Martin, Tennessee – RB Sam Franklin scored the first and last touchdowns for the UT Martin Skyhawks in stunning fashion to offset a great Missouri Bear comeback, 38-31. The two halves played like two entirely different games. Seventeen seconds after the start, Franklin burst off tackle to the right side untouched for an 81-yard touchdown gallop. The Skyhawks dominated in the first half to lead at intermission, 24-7.
In the second half, Missouri State came out firing. Led by quarterback Jacob Clark, they tied the score with 9:39 remaining in the final period. After exchanging scores, at the 1:45 mark, Franklin ran 20 yards off the right side on his final and 20th carry for his third touchdown. It sealed the win for the Skyhawks, 38-31. Franklin finished his day with 20 carries for 259 yards and three TDs.
Unstoppable Skyhawks
The Missouri State Bears (0-2) countered Franklin’s first score with a 75-yard drive resulting in a 33-yard scoring pass from Clark to Jalen Sharp. After that however, the Skyhawks controlled the clock and moved the ball consistently for the rest of the half. After coming up empty on his first field goal, Aidan Laros converted his next attempt from 29 to lead 10-7. Utilizing long hand-clapping signals from the shotgun and a no-huddle offense, Skyhawk QB Kinkead Dent (14 for 33, 107 yards and two TDs) controlled the ball and the clock the rest of the half. First, he finished off a 66-yard drive on a three-yard score to TE Austin Bray to lead 17-7 at the end of one.
Dent and three shifty, leg-churning, quick Skyhawk backfield mates totaled 405 rushing yards on the day and did it effectively in the first half. In the second quarter, he connected with WR Marlon Cook on an 11-yard fade past to command a 24-7 lead. Cornerback JaMichael McGoy intercepted a pass deep in his red zone to thwart late first half Missouri State scoring bid.
Bears answer the call
Missouri State could not muster much of a first-half scoring threat. However, they came out with some effective adjustments to start the third period. Wide-outs ran deep patterns opening up zones for passing routes over the middle to gain big chunks of yards. Despite a missed field goal hitting the cross bar on the first possession, the Bears started to dominate the clock on offense. Their defense shut down the Skyhawks going into the final period. Clark threw a 24-yard pass to Dvontae Key in the third despite two flags against UT Martin’s defense for offsides and pass interference.
The Bears, trailing 24-14, drove to the Skyhawk 20 to start the final period. Owen Rozanc booted a 38-yarder to get within seven. Later at the 9:39 mark, Clark (23 for 42, 332 yards, three TDs) knotted the score on a 10-yard pass to Raylen Sharp (seven catches for 142 yards, one TD). It was a brand-new ball game, but Sam Franklin broke the tie right away with a 49-yard scoring run. The Bears came up with a big play on the ensuing drive to fight right back. On fourth and six at the UTM 32, Clark passed to Hunter Wood. He took it the four of the Skyhawks. Jacardia Wright ran it in and the score was 31-all.
Fantastic finish for Skyhawks
The Skyhawks started their ensuing drive from the 24. Kinkead and Franklin converted second downs into firsts four consecutive times until Franklin took it in for the last 20 to lead, 38-31. On its final drive, Missouri State called its last time-out with 32 seconds left. Jordan Ponchat replaced Clark at QB, and the Bears ran out of time at the UTM 24. Exciting game with fantastic plays, a great comeback, and a fight to the finish. Great FCS match-up, the only one on our slate for this year.
Next!
UTM (1-1) returns home next Saturday to host Houston Christian (1-1). Missouri State waits two weeks to play its first home game when Utah Tech (0-2) visits them in Springfield. Collegefootballfan.com looks forward to our first trip to see Champagne, Illinois. In our 659th game, we’ll see No. 7 Penn State (2-0) take on the Illini (1-1) for our second 11 am CST kick-off this season.
Media time-out abuse!
A big downside to this week’s game was the number of long three-minute media time-outs up until that 9:39 mark in the final period. On what turned out to be the last three-minute break of the game, it made me holler during a lull, “When are we going to play some football?” Seriously, I felt like I bought a ticket not to watch a game, but to be part of some commercial for a local Orthopedic Group.
Play was stopped many times after only running one play after a punt or a kick on too many occasions. Three-minute breaks sandwiched one play at least five or six times. What seemed offensive after a while to the teams on the field: that all injury time-outs were announced as the Orthopedic Group’s Media time-out and went into another three-minute break. It felt like the time-outs were taking advantage of player injuries to call time-outs and run more commercials.
Not thinking I was of influence after shouting my frustration only three rows down from the stadium press box, surprisingly not another media time-out was taken. The holder of the digital clock was no longer to be seen, thankfully. I did not see a sign indicating any live network TV coverage. Because it was an FCS game, I don’t believe there was any. It had to be the worst media-controlled game I ever attended. It was horrible.
Side-trips
“St. Laurie” and I traveled to Paris, Tennessee for the weekend. We took in one sight before we went to the game and stayed that evening. On Sunday, we visited Land Between the Lakes National Recreation Area. There, the border of Kentucky and Tennessee meet between two lakes which are basically formed between the Tennessee River to the west and the Cumberland River to the east. We hiked on a two-mile trail around a lake. After, we visited a Wildlife Nature Station where species of animals live recovering from injuries or not being able to permanently returned to the wild.
I’ve visited Civil War sites of Fort Henry and Fort Donelson nearby in the past. Beautiful area and also features and an Elk and Bison Prairie with herds of each. We’ll probably go back again to visit to see that when the weather is a little cooler and the animals forage. Nice, pretty area to visit.
