Greeneville, Tennessee – After attending a very raucous Miami-Wake Forest contest the night before, we ambled in to a very sedate, plain vanilla-like atmosphere at Tusculum University’s Pioneer Field where the visiting Anderson U. Trojans defeated the home team Pioneers, 14-4. Granted, we did not expect anything similar to the game the previous evening.  On the other hand, we’ve been to other D-2 contests where the teams cared and played more intensely.  Last year for instance in New Hampshire, we witnessed that. We watched St. Anslem’s and Franklin Pierce go at each other in a good game despite a 21-0 win by SAC. FPC lost their starting QB early to injury.

Hot weather, but no flame from either team

Maybe it had to do with the sun-drenched, 90-degree temperatures on the playing field. However, there just seemed to be no fire coming off either sideline. Much of the sparse crowd of 1,148 patrons sat under umbrellas at tables or held them in the stands.  After the game, I found out that I wasn’t the only one who felt such a lack of intensity for a football game.  During the post-game radio show, an interview with HC Billy Taylor of Tusculum confirmed my observation.  He said that before the games he asked his assistants if they thought the players lacked energy. If the HC has to ask that, I don’t know what else tell you about what I witnessed.

Low cost, family entertainment

Got to say this: I parked for free, $10 ticket to sit anywhere, $7 for a hot dog and soda, clean stadium, clean bathrooms and a free four-page color program with rosters and stats.  I think the bigger venues should offer the same regarding the latter instead of scanning a monogram on the video board to download a program. I don’t do that. I guess college students do.

Anderson and Tusculum evenly matched

Before kickoff, a chorus from The Sons of Davy Crockett organization performed a great rendition the National Anthem. Beyond that, the action on the field followed our initial impression. Both teams were primarily run-oriented. Tusculum ran a version of the triple option, but it was nowhere near the quick, deceptive, coordinated attacks of teams like Army and Navy we’ve seen in action over the years.  In the end, the stats were comparable as indicated by the final score. Anderson totaled 221 yards of offense to 253 by Tusculum.  Fifteen first downs to 14 first downs respectively. Two lost fumbles each. Critical losses for both teams.

Second period: wake-up call

After a scoreless first period that consisted of only three possessions, the Anderson Trojans started the second at the Pioneer 16-yard line. Over a minute later, QB Wilson Edwards (19 of 26, 142 yards, 2 TDs) threw a four-yard TD pass to Zay Williams (5 catches for 39 yards, 2 TDs) for a 7-0 Anderson lead. Tusculum’s next series ended with a lost fumble on a pitch-out recovered by DT Luke Rankin. Anderson fumbled the ball away on its next possession recovered by DL Nathan Thomas.

Tusculum turnover turns into Anderson touchdown

Later in the period, a complete pass from TU QB Tedros Gleaton to Javon Richardson went for big yards, but again the ball was fumbled. Anderson took over from its 23 with 1:27 left in the half. The Trojans put together a drive to the TU five. As time expired, Edward tossed a short pass ahead of him to Williams who took it over again for the score. Anderson led 14-0 into halftime.

Third quarter – Tusculum time

The Pioneers started the second half ready to roll with the ball on its 25. They entered Trojan territory on a 39-yard pass from QB Tedros Gleaton to WR Cam Ferguson to the 45. On fourth and seven, at the 31, Gleaton connected with WR Ashton Hagans for a first down at the 20.  Things did not get easy at that point. A sack by Anderson LB Aaron Bryant (10 tackles) dropped Gleaton for a 10-yard loss back to the 30. However, on fourth and twenty, Gleaton raced to the 10 for a first and goal. On an option right, he took it over from the six to finally get Tusculum on the board, but down, 14-7. The drive lasted 10 minutes and 37 seconds of the third period. Before it ended, Anderson fumbled the ball away again at Tusculum’s’ 39. Were the Pioneers ready to piece together another long drove?

Defenses control final period

No, neither team could mount a drive. Anderson took the ball away for a turnover on downs from their 39. Generally, D-2 teams don’t possess the long-distance kicking talent found in the FBS. The teams exchanged punts. With under a minute to play, Tusculum threw an incompletion with 39 seconds to play on fourth down. Anderson went into Victory formation. After that, the Trojans traveled back to Anderson, South Carolina with a 3-1, 2-0 record. They stay atop The South Atlantic Conference tied with Carson-Neuman and Mars Hill.

As LB Aaron Bryant led the Anderson defense, Tusculum had their stalwarts as well. LB Greg Williams wrangled in 12 stops and DB Kevin Jordan pitched in with 11. On offense for Tusculum, QB Tedros Gleaton completed 12 of 16 passes for 149 yards. He led the running game as well with 90 yards on 20 carries and the TD.

Post-season possibility?

Slight chance that we will capture any playoff action with teams for the SAC later this year. It may only happen if we don’t find a better option on our two open dates of December 5 or December 19.  We will wait and weigh our options with travel time and best opportunities to be determined. We never know. Glad we got to find out what a D-2 experience is like here in the South.  Just have to say that we saw much better action over the years among teams in the Pennsylvania State Athletic D2 Conference over the years.

Next: Week Four straight ahead

In the South Atlantic, Anderson hosts Lenoir Rhyne at 2 pm and Tusculum remains at home for a 6 pm kickoff against Catawba. We hope the Fall brings in cooler temperatures for football in the South this week.

Another weekend “twofer” for us

Collegefootballfan.com heads out to two more FBS games this weekend. On Friday night, Navy (1-1, 0-1) visits Alabama-Birmingham (1-2) under the lights at Protective Stadium for an American Athletic contest. The big question mark for Navy in this game. Who will start at quarterback? Starter Braxton Woodson left last week’s 38-30 loss to Florida Atlantic with an injured ankle late in the third period. Junior Jackson Guitteirez replaced him and led Navy to score 23 points after trailing, 31-7. Woodson’s injury will be monitored from week to week according to latest reports.

Bells will be ringing in New Orleans

On Saturday, we head to New Orleans for our first time at Yulman Stadium to watch Tulane (1-2) host Southern Mississippi (1-2). Located 110 miles from one another, this will their 35th meeting in the Battle for the Bell. Started in 1979 as an annual rivalry, Southern Miss leads the series, 24-10. Once both foes changed their conferences, they no longer met regularly. Three years ago, the rivalry resumed as part of a four-game series. Tulane has won three of the last four meetings. The first came at the 2020 Armed Forces Bowl in Fort Worth. Tulane triumphed, 30-13. In our long history, Tulane stands 1-2 and Southern Miss at 1-1.

Both teams start this season under first-year head coaches. At Southern Miss, HC Blake Anderson lost most of last year’s players who left with former HC Charles Huff to Memphis. His defense was totally depleted. Tulane was not bankrupted in talent by Jon Sumrall as much. He took only a punter and kicker to Florida. Reportedly, he also donated $2 million to the program. However, new HC Neal Brown did lose others from the CFP roster. Players were picked up by other programs in the transfer portal. Interesting dynamics here. Both Anderson and Brown have former head coaching experiences. I also hope to enjoy a little New Orleans cuisine while back near Bayou Country.

Read more fun history of many games attended our first 42 Seasons!

If you haven’t already, please click on the title about this life-long adventure: Fifty Years of Tailgate Tales: The Good, the Fun, and the Ugly on Amazon.com. Among 745 college games attended to date now, we’ve seen all 136 Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) teams play in person. In 2026, in case you aren’t aware, North Dakota State and Sacramento State join the FBS this season. “Fifty Years” tells our story of how we got to attend our first 652 games!

Read the reviews on the book page and order your copy today. If you’re trying to follow NILs and transfer portals, read what we predicted in 2023. Hopefully, you’ll understand how much we love this sport and what we propose for it to survive successfully. In addition, we offered solutions to issues occurring that we anticipated when we wrote Fifty Years of Tailgate Tales.

Capture some memories

Please buy your copy today and read about the many great memories captured. Maybe some will bring back some of the same memories you encountered when we did. And to us this isn’t a job. It’s our lifelong adventure!

Edited and written by Stephen J. Koreivo, member of Football Writers Association of America (FWAA) and Author of “Fifty Years of Tailgate Tales: The Good, the Fun and the Ugly.”