Tennessee State 23, S.E. Missouri State 17

TSU head coach James Webster is 2-3, 1-0 OVC on the season.

TSU beats SEMO in OVC opener

One quarterback turned out to be all Tennessee State needed to beat Southeast Missouri State Saturday night. Calvin McNairl, who shared time at quarterback last week with Dominic Grooms, ran the offense the entire game and led the Tigers to a 23-17 win. An LP Field crowd of 6,314 watched McNairl, a sophomore from Henry County, run for two touchdowns and throw for another as TSU (2-3, 1-0) won its Ohio Valley Conference opener. SEMO (1-4, 0-2) gave TSU its first OVC loss last year in Cape Girardeau but is now 0-5 against the Tigers at LP Field. Grooms started the first game of the season but injured his hamstring in the second quarter. He returned last week against Florida A&M, but had to leave in the fourth quarter when his hamstring started tightening up. Grooms returned to practice this week and hoped to play but did not dress.

TSU's McNairl more comfortable passing

Earlier in the week Coach James Webster said Tennessee State’s coaches were putting in a passing package Calvin McNairl would find more comfortable, and the sophomore certainly looked at ease Saturday night against Southeast Missouri State. McNairl threw the ball more efficiently in the 23-17 victory than he has in any of his four starts this season or in the four starts he had as a freshman in 2007 when he replaced Antonio Heffner because of injury. “I’ve told people Calvin can throw the football and he showed that tonight,’’ Webster said. “I think the offensive coaches did a great job of putting together a package for him and that really helped us.”

Attendance: 6,314 @ L.P. Field, Nashville, TN

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Foes chase improved Tennessee State Tigers

Ranking gives Tigers' opponents some motivation

TSU (6-1, 3-0 OVC ) at SE Missouri (2-5, 0-3)
Where: Houck Stadium, Cape Girardeau, Mo.
Time: 1 p.m. today
TV/Radio: None locally/1470-AM
Last meeting: TSU 31, SEMO 0 (2006)
Key matchup: TSU QB Antonio Heffner vs. SEMO LB Nick Stauffer and DB Eddie Calvin. The coaching staff revealed last week that Heffner has been hampered by a sore shoulder all season, yet he leads the OVC in passing yards per game (223.1) and total offensive yards (271.0). Stauffer has 76 tackles, including two sacks, and Calvin has four interceptions.

There's not enough room on Tennessee State's uniforms for a number and a bull's-eye, but that hasn't kept the Tigers from feeling like they're the target of every team they play. Since moving into first place in the Ohio Valley Conference and climbing into the Football Championship Series rankings, Coach James Webster said the No. 19 Tigers have gotten their opponents' best shots. He expects nothing less from Southeast Missouri (2-5, 0-3 OVC) when the Tigers (6-1, 3-0) visit Cape Girardeau, Mo., today for a 1 p.m. kickoff.
























TSU only loss has come at the hands of the hot Florida A&M Rattlers in the Atlanta Football Classic.

"This football team has earned the right to be where they are because we work them so hard and they have really had to battle to be where they are,'' Webster said. "(We) now have to work even harder to stay there because we have a bull's-eye on our chest and people are going to come at us a little harder." Webster is confident his team's past two opponents played their best games motivated by the opportunity to knock the Tigers out of the conference's catbird seat.

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