Southern 41, Tennessee State 34

September 22, 2007

The Tigers of Tennessee State University jumped out to an early 13-0 lead against the Jaguars of Southern University, but turnovers and penalties doomed the visitors to a 41-34 loss.

Both teams lit up the scoreboard with offense and points, with Southern rolling up 480 yds in Total Offense (138 rush, 342 pass) on 77 plays and TSU rolled up 449 yds of Total Offense (133 rush, 316 pass) on 76 plays. The Tigers, however, committed five turnovers (3 fumbles, 2 interceptions) and were flagged eleven times for 131 yards in penalties.

For TSU, quarterback Antonio Heffner passed for 316 yds (13-26-2) and three TDs and RB Javarris Williams rushed for 107 yards on 14 attempts and 1 TD. Receivers Chris Johnson and Brandon Belvin finished with 119 and 106 yds receiving, respectively with a TD each.

In the first quarter, TSU strung together two quick scores on long, but short drives of 82 yds (5 plays) at 11:33 and 59 yds (3 plays) at 9:13 to take a 13-0 lead. Southern rallied back to score on a 9-play 65 yd drive to close the score to 13-6 at 6:23. TSU closed out the quarter with a 6-play 74 yd drive at :29 and a 20-6 score after one period.

In the second quarter, TSU went up 27-6 after an 11-play 67 yd drive at 6:36, but Southern scored twice at 6:03 and 3:24 to narrow the score at halftime to 27-19, TSU.

In the second half, Southern put up two scores to pull ahead of the Tigers 32-27, but TSU rallied for the lead after 3 with a late score (1:48) and a 34-32 lead.

Southern turned up the defense and forced four crucial TSU turnovers (2 interceptions and 2 fumbles) to score a TD and a FG in the period 10:16 & 3:56 respectively to seal the win.

Southern remains undefeated 4-0 and will play Alabama State in Mobile on ESPNU. Tennessee State falls to 2-2 and will play Florida A&M in Atlanta next week on Fox Sports South