West Florida Survives Six Southeast Missouri State Giveaways, 20-17
Six turnovers. Southeast Missouri State threw three interceptions and lost three fumbles, and still lost by only three. That is either a compliment to the offense or a sign of how much it had left on the table, and I am not sure which.
West Florida took the 20-17 win and moved to 3-1, while the Redhawks fell to 2-2. The Argonauts were outgained 268 yards to 197 and ran 19 times for 42 yards, so this was not a game they won by moving the ball. They won it with four sacks and a fumble recovery in the end zone from Christian Ware-Terry late in the third quarter. Take that seven points away and West Florida has 13, Southeast Missouri State has 17, and the home team wins.
The scoring went back and forth early. Justin Keller put the Redhawks up 3-0 with a 42-yard field goal, Reid Grek answered with a 32-yarder, and then added a 46-yarder in the second quarter to make it 6-3. Teagan Cobb (a punter on the roster, in case you are wondering) ran in from 6 yards for a 10-6 halftime edge. That was the last time Southeast Missouri State led. Ware-Terry's recovery made it 13-10, and Jake Robinette caught a 20-yard touchdown from Donovan Leary early in the fourth to stretch it to 20-10.
Braylen Ragland threw a 2-yard touchdown to Jobe Bryant with 8:32 left to close it to 20-17, and nobody scored again. Ragland finished 14 of 25 for 162 yards with the three picks, and lost two fumbles on top of that, along with minus 31 rushing yards on 10 carries (ouch). Southeast Missouri State ran the ball 47 times for 106 yards, which is a lot of carries for a modest return.
Fantasy wise, Leary was the top scorer on a night when nobody had a monster line. Bryant and Tristin Purnell gave the losing side two of the top three, a reminder that points pile up in losses too.