By Cass Teague and Marcus Jones
Saturday, November 23, the Tennessee State University football Tigers won a share of their Conference Championship for the first time in 25 years, and are headed to the NCAA FCS playoffs for the first time since 2013. The team are OVC Champions after knocking off #11 Southeast Missouri, 28-21, at Nissan Stadium on Senior Day. The Tigers improved to 9-3 on the year and 6-2 in Conference.
The Tigers travel to face the #14 ranked University of Montana Grizzlies on Saturday, November 30, at 9:15 p.m. CST, with the game airing on ESPN2. This is the only first-round NCAA FCS tournament game to be nationally televised of the eight games being played. The game radio broadcast will be on WNSR 560 AM, 95.9 FM (Nashville), and 107.9 FM (Smyrna). The station has an online portal for listening anywhere.
This season is the 25th anniversary of TSU’s last OVC championship season, 1999, when the Tigers went undefeated in the regular season, winning all 11 games, including being undefeated in conference play (11-0,7-0). That team, which had also won the conference championship in 1998, entered the postseason ranked #1 in the nation. They hosted the Aggies of North Carolina A&T State University, in the then-new downtown stadium now known as Nissan Stadium, on Thanksgiving weekend in a game billed as the “Black College Super Bowl.” The Tigers lost a hard-fought battle 24-14.
The Tigers’ last FCS Playoff appearance was in 2013, when they defeated Butler University in Indianapolis, 31-0, in the opening round, before falling to Eastern Illinois University in Charleston, 51-10, in the second round. Montana enters the playoffs with an 8-4 overall record, earning an at-large bid from the Big Sky Conference, where they went 5-3. They will host the Tigers in their 26,500 seat on-campus stadium, Washington-Grizzly Stadium in Missoula.
Saturday’s game will mark the first-ever meeting between TSU and Montana. The Griz are the alma mater of TSU defensive coordinator Brandon Fisher, who was a two-year starter at outside linebacker and appeared in two FCS Championship games during his collegiate career. The winner of the first-round matchup will travel to Brookings, South Dakota, to face the No. 3 seed and defending FCS champion South Dakota State Jackrabbits in the second round of the playoffs.
Titans put one in the win column
The struggling Tennessee Titans (3-8, 1-4) beat the AFC South leading Texans (7-5, 4-2) at NRG Stadium in Houston on Sunday.
Titans quarterback Will Levis completed 18-of-24 passes for 278 yards and two touchdowns.
“It feels awesome,” Levis said after the game. “A lot of people have been working hard to get a win like this, and (I’m) just happy from top down, the whole organization. It was good to come here and get a win.
Running back Tony Pollard ran for 119 yards on 24 carries, with 10-yard touchdown. Calvin Ridley led the team with 93 receiving yards, including a beautiful 63-yarder, and Nick Westbrook-Ikhine scored a 38-yard touchdown. Kicker Nick Folk made field goals from 51, 51 and 56 yards.
Tennessee’s 32-27 win over the Texans was the team’s fifth win in the past six games in Houston. The Titans return to action next Sunday at the Washington Commanders in D.C., then host the Jaguars (Dec. 8) and the Bengals (Dec. 15) on consecutive Sundays, before traveling to Indianapolis against the Colts (Dec. 22) and Jacksonville against the Jaguars (Dec. 29). The Titans close out their season at home against the Texans on January 5.
The Titans nation is undoubtedly elated with the team’s perseverance, which led to a hard-fought win. Our objective is to exhibit this same level of dedication in every game, although we did face some challenges, including a few fumbles. By upholding this effort and implementing adjustments to our blocking approach, we can reasonably expect to win every game. In summary, I encourage the team to focus on refining their technique and press forward with confidence, Go Tennessee Titans!
