Nashville, TN – The Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) and No. 1 and perennial powerhouse North Dakota State visited Tennessee State and picked up right where it left off against the Tigers for a 59-3 victory. Last year in Fargo ND, they entertained the Tigers to the tune of 56-3. At Nissan Stadium, the Bison scored on every first half possession to lead 45-0 at the half. As for Tennessee State in the first half, they never converted a first down. In addition, they never much advanced beyond their 25-yardline.
As Guest Game Analyst Al Tatum and I left midway through the third quarter, we saw TSU pick up two consecutive first downs. On the way out on a TV monitor, we saw against the NDSU second team defense. The game turned out to be more one-sided than hoped for. An even bigger disappointment came for the two of us. The Tennessee State Aristocrat of Bands did not perform on the field at halftime. They played from their lonely, end zone seats!
North Dakota State Bison couldn’t be stopped
Tennessee State deferred the ball until the second half and North Dakota State went right to work with QB Cole Payton calling signals. Their first two possessions resulted in a 10-yard TD scamper and eight-yarder by RB Barika Kpeenu to cap drives of 71 and 80 yards. Before the end of the first, Eli Ozick put up a 22-tard FG to lead, 17-0. Before the second, FS Taylen Eady recovered a fumble at the Tennessee State 35. A Bison fan nearby exclaimed, “Tennessee State hasn’t gotten past the 40!” In reality, the 25.
Five plays later, Kpeenu scored his third TD – from six yards out this time. TSU punted away again from its 13. Cole Payton connected with TE Reis Kessel for 41 yards. DJ Scott ran it in from five yards out for North Dakota State to lead, 31-0. First-year Tennessee State HC Reggie Barlow inserted QB Byron McNair for Johnathan Palmer. Progress – TSU got out to their 28. On McNair’s second pass attempt, LB Donovan Woolen leaped high to pick off his pass. He returned it 34 yards for a North Dakota State TD. Once again, the Tigers punted from their 25. With 1:21 left in the second quarter, Coleman connected with Raja Nelson. They finished off a 67-yard drive with a three-yard TD pass.
We hope to avoid this the rest of the season
Didn’t we see this last week in Eugene, Oregon? In our 714th game, the Ducks gave up three to the Bobcats as time expired at intermission to lead, 38-3. This first half expired even worse at 45-0. To disappoint Al and me even more, The Tennessee State Aristocrat Band stayed in the stands. They entertained the 8,569 in attendance, mostly clad in Bison Green and Gold, in cavernous Nissan Stadium. Al and I figured to make an exit sometime in the third, and we did. The final score of this game marked the second highest margin of victory ever attended in a non-FBS football game. In our Milestones, our top game remains going back to 1987 by one point. Holy Cross’s 63-6 victory over Lehigh at old Taylor Stadium in Bethlehem, PA still holds at a 57-point differential.
A tour of the TSU campus and yesteryear
Al, a retired police officer at TSU, drove us over to the campus a few miles away to give me a tour. We saw the Tigers’ former home field, Hale Stadium. Empty and relegated as a practice facility, it struck me that today’s crowd of 8,569 would have been perfect for this venue. And on the large sprawling, picturesque campus with very few students around enjoying it on a nice afternoon, playing home games there could not only stir more interest to the football program, but the campus could use some more life and school spirit. Maybe the draw of football games back on campus with the Band of Aristocrats and the student body of 10,000 would draw more interest and school spirit to the campus.
To bus players, students, and spirit organizations away from campus on a fall, Saturday afternoon just seems disheartening. Playing games downtown at the big pro stadium just takes away the energy of an important aspect of student life from a college campus. Surely, there are advantages and disadvantages to the school for different reasons playing on campus or downtown. Too bad whatever the weight is has swayed for the FCS football program to get somewhat lost in the shuffle of college life at Tennessee State. Maybe it didn’t work well with games at Hale in the past for some reason. However, school spirit and youthful energy seem to disperse in the atmosphere at a big stadium built for professional football.
WEEK THREE: Bison and Tigers both play at home
FCS No. 1 North Dakota State (2-0) heads home after opening with two games on the road. In Fargo, they host another non-conference team from the Big South/OVC, the SE Missouri State Red Hawks (1-1). We will see the Red Hawks later this season at No 20 Tennessee Tech. As far as NDSU, they look to keep rolling along to find their way back to Nashville to play once again for the FCS Championship to be held at First Bank Stadium on January 5. Tennessee State (1-1) will return to Nissan to face Alabama A&M (1-1), fresh off a 41-31 victory over Alcorn State (1-1).
For Collegefootballfan.com: A D-III / FCS double-header
In Collegefootballfan.com action, for old times’ sake, we start off with a D-III bout. We’ll head to Sewanee, Tennessee to see the Sewanee Tigers (1-0). Also known as The University of the South, the Tigers host the Brevard Tornados (0-1). Looking forward to going with my Planet Fitness friend David Oakley. He played for the Tigers in the late ’70 under Tennessee Hall of Fame Coach Shirley Majors.
David can’t remember wearing a face mask in those days, so a visit back to his alma mater may stir some memories from him. At the time, the school only had males. Times have changed there since. We’ll see what else he notices. His Tigers won big last week over the Bethany Bison, 41-6. Brevard fell to Kentucky Christian, 41-21. We look forward to the 1 pm CT start to this one to get enough time to head up to Clarksville, TN to see our second game for the nightcap.
In another FCS match-up, we head the Fortera Stadium, home of the Austin Peay Governors (1-1). Thus far, the APSU record comes against two FBS foes. They defeated Middle Tennessee in their opener at MTSU, 34-14. Last Saturday, they gave the No. 4 Georgia Bulldogs more than they expected in a lightning delayed contest in Athens, Georgia. In the fourth period, the Bulldogs stopped them a with goal line stand at the one. Then, they proceeded 99 yards to score to at the end to settle for a 28-6 win. Coach Jeff Faris was proud of his team’s effort. Morehead of the Pioneer League comes to Fortera with a 1-1 record. They fell at Illinois State last week, 41-13.
Check out our tales as we roll along in 46th season!
Click on the title of my book about this life-long adventure: Fifty Years of Tailgate Tales: The Good, the Fun, and the Ugly on Amazon.com. Read the reviews on the book page and get your copy today! If you’re trying to follow NILs and transfer portals, read what we predicted in 2023 and more. You’ll see we know what we’re talking about. In addition, we offered solutions to issues occurring that we anticipated when we wrote this book. Based on our game story above, this fun, unique life-long Journey continues. Catch up on the last 45 years, and then please submit a review. We hope you will get a kick out of our great adventure having seen every (well 134) FBS team play over the years! Two newest to be added later this season.
Edited by and photos taken by Steve Koreivo – Member of Football Writers Association of America and Author of Fifty Years of Tailgate Tales: The Good, the Fun and the Ugly.