UT Martin Erases 14-point Hole, Beats Tennessee State
Take away the two defensive touchdowns and this ends 28-28. UT Martin got a 97-yard fumble return and a 23-yard interception return, and with them turned a game it trailed 21-7 into a 42-28 win over Tennessee State.
The start belonged to the home team. Daylin Lee threw 21 yards to Aaron Duncan II with 7:19 left in the first quarter, then 99 yards to Cam Bulluck with 2:50 to go in it, and it was 14-0. After Tate Surber got UT Martin on the board from 8 yards, Lee and Bulluck connected again from 20 yards to make it 21-7. Chris Franklin ran in from 8 yards with 41 seconds left in the half to make it 21-14.
Then the third quarter turned. Farand Washington returned a fumble 97 yards for a touchdown with 4:35 left, tying it at 21-21, and Makhia Sherrard ran 34 yards with 4 seconds on the clock to make it 28-21 going into the fourth. Franklin scored again from 4 yards early in the fourth. Lee and Bulluck got one more, from 29 yards, to make it 35-28, but Joel Castleberry returned an interception 23 yards with 2:02 left to end it.
The passing numbers on the Tennessee State side were big and meaningless: 376 yards through the air, 16 yards on the ground on 20 carries. Lee threw 3 interceptions and lost a fumble, four turnovers from one player. UT Martin had no interceptions and lost two fumbles, ran for 200 yards, and threw for just 114.
UT Martin is 2-2. Tennessee State falls to 1-4, and Bulluck's big night goes to waste: he had 7 catches, 191 yards and 3 touchdowns, and 44.1 fantasy points.