Tennessee State pulls out dramatic victory over UT-Martin for Homecoming

The Tennessee State Tigers celebrated homecoming in grand fashion as they took down the Skyhawks of UT-Martin in dramatic fashion 35-30. The Tigers were led by a couple of players with career games as Trabis Ward poured in 166 yards on 25 carries and Travis James had 152 yards receiving and 2 TD. The Tigers started off sluggish in the first half as their offense seemed stuck in first gear and UT-Martin’s rushing attack bulldozed the Tigers defense. The Skyhawks held a 17-0 lead after the first quarter but things quickly changed in the second. QB Michael Germain and the TSU offense finally came to life as Germain found James for a quick 4-yard pass with 8 minutes and 30 seconds left in the 2^nd. Germain would hook up with Wesley Samuels with 1 second left before halftime for another TD pass that put the Tigers within 3 as they went into halftime down 17-14.

The Second half had an interesting beginning as Head Coach Rod Reed had a Sean Payton Super Bowl moment and the Tigers kicked an onside kick. It appeared at first that the Tigers would get a huge momentum swing as it was recovered by TSU, only to have it reviewed and overturned. The Tigers defense bailed out the coaches decision as they forced the Skyhawks to punt. It was at this point that the Tigers offense exploded. First it was Trabis Ward as he made it known to the defense that he would finish strong. He rushed for 47 yards on the second half’s opening drive which led to a TSU TD that put them ahead 21-17.  After a short drive by UT-Martin that resulted in a punt, TSU would get the ball back in nice field position. Next up was the Germain and James connection as Germain found his wideout streaking up the sidelines for a 77-yard TD pass. TSU’s latest score put them up 28-17 going into the 4^th.

Big blue kept the offensive onslaught going in the 4^th as Tigers offensive line and RB Ward continued to pound the Skyhawk defense. TSU went to the ground on their second possession in the 4^th and as Ward asserted himself with an 11, 28, 14, and finally 2-yard TD run. That would put the Tigers up 35-24.

Skyhawks QB Derek Carr would keep them in the game as he drove Martin down the field on the very next series and led the Skyhawks on a 6 play 69 yard scoring drive. Martin would go for the 2-pt conversion but to no avail as Skyhawks RB McNair was stuffed at the goal line. That made the game 35-30. That set the stage would a miracle onside kick as the Skyhawks recovered on the play and gave them a chance to steal the game. QB Derek Carr would complete his first two passes to Quentin Sims for 16 yards but wouldn’t complete another. The Skyhawks QB couldn’t connect with Sims a third time as his pass went incomplete on 4^th down to seal the victory and give the Tigers a share of the Sgt. York trophy. The Tigers gave the announced attendance of 19,537 reasons to cheer on the home school’s homecoming. The Aristocrat of bands rocked the house as always and put together a spectacular halftime show. The win moves TSU to 5-5 and 4-3 in OVC play. Tennessee State plays their last game next week against Jacksonville State at LP field, so make sure to come out and help lead the Tigers to victory in their last regular season game.

Sportaholic College Football Weekend Setup 10/05/11

As we enter week 6 of the college football season, we can finally see some separation from the contending teams and the pretending teams. LSU, Bama, Wisconsin, and Oklahoma in the infamous words of Dennis Green’s Monday night football rant “Are who we thought they were” as all have been at the top of the polls since before the season started and they all have proved they belonged. On the other hand Texas A&M, Virginia Tech and Florida State have all tumbled out the top 10 and are just holding on for dear life to salvage their seasons. There have been a few upstarts as well as Clemson, Texas, and maybe the biggest surprise of them all in my book the Auburn Tigers have silently crept up the polls and put themselves in prime position to contend this year. The meat and potatoes of most programs schedules are now on deck and the battle for a spot in the BCS national championship really takes hold. This week’s feature games include the Red River Shootout between Texas and Oklahoma of course, which may be much more interesting this year than most of us anticipated. Florida vs. LSU would have been good match up this time last week until Bama made a pretzel out of Jeff Brantley’s ankle. Lord be with you Jeff Driskell, the freshman starting in place of Brantley against that mean LSU defense. Ohio State vs. Nebraska sounds like it should be to-notch game especially with the weight those two names usually carry, but that’s until you look at those two teams season so far. Ohio State has been dismal on offense and the Huskers just got husked by Wisconsin.

Our local products in Tennessee have fared well so far this year. The University of Tennessee is 3– 1 on the strength of Tyler Bray’s arm and the teams prolific aerial attack. Even the Vanderbilt Commodores are 3-1 although they are coming off a blowout loss to South Carolina. There is plenty to be excited about for both programs as both show potential to be in the mix of the SEC East this year and beyond. I know a lot of people reading this will say ok I will give you Tennessee but Vandy? Yes the Commodores traditionally stink but young James Franklin is bringing a certain level of swagger to that program and has picked up the recruiting as well. Don’t be surprised when Vanderbilt pulls out a few upset victories over the next couple of years.



Now let’s jump into a few breakdowns:

Red River Shootout: Texas (4-0) vs. Oklahoma (4-0) – Going into the season it was hard for me to imagine this game would be any good. Oklahoma was far and away the best team in the Big 12 and ranked # 1 in the pre-season polls. Texas was just trying to get their respect back after a disappointing 5-7 campaign last year that saw them miss a bowl game altogether. But with the emergence of the little bro duo as I like to call them, Case McCoy and Jaxon Shipley have brought the Longhorns back from the dead (And David Ash as well). Oklahoma has been rolling of course with that explosive offense and experienced defense. You can’t start off a conversation about Oklahoma’s offense without mentioning QB Landry Jones and his top WR Ryan Broyles. Those two guys are in sync more than Justin Timberlake and JC Chavez. They provide a tough match up for the young Longhorn secondary. Another bright spot for Texas is freshman RB Malcolm Brown who has provided the rushing attack the Longhorns missed so much over past few years. This one should be close just for the sheer hatred that both of these schools have for each other. But when push comes to shove and Jones begins to heat up for OU, I just don’t see how the young Texans will be able to stop the Boomer Sooners offense. The Pick: Oklahoma

Georgia (2-2) vs. Tennessee (3-1) - This is an elimination game of sorts. Both teams already have one lost in the SEC with Georgia going down to South Carolina and Florida drilling UT a couple of weeks ago. The winner of this game will at least be tied for first place in the SEC East after South Carolina lost to Auburn last week. The game itself should see excellent QB play as pre-season 1st team all SEC QB Andy Murray of Georgia will be going up against the Tennessee gunslinger himself Tyler Bray (Who surprisingly didn’t make the cut of All-SEC picks in the pre-season when guys like Stephen Garcia did, what a joke).Georgia’s young freshman RB Isaiah Crowell has picked it up of late rushing for 100 yards in both of the last two SEC games for the Bulldogs. The team that is able to stop the other’s offense should win this game. That easier said than done as both have potent attacks as I mentioned above. WR Da’Rick Rogers, who now is Bray’s new favorite target with the ACL tear to the dynamic Justin Hunter, will have to step up big time in this one. Tennessee will need to get him the ball early and also try to establish its run game. The Bulldogs have one of the better defenses in the SEC so that will be hard to do. If Andy Murray can control himself and RB Crowell gets going, I think it will be too much for the Vols even though the are playing in Knoxville. The Pick: Georgia

Auburn (4-1) vs. Arkansas (4-1): Another good SEC game on the docket and I just couldn’t help )myself from previewing this one. This one intrigues me because you have two teams with spread offenses capable of putting a lot of points of the board in a hurry. Arkansas proved that last week as they came back from 18 down to beat Texas A&M. Tyler Wilson was a MAN as he passed for 510 yards despite taking multiple hits from the Aggies. Auburn defeated South Carolina and now has the ol ball coach Steve Spurrier switching out his QBs after Stephen Garcia (9/23 with two picks) could only muster up 13 points for the Gamecocks. Auburn’s defense surprisingly held stud RB Marcus Lattimore to just 68 yards as well but they won’t have to worry about that much against the Razorbacks who’s running game has been absent every since RB Knile Davis went down. Michael Dyer will lead the Tigers on offense as they try to control the clock. Arkansas and Bobby Petrino likes to get up and down the field and especially with those receivers they have. Jarius Wright is just a beast and creates match up nightmares all over the field with his blend of size and speed. That not even mentioning Joe Adams, Greg Childs and Cobi Hamilton. Wilson just has too many targets and I think last weeks performance from the Auburn defense was more of the product of poor play from Stephen Garcia. Wilson will have no such let down so I will roll with the Razorbacks on this one. The Pick: Arkansas

Game of the Week: Texas vs. Oklahoma: Anytime the Red River Shootout is on the schedule its makes for an easy pick. This game will be closer than most expect as I stated earlier. Who knows maybe Texas can even spring the upset but even if they don’t it makes for an interesting game seeing Longhorn and Sooner fans interact. You can see the disdain for each other as they are entering the stadium and when the drinks get flowing the crowd will be rocking.

Most Intriguing Game: Nebraska vs. Ohio State: This sounds like it should a candidate for game of week or even of the year in most seasons. Unfortunately this isn’t your granddads Buckeye teams as they have just been horrific on offense this year. To add to there misery, they got word from the NCAA that RB Dan Herren and WR Devier Posey would has additional game added to there suspensions. Nebraska can’t be that happy either after getting it handed to them last week by Wisconsin. I think its intriguing because it’s the second game in the Big 10 for the Huskers after their baptism by fire last week. They should come out much more relaxed and run away in this one but Ohio State still has playmakers on defense so we will see what happens here.

Under the radar game: Arizona State (4-1) vs. Utah (2-2). Lets take a trip out west for a showdown in the Pac-12. If the Sun Devils can get by Utah then the schedule opens up nicely for them to make a run at the Pac-12 title. If they lose this will, it would make things much harder than it has to be.

Wake me when it over game: Lousiana Tech (1-4) vs. Idaho (1-4) – Both have lost three in a row and rank in the bottom tier of offense and defense. So no good offense to watch against bad defenses, sounds like a classic snoozer to me.

Coach better get it right game; Boston College (1-4) vs. Clemson (5-0) – Tom O’Brien is a good coach who has fallen on hard times with BC. He has a chance to show that his team is still somewhat relevant against the Tigers. He has to be on the hot seat after a miserable season last year and an even worse one this year. Good luck to him but I don’t see how he lasts past this year as their head coach but it he was to start a run to keep his job this would be the perfect game to start.

I also will be covering the Tennessee State vs. Southeast Missouri State game this weekend, so if your going to game make sure to holler at me.

Q and A with Brian "Penny" Collins, former starting point guard for the Belmont Bruins

As I continue you with my series on College basketball in honor of the tournament, I had the opportunity to ask a few quick questions for former Belmont starting point guard Brian “Penny” Collins. Collins is a former Whites Creek High School all-state performer and led Belmont to the NCAA tournament in the 05-06 season averaging 10.8 points and 4.4 rebounds. Collins and I played together at Whites Creek. He was always a fierce competitor and his basketball I.Q. was through the roof. He earned his nickname of “Penny” with his similar build to Anfernee “Penny” Hardaway but he also had the handling ability and floor awareness that put you in mind of Hardaway. He was always a tough cover for opponents.

He joined Tennessee State University as an assistant grad for in 2007. Collins also conducts the Brian “Penny” Collins Run-N-Gun Basketball Camp in Nashville which he also established in 2007. Collins professional experience includes stints overseas with Finlands’s Kouvot Bears and he was drafted in the 6th round by the Bakersfield Jam of the NBDL. Collins still hold the mark for all-time steals and assists for Belmont’s division I era. He is now entering his second season as assistant coach for the Cumberland Bulldogs. Long story short this man knows basketball and especially Belmont Basketball.



With the Bruins enjoying so much success of late and making their run into the NCAA tournament, I figured this was the perfect time to gauge his outlook for this current edition of Belmont.





Q. What do you think of Belmont’s chances this year in the tournament?



A: I think this is the best possible bracket for them to play in. They will have problems against the more athletic teams in the field as in Kentucky and so forth but the way the bracket shapes up for them, it gives them a chance of advancing.




Q. Hypothetically speaking, do you think if Belmont advances as far as the sweet 16 that it would help as far as for the exposure of the program goes?



A. Definitely. I believe the run we made in 06 gave the program tons of exposure. I can remember watching ESPN and the commentator saying “Not Belmont downs or horses but the school of Belmont.” But now we are viewed as a legitimate basketball school. The exposure of the tournament makes the possibilities endless.



Q. How do you think the run your senior team made at Belmont affected the school?



A. I think it helped in a big way. It opened doors as far recruiting is concerned. Coach Byrd is now being able to land players such as Kerron Johnson out of Huntsville, AL who beat out DeMarcus Cousins for Mr. Basketball in that state. Look at Ian Clark and Mitch Hedgepeth, I believe the recruitment of all those good players are directly related to the success that we had in the tournament and the exposure that it brought the program.



Q. What are some the best aspects of Coach Rick Byrd



A. Well to me Coach Byrd is the best I’ve had the chance to play for. His preparation for opponents is the best I’ve ever seen. He goes out and gets players that fit his program and that’s why he able to continue his success. He is a very detailed and meticulous coach and again one the best I’ve ever been around.



If you like what you heard from Collins here, you can listen to more of his commentary on sports radio 560 AM WNSR radio on Fridays between 12:30-1:30 as he steps in talks college basketball.



Go Bruins!