Charleston Southern Sacks Tennessee State Six Times
Six sacks. Charleston Southern's defense dropped Tennessee State six times, and the Tigers' offense finished the day with 136 total yards, 17 of them on the ground on 24 carries. That is how a 20-7 road win happens when your own offense gains only 283.
Charleston Southern got its points in a hurry in the second quarter. Jared Echols found KD Dorsey for an 18-yard touchdown at 12:03, and 81 seconds later Tristan Lennon returned an interception 32 yards for another, which made it 14-0. Matt Rolader kicked a 45-yard field goal just before halftime and a 26-yarder late in the third, and it was 20-0.
Tennessee State did not score until 9:35 of the fourth quarter, when Byron McNair threw a 9-yard touchdown to Cam Bulluck. That was it. Take away Lennon's pick-six and this is still a 13-7 win, which tells you something about how little the home side had going.
The turnovers were as lopsided as the sacks. Tennessee State threw two interceptions and lost a fumble. Charleston Southern had none. The visitors also did not need much from their own running game, 31 carries for 73 yards, and leaned on Echols' 199 passing yards (19 of 27).
Dorsey's touchdown was the first score of the game, and the defense did the rest. Charleston Southern's lead was 20-0 before Tennessee State put anything on the board, so the late touchdown only cut the margin.
Charleston Southern moves to 3-2. Tennessee State is now 2-5. For fantasy, the story is Bulluck, who scored 15.3 points on four catches, and Dorsey, who got 13.6 on the first touchdown of the game.