Six different players scored touchdowns as Tennessee State rolled past Eastern Illinois 41-17 on Saturday night at Nissan Stadium.
The Tigers improved to 5-2 on the year and 3-1 in Ohio Valley Conference play, while the Panthers fell to 1-6.
Draylen Ellis led Tennessee State’s passing attack with 224 yards through the air, tossing four touchdowns without throwing an interception.
Jaden McGill paced the Tigers rushing attack by accumulating 47 yards over the course of the game, averaging 5.2 yards per carry. Cj Evans also added 37 yards and one touchdown on the ground, averaging 5.3 yards per carry.
Karate Brenson reeled in six catches for 121 yards and one score.
TD pass number 4️⃣by Draylen Ellis … now to Gerard Bullock
3Q | 0:32
TSU — 34
EIU — 17 pic.twitter.com/aSef5iJGVe— Tennessee State Football (@TSUTigersFB) October 13, 2024
Boogie Trotter showed out for the Tennessee State defense, collecting seven tackles and one interception. Keandre Booker added four tackles, 2.0 tackles for loss, two sacks, and one forced fumble, and the team had the win.
The Tigers won the turnover battle in Saturday’s game, forcing one turnover.
Tennessee State converted on 46.2 percent of third-down attempts on the day. The Tigers also went 1-for-1 on fourth down.
Defensively, Tennessee State did an excellent job limiting the Eastern Illinois rushing attack, holding the Panthers to 75 yards on the ground. In part because of that stellar defense, Tennessee State running backs outgained their Eastern Illinois counterparts 128-75.
Tennessee State’s offense made the most of its visits to the red zone, scoring touchdowns on five of its five trips.
TSU found itself down early, 3-0, but responded to grab a 7-3 lead with 10:27 left in the second quarter. The Tigers then scored another to expand the lead to 14-3.
Tennessee State then added a touchdown with 2:23 left in the second quarter to make it a 20-3 lead. The Tigers continued to build their lead after Eastern Illinois narrowed the gap to 20-17, scoring again to go on top 27-17.
Tennessee State kept building its lead, scoring again with 32 seconds remaining in the third quarter to go on top 34-17.
Courtesy: Tennessee State Athletics