Tennessee State football blew the opportunity to finally gain some momentum when the Tigers allowed their Ohio Valley Conference opener against Western Illinois to slip away in the fourth quarter on Oct. 3 in Macomb, Illinois.
TSU (1-4, 0-1) had a 21-10 lead, but allowed the Leathernecks (3-3, 1-0) to rally for the 28-21 win with two touchdowns, a two-point conversion and a field goal. Two of the scores came after TSU turnovers.
"I think we got a little relaxed, we didn't keep the main thing the main thing," second-year TSU coach Reggie Barlow said. "We turned the ball over three times in the fourth quarter, and obviously you don't want to see that happen along with one of them being a pick-six. You hate to lose a game like that."
RALLIES TO BEAT TSU: TSU football loses after allowing Western Illinois to rally in fourth
Fourth-quarter turnovers doomed TSU
WIU scored on a 39-yard interception return by Jake Kruger with 11:08 left in the fourth quarter.
TSU receiver Jayden Guy from Blackman fumbled after making a catch at midfield and WIU's Jouvenson Romulus recovered with 10:10 remaining.
The game ended when WIU's DonPaul Keith intercepted TSU quarterback Daylin Lee with 13 seconds left.
WIU's only turnover came in the third quarter when TSU freshman Rymen Mosley, who had been penalized on the previous play for pass interference, intercepted Leathernecks quarterback Kennedy McGill at the TSU 29.
Is it too late for TSU to turn its season around?
The sloppy ending deprived TSU the chance to regroup after an 0-3 start.
The Tigers, coming off a 29-26 win over Florida A&M, were trying to win back-to-back games and an OVC contestfor the first time since the 2024 season. TSU went 2-10 in 2025, with its only wins coming in the season opener against North Carolina A&T and in the seventh game against Howard.
The Tigers were winless in the OVC for the first time in 2025. Their last conference win came in the 2024 regular-season finale, 28-21 over Southeast Missouri.
"It's a coaches' cliché to say you're trying to go 1-0, but you're trying to do that by stacking some good practices and obviously some big plays together," Barlow said. "Nobody feels worse than these guys. They've worked hard the last two weeks to prepare for this team and try to get another win."
Playing at home could help Tennessee State
TSU will play at Nissan Stadium for the first time this season on Oct. 10 against OVC rival UT Martin.
Barlow hopes being at home will help the Tigers get back in the right direction.
"We've been road warriors," Barlow said. "All of these guys decided to come here because they love TSU and thought it was a good place to come also because of the venue that we play in. So I'm sure they will be excited to go up against a really good opponent at Nissan Stadium."
Reach Mike Organ at 615-259-8021 or on X @MikeOrganWriter.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: How Tennessee State football blew the chance to gain some momentum
