Tennessee Tech Climbs Out of a 10-point Hole to Stay 8-1
East Tennessee State ran for 207 yards on 41 carries, threw for 114, never turned the ball over, and still lost. That is a hard one to explain, and the scoreboard does not help: Tennessee Tech 24, East Tennessee State 17.
It did not look that way early. Tennessee Tech scored first on a 6-yard run by M.J. Flowers, then TJ Peyton answered with a 45-yard touchdown run late in the first quarter, Jason Albritton added a 1-yard score, and Ewan Johnson kicked a 38-yard field goal to make it 17-7 with 4:05 left in the half. Qua Ashley got a 12-yard touchdown run 1:44 later to cut it to 17-14, and that was the last score of the first half.
The second half belonged to the visitors, and it was quiet. Nothing happened on the scoreboard until a 33-yard Carter Brown field goal at 14:07 of the fourth tied it at 17. Jax Leatherwood then sneaked in from a yard out with 4:08 left for the 24-17 lead. Tennessee Tech scored the final 17 points of the game, all of them after trailing by 10, and East Tennessee State never scored again.
The team numbers do not explain it either. Tennessee Tech had 334 total yards to 321, nobody lost a turnover on either side, and the sacks were two to one. Seven points separated them. Flip one possession and these two swap places.
The records: Tennessee Tech is 8-1, East Tennessee State is 5-2. Fantasy-wise, Peyton was the best player on the field, even on the losing side.