Tennessee State University used a stingy defense and a 97-yard drive in the final quarter to earn a 20-6 win over Austin Peay. The victory gave the Tigers their first Ohio Valley Conference win of the season, bringing their season record to 4-4 overall and their conference record to 1-4. APSU is still seeking its first win of the year after falling to 0-9, 0-6 in conference. The two teams battled it out in front of 5,985 fans who had endured continual rain on Saturday afternoon at Hale Stadium.
Austin Peay took an early 3-0 lead on a 35-yard field goal by Logan Birchfield, capping a 66 yard -11 play drive. A 47-yard field goal by Lane Clark tied the game at 3-3 with 5:48 remaining in the first quarter. The Tigers took their first lead of the game, at 10-3, when O’Shay Ackerman-Carter found Joshawn Bowens in the back of the end zone from three yards out with 10:30 remaining in the half. The touchdown was the sixth for the redshirt-freshman quarterback and the third for the senior tight end.
With just under four minutes to go before half, the Tigers added to their lead when Clark connected on a 38-yard field goal to make the score 13-3. The Governors got their offense going again to close out the first half with a Birchfield 22-yard field goal which cut the score to 13-6.
Erick Evans broke through the left side of the line for 25 yards and his third touchdown of the season to give the Tigers a 20-6 advantage, the final score. Evans finished the game with 13 rushes and a game high 83 yards. Hooks added 76 yards on 18 carries and surpassed Larry Kinnebrew (1978-82) to become the seventh all-time leading rusher at TSU.
I’ve had some great offensive lineman for the past four years and they just block for me and I appreciate everything they’ve done for me,” TSU redshirt senior running back Telvin Hooks said after the game. “Without them, I can’t do what I did. You have to buckle down when you see this rain because you know you’re going to have to run the ball a lot, and I think Erick (Evans) and I did a great job of handling that. I appreciate the offensive line grinding even though it’s been a rough start for us with the run game, but today we came out and had to do it.”
The Tigers celebrate Senior Day on Saturday, Nov. 7 as they host Murray State at 2:30 p.m. in Hale Stadium. A win will guarantee a non-losing season; and another win at Tennessee Tech on Nov. 21 in their season finale will earn them a winning season record. Both games will be televised, locally on Channel WUXP-30, and nationally on the American Sports Network; Tiger radio broadcasts are now on FM 102.1 The Light in Nashville.
TSU Football Seniors playing in their last home game
1 Tom Smith RB Apopka, Fla. (Tennessee)
6 Hakeem Parker WR New Orleans, La. (East Central CC)
8 Gabe Terry DE Palm Beach, Fla. (Copiah-Lincoln CC)
18 Telvin Hooks RB Edgewater, Fla. (New Smyrna Beach HS)
24 Bernell Brooks CB New Orleans, La. (Clark HS)
34 Sterlin Leveque FB Smyrna, Tenn. (Smyrna HS)
36 Andrew Dale FS Murfreesboro, Tenn. (Riverdale HS)
56 Aaron Woods LS Knoxville, Tenn. (Halls HS)
71 Shaq Anthony OL Piedmont, S.C. (Clemson)
73 DeAndre Haynes OT Richmond, Calif. (Contra Costa CC)
75 James Lewis OG Arlington, Tenn. (Vanderbilt)
81 Joshawn Bowens TE Greenville, S.C. (Greenville HS)
83 Archie Denard TE Hollandale, Miss. (Itawamba CC)
88 Isaiah Jeffries-Freeman WR Kansas City, Mo. (Rockhurst HS)
89 Andrew Bather WR LaVergne, Tenn. (LaVergne HS)
90 Dinsdale Jackson DT Miami Gardens, Fla. (American Heritage HS)
