COOKEVILLE – Tennessee Tech football shut down Tennessee State’s offense and beat the Tigers 24-14 in the Big South/Ohio Valley Conference opener for both teams Saturday at Tucker Stadium.
The Tigers (2-2, 0-1) struggled to produce a rushing attack, and quarterback Draylen Ellis could only keep the passing game in gear in spots. Ellis was under heavy pressure the throughout the game.
It was the first game of the season for Tech (1-2, 1-0) against an FCS opponent. The Golden Eagles opened with losses to Middle Tennessee State (32-25) and Georgia (48-3).
“Not having a rush game hurt a lot,” TSU coach Eddie George said. “A lot of it was due to the sacks. We couldn’t get the run game going. Couldn’t get any element of it going. Just having positive yards would have helped. So we were always behind the chains.”
TSU’s only offensive touchdown came on a 25-yard pass from Ellis to Jalal Dean in the second quarter.
Tech secured the win when Ty Moss intercepted an Ellis pass and returned it 56 yards for a touchdown with 1:05 left to play.
It was the Golden Eagles’ second straight win over the Tigers.
Tennessee State rushing game is non-existent
Tennessee State had minus-15 rushing yards in the first half and finished the game with zero. Tech had 220 rushing yards.
The Tigers entered the game ranked second in the Big South/OVC in rushing (135.3 yards per game) behind UT Martin (140.7).
“The one thing I can hang my hat on is that we’ve got to get better at running the football,” George said. “Put ourselves in third-and-short situations. We’ll probably change some things up; essentially tweak (the run game) a little bit. We’ve got to learn how to play assignment football. It’s discipline, it’s fundamentals, it’s technique. They beat us up front today.”
The Tigers’ leading rusher was backup running back C.J. Evans with 14 yards on six carries. Starting running back Jordan Gant had 8 yards on three carries, Jalen Rouse had 1 yard on two carries and Jaden McGill had minus-2 two yards on five carries.
Tennessee Tech sacks set tone against Tennessee State
After not being sacked in last week’s 41-28 win against Arkansas-Pine Bluff, Ellis was sacked on each of the Tigers’ first three possessions. Each of those sacks came on third downs, forcing TSU to punt on the next play.
Tech’s Hudson Tucker made the first sack at the TSU 40. Jeremiah Sandiford and Theron Gaines recorded the second at the TSU 25, and Cayman Spaulding got the third at the TSU 35.
Tech added another sack on TSU’s last possession of the first half when Omari Philyaw tackled Ellis for a 3-yard loss.
Tech came up with sacks on TSU’s first two possessions in the second half and finished with seven sacks and six other tackles for loss.
It was the most sacks for Tech since having eight against Eastern Illinois in 2010.
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Former Pearl-Cohn star Boogie Trotter gets first pick-six for TSU
With Tennessee State in danger of going down by three scores in the second quarter, nickelback Boogie Trotter picked off a Jordyn Potts pass and ran 69 yards for a touchdown to trim the Tech led to 14-7.
Trotter’s interception stopped the momentum Tech had gained early in the game.
It was TSU’s first interception return for a touchdown this season. The last came in 2023 when Josh Green returned an interception 31 yards for a touchdown against Lindenwood on Oct. 28.
It was the first career interception for Trotter, a junior who is in his second season as a starter.
Trotter came up with another turnover later in the half when he hit Tech running back Obi Sanni, forcing a fumble at the TSU 43. Trotter then recovered the fumble.
Reach Mike Organ at 615-259-8021 or on X @MikeOrganWriter.
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