fellow running back garnered 105 yards on 11 rushes, averaging 9.5 yards per attempt.
• Blair Edwards led the Tigers with 10 tackles.
• Terry Straughter added eight, five solo, and recorded a game high four quarterback hurries.
• Mekhi Brown and Khalil Jones recorded sacks for the defense.
• Steven Newbold led the Tiger receiving corps with nine catches for 99 yards and a touchdown.
• Newbold has received limited playing time in the last three games due to injury.
• Treon Harris and Chris Rowland each pulled down four passes.
• Harris racked up 70 yards and a score, while Rowland went for 40.
• DeMarco Corbin crossed the goal line for the sixth time this season.
• Malik Abdul-Haqq notched his second blocked field goal of the season.
• Micheal Hughes finished 24-of-41 for 255 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions.

FIRST QUARTER

• Southeast Missouri gained a pair of first downs on its initial drive, before the TSU defense ended the series and forced a punt.
• The Tiger offense started on the 18 yard line and needed just four plays to reach midfield.
• Micheal Hughes opened the drive with a 17 yard pass to Steven Newbold.
• Te’kendrick Roberson bookended a Hughes to Chris Rowland seven yard pass with runs of six and 13 yards, respectively.
• Roberson added a five yard scamper to set up an Antonio Zita field goal attempt.
• Zita’s 51 yarder was blocked at the line of scrimmage, giving the Redhawks the ball out the SEMO 42.
• SEMO used eight plays to move 36 yards and used a 40 yard field goal by Kendrick Tiller to take a 3-0 lead with 5:36 remaining in the first.
• TSU gained 44 yards on the ground before penalties hampered the drive forcing a punt.
• TSU outgained SEMO 94-71 in the first 15 minutes of play. 

SECOND QUARTER

• The Redhawks opened the second quarter with a pair of touchdowns in the first 3:09 of the second period to take a 17-0 lead.
• The Tigers responded with a four play 80 yard drive to cut the deficit to 10, making the score 17-7.
• Hughes hit Treon Harris for 27 yards to get the series rolling.
• Earl Harrison followed with a 51 yard dash to the Redhawks two.
• DeMarco Corbin picked up his sixth touchdown of the season on a two yard blast.
• SEMO answered with an eight play, 73 yard, touchdown drive to push the score to 24-7.
• After a Chris Rowland three yard run, Hughes found Rowland for a 29 yard gain.
• Hughes completed back-to-back passes to Newbold for a total of 21 yards to move to the SEMO 20.
• Three plays later, Hughes connected on a 20 yard scoring pass to Harris to make the score 24-14 with 3:09 to play.
• The two teams traded three-and-outs giving Southeast Missouri another opportunity.
• SEMO moved to the Tigers 22 and was forced to attempt a 39 yard field goal.
• Malik Abdul-Haqq thwarted the attempt with a block, sending the teams to the locker room with the Tigers trailing 24-14.

THIRD QUARTER

• Roberson opened the second half with his longest run of the season, going 69 yards to the Redhawks six.
• TSU missed out on a scoring opportunity as Hughes threw his third interception of the season.
• SEMO turned the pick into points scoring seven plays later to extend their lead to 31-14.
• The Redhawks forced another Hughes interception and moved down the field to create a 24 point advantage.
• The Tigers offense continued to roll using four plays over 14 yards to move to the Redhawks four.
• Newbold caught a three yard scoring pass from Hughes on a fourth down attempt to keep the Tigers hopes alive.
• TSU outgained SEMO 172-121 in the quarter, rushing for 105 yards. 

FOURTH QUARTER

• TSU forced a stop to open the final stanza, giving the offense a chance to creep closer.
• The Tigers continued to move the ball as Newbold caught a 12 yard pass and Harrison dashed for another 16.
• The Tigers kept the drive alive with a Hughes to Newbold completion of seven yards on a third and six.
• The Big Blue could only gain six more yards, down to the SEMO 20, before being stopped on a fourth down attempt.
• The defense would get the ball back for the Tigers after sacks by Khalil Jones and Mekhi Brown forced a turnover on downs.
• TSU’s last attempt fell short as Harrison was stopped short of the line to gain on a fourth down attempt, giving the ball back to the Redhawks with two minutes to play.

WHAT'S NEXTTSU returns home for the first of two contests at Hale Stadium. The Tigers will square off with No. 10 Jacksonville State on Nov. 10. 

GAME NOTES

• TSU’s captains were Micheal Hughes, Thomas Burton, Chris Rowland and LaQuarius Cook.
• SEMO won the coin toss and elected to receive the opening kickoff.
• TSU is 14-11 in the all-time series versus Southeast Missouri.
• Southeast Missouri is ranked 24th in the AFCA Coaches Top 25 and 25th in the STATS Top 25.
• SEMO is the first ranked opponent TSU has faced this season.
• The last time TSU had a rusher go for 100-plus yards was Nov. 19, 2016 when Earl Harrison ran for 168 at Southeast Missouri.
• The last time TSU had two rushers finish with 100-plus yards in the same game was Oct. 2, 2010 versus North Carolina A&T. Dante’ Thomas rushed for 186 yards and Preston Brown finished with 145 rushing yards. 

QUOTESSAFETY SHAKUR JACKSON(On the play of the defense)
“I think we could have done better as a unit, being locked in our jobs and responsibilities. We let this one get away from us. I thought we had a good game plan coming in and we made some good adjustments. We just didn’t get it done.”

(On adjustments in the game)
“We stopped them and forced some negative plays on them. But then they started hitting plays that kept moving the chains. That’s something we need to keep working on – just getting off the field and getting more three-and-outs.”

WIDE RECEIVER STEVEN NEWBOLD(On the play of the offense)
“Our offense was good. We were on and off at some points of the game, but we still did a pretty good job today.”

(On eliminating turnovers)
“It’s like coach said, it’s the little things that held us back. False starts and holding on first down are those little things. But when we can pick up the little things, it will help us out.”

(On playing back-to-back games against ranked opponents)
“This game, we learned a lot. We can play with a ranked team. Just because they are ranked does not mean they can just go out there and beat us, but this was a good game for us to show us where we are at and help us get ready for next week.”

LINEBACKER TERRY STRAUGHTER(On the challenges in the game)
“We played physical, but when their offense hit a couple big plays it brought the momentum down. We had a lack of focus on the field and it hurt us early in the game.”

(On facing a ranked opponent)
“We came in not looking at them as a ranked team, just a regular team. But little mistakes and not staying focused did not allow us to play at the level of our opponent.”

RUNNING BACK TE’KENDRICK ROBERSON(On his rushing performance)
“Coach told us all week to hit the back gap and we stayed on that gap the whole game. We hit hard and heading downhill.”

(On Earl Harrison joining him with 100-yard performances)
“It felt great getting a couple guys to run for 100-plus yards, but the job is to win the game. And we did not win the game. So we need to get back to work on Monday and try to fix what we can fix.”

TENNESSEE STATE UNIVERSITY TIGERS ATHLETIC COMMUNICATIONS