Eddie and Eriq George talk about TSU’s season-opening win
Tennessee State celebrated its first season-opening victory in the coach Eddie George era on Saturday when the Tigers beat Mississippi Valley State.
Tennessee State football’s hopes of winning 2-0 for the first time in six years were dashed Saturday when No. 2 North Dakota State crushed the Tigers 52-3 at the Fargodome.
The Tigers (1-1) could have gained rare early season momentum with their 41-21 win last week against Mississippi Valley State, coach Eddie George’s first season-opening victory at TSU.
But NDSU (1-1) dominated the game from start to finish and claimed its 26th consecutive home win. The season opener last week against Colorado was lost 31-26 in Boulder.
“This is a great lesson for us moving forward,” George said. “This is what we want to be, this is the type of team we want to become. How do we get there? They really showed us today.”
It was TSU’s biggest loss since a 56-3 loss to Notre Dame in the 2023 season opener.
It wasn’t a perfect game for North Dakota State, but it was close
TSU was never in the game after the Bison played a nearly perfect first half before they began substituting their starters.
NDSU scored a touchdown on each of its five possessions. The team did not punt or incur any penalties in the first half until an offensive holding call on its first possession of the second half.
Quarterback Cam Miller, a four-year starter who has thrown for more than 6,000 yards in his career, led the Bisons’ offense with relative ease against a TSU defense that had no answer. Miller completed 81% of his passes (13 of 16) in the first half and was responsible for four of five touchdowns (three passing, one running).
George said TSU missed a chance to get in the game when they failed to get first downs early on several offensive attempts.
“Especially in the second quarter, when it was 21-0, I felt like we were losing control,” George said. “Up until that point, we had our chances on offense to convert some third downs. If you miss those opportunities against a team like that, they’ll take advantage of you like they did. If you convert those third downs, it’ll probably change the dynamic of the game.”
TSU’s offense, which once again failed to get its running game going, didn’t even cross the 50-yard line in the first half. The unit only reached a total of 100 yards at the start of the third quarter. Things didn’t get any better in the second half. The Tigers had three fumbles in 11 minutes against mostly reserve defenders.
Quarterback Draylen Ellis, who was under a lot of pressure throughout the game, completed 17 of 25 passes for 128 yards and was the Tigers’ best runner with just 27 yards on 11 carries.
The penalties for the TSU were torture
One of the few complaints George had after the first game was the number of penalties (10 for 102 yards) the Tigers committed against Mississippi Valley State.
On Saturday, TSU committed a delay of game penalty on its first play, a sign that the Tigers, who committed the second-most penalties in the Big South/OVC in 2023, have not fixed the problem.
Towards the end of the first quarter, TSU cornerback Jalen McClendon was cautioned and ejected from the game for a helmet-to-helmet hit on running back Barika Kpeenu.
“It was frustrating to lose one of our best cornerbacks that early. That was another point in the game where we could have changed the momentum,” George said. “The penalty came on third down, so we would have had a chance to stop them, but instead they ended up with a first down.”
The Tigers’ secondary was already struggling against Miller, and things only got worse after McClendon left.
TSU finished with seven penalties over 60 yards.
Tennessee Vols transfer Malik Ganaway provided one of TSU’s few highlights
TSU cornerback Malik Ganaway, a transfer from the Tennessee Vols, delivered one of the few big plays for the defense.
The sophomore from Trenton, Tennessee, intercepted a pass from NDSU backup quarterback Cole Payton in the end zone in the third quarter, stopping a Bisons charge at the TSU 27-yard line and marking the first time in the game that NDSU failed to score.
Ganaway finished the game with five tackles, three of them solo.
Reach Mike Organ at 615-259-8021 or at X @MikeOrganWriter.
