Western Carolina Runs Away from Tennessee Tech, 44-20
Western Carolina never trailed, and the final margin was 24 points. The reason was a ground game that ran 61 times for 298 yards against a Tennessee Tech team that carried 15 times for 53.
Western Carolina jumped out on a Bryan McCollum field goal, a 1-yard Jordan Martin-Durham run and a 49-yard Lex Thomas touchdown pass to Jai Boyd, and led 17-0 in the second quarter. Tennessee Tech answered with two Jax Leatherwood touchdown passes (18 yards to Gabe Nunez, 4 yards to Eric Weatherly) and a 50-yard Carter Brown field goal as the half ended, and it was 20-17 at the break.
That is as close as it got. Josh Perry ran 35 yards for a score early in the third quarter, and McCollum added a field goal as the third quarter ended. The home team outscored Tennessee Tech 24-3 in the second half, adding a 13-yard Perry touchdown at the start of the fourth and a Martin-Durham 1-yard run with 1:03 left. Martin-Durham, listed as a quarterback, scored both of the 1-yard touchdowns, on 4 carries for 7 yards.
Turnovers did not help the visitors. Tennessee Tech lost four fumbles and threw an interception, five giveaways, while Western Carolina lost one fumble. Tennessee Tech passed for 341 yards to Western Carolina's 236, but the home team's rushing made up the difference, 534 total yards to 394. Western Carolina is 3-2, Tennessee Tech 4-1.
Fantasy managers should know that Nunez finished with 41.5 Promethium points on a losing team: 13 catches for 225 yards. Even a lost fumble could not dent that.