The team's longest losing streak in program history was not foremost on second-year Tennessee State football coach Reggie Barlow's mind after the Tigers fell to Alabama A&M 30-3 on Sept. 12 in Huntsville, Alabama.
Barlow was more concerned and downright angry about the way the Tigers have fallen to 0-3 in 2026. It extended TSU's losing streak to eight games dating to 2025.
The Tigers lost their first two games in 2026 despite playing cleanly for the most part, with no turnovers and only a few penalties.
That was not the case in this game, which is the second in the four-game Legacy Series between the two HBCU programs. Quarterback Daylin Lee turned the ball over three times, including two interceptions — the first of which A&M (2-1) followed with
a scoring drive — and fumbled the ball away, which the Bulldogs also scored off of.
After committing a total of six penalties for 51 yards in the first two games, the Tigers committed six for 58 yards against A&M.
"You're never happy with turnovers, and we've done a good job of taking care of the ball," Barlow said. "The penalties, yeah, they were a problem. So yeah, there was a lot of stuff that happened today that was uncharacteristic of our team."
Alabama A&M nearly doubled TSU's yards in fewer plays
TSU's offense never found a groove, especially after its first drive.
The Tigers made it to the Alabama A&M 33, where Lee threw his first interception to Jeremiah Hudson-Davis. The Tigers were penalized for unnecessary roughness after the play, giving A&M possession at its own 39.
On first down, A&M quarterback Cornelious Brown IV tossed a pass to a wide-open Jarel Williams for a 61-yard touchdown, and the game was never close after that.
"It was just a bad day of football, especially offensively," Barlow said. "We got to the fringe red zone about three times and came away with no points. Our defense did some positive things at times, but we didn't tackle as well as we have in the past. It was just a horrific day of football for us."
A&M finished with 452 yards on 67 plays while TSU had 251 yards on 71 plays.
For the third straight game, the rushing attack was abysmal. The Tigers, who entered the game ranked 110th in the FCS in rushing, had just 64 yards on 30 carries.
TSU seeking way to end streak
TSU's last win came on Oct. 18, 2025, when it defeated Howard 24-7 at Nissan Stadium.
TSU turns its attention to another HBCU rival when it travels to Florida A&M on Sept. 19 in the third of a four-game road swing. TSU is trying to avoid going 0-4 for the first time since 2022.
Florida A&M is coming off a 77-7 loss to Miami (Florida) on Sept. 10.
It will be the first game in the series since TSU beat the Rattlers 24-13 in 2017 at Raymond James Stadium in the FAMU Tampa Classic.
Reach Mike Organ at 615-259-8021 or on X @MikeOrganWriter
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This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Why TSU football coach Reggie Barlow said Tigers were 'horrific' at Alabama A&M
