UT Martin
1-7 , 1-4
Southeast Missouri
6-2 , 4-1
SLOW START FAZES UT MARTIN FOOTBALL IN 56-33 HOMECOMING LOSS TO SOUTHEAST MISSOURI
10/27/2018 9:13:00 PM | Football
The Skyhawks (1-7, 1-4 Ohio Valley Conference) found themselves down 16-0 just a little over eight minutes into today's contest. UT Martin was able to shave its deficit down to two points early in the second quarter but couldn't get over the hump as Southeast Missouri improved to 6-2 overall with a 4-1 OVC mark.
Making his first career start under center, Skyhawk junior Joe Hudson threw for 296 yards and accounted for three total touchdowns (two passing, one rushing). True freshman John Bachus also made his collegiate debut at quarterback today, marching the offense on a late scoring drive that was capped off with a 19-yard scoring strike to Colton Dowell.
Jaylon Moore posted his second 100-yard receiving game of the season with four catches and a touchdown. Donnell Williams also hauled in a touchdown grab while Terry Williams was responsible for a team-high six receptions for 79 yards.
Offensively, UT Martin accumulated 472 yards of total offense and won the time of possession battle but were hampered by four turnovers and 12 penalties for 125 yards. Southeast Missouri rolled up 587 yards, was a perfect 5-for-5 scoring in the red-zone and tallied 16 points off Skyhawk turnovers.
UT Martin's defense boasted a trio of double-digit tacklers as Kevin Prather, Jr. (11), Wanya Moton (11) and Porter Streator III (10) led the way. A total of 13 different Skyhawks had their hand in a tackle-for-loss today, as Prather collected two TFL's and three of the team's seven quarterback hurries. Moton and Jaylen Smith each came away with two pass breakups apiece while Loren Young (one), Anthony Brown (half) and Austin Pickett (half) combined for UT Martin's two sacks.
On special teams, Ryan Courtright was a perfect 2-for-2 in field goal tries, splitting the uprights on attempts from 44 and 30 yards out. He also successfully converted three PAT's.
Southeast Missouri received the ball first and scored a touchdown three plays into the contest. The Redhawks then took advantage of a short field off a muffed kickoff return and added a field goal to go ahead by a 16-0 margin at the 6:49 mark of the first quarter.
UT Martin answered with back-to-back touchdowns, the first of which came on a four-yard Hudson rush to cap off an eight-play, 75-yard scoring drive. After Julian Crutchfield broke through for a big tackle-for-loss on a Redhawk 4th-and-1, Hudson hit Moore in stride for a 49-yard touchdown pass to pull the Skyhawks within two points (16-14) just 11 seconds into the second quarter.
A little over six minutes later, Southeast Missouri added a touchdown but UT Martin stayed within one possession after a Courtright field goal with 4:06 to go before the halftime break. However, the Redhawks marched 91 yards for a touchdown with only 12 ticks on the clock to claim a 30-17 halftime advantage.
The offense started slowly on both sides to open the third quarter before Southeast Missouri found the endzone at the 7:24 mark. The Skyhawks quickly answered with another Courtright field goal to make the score 37-20 through 45 minutes of play.
Two plays into the fourth quarter, UT Martin was stopped short on a 4th-and-1 try from the Redhawk 13-yard line. Southeast Missouri used that momentum to score 13 unanswered points before Hudson dropped a dime to Williams for a 24-yard score with 4:24 to go.
The Skyhawks could not convert the ensuing onside kick and the Redhawks scored a touchdown four plays later. Bachus then entered the game and directed UT Martin to a 61-yard scoring drive in only 2:10, gaining 47 yards through the air and 14 more on the ground.
"Give Southeast Missouri credit – they have a good football team," Skyhawk head coach Jason Simpson said. "Today was disappointing but we will find guys this week who want to practice and want to perform better. We will accept the challenge – we're still chasing a 4-4 OVC record and in my 12 years, we've not had a team finish less than .500 in the league. We also still have the Sgt. York Trophy out there with games remaining against Tennessee Tech and Tennessee State."
UT Martin goes back on the road in Week 10, traveling to No. 12 Jacksonville State for a 1 p.m. kickoff against the current OVC leaders.
Team Stats
SEMO 7, UTM 0
SEMO - WILKERSON, K. 58 yd pass from SANTACATERINA (TILLER, K. kick) 3 plays, 71 yards, TOP 1:25
SEMO 13, UTM 0
SEMO - ROBINSON, Mark 1 yd run (TILLER, K. kickfailed), 3 plays, 17 yards, TOP 0:50
SEMO 16, UTM 0
SEMO - TILLER, K. 36 yd field goal 9 plays, 60 yards, TOP 3:15
SEMO 16, UTM 7
UTM - HUDSON, Joe 4 yd run (COURTRIGHT, Rya kick), 8 plays, 75 yards, TOP 4:17
SEMO 16, UTM 14
UTM - MOORE, Jaylon 49 yd pass from HUDSON, Joe (COURTRIGHT, Rya kick) 1 plays, 49 yards, TOP 0:08
SEMO 23, UTM 14
SEMO - TERRY, Marquis 1 yd run (TILLER, K. kick), 4 plays, 58 yards, TOP 1:37
SEMO 23, UTM 17
UTM - COURTRIGHT, Rya 44 yd field goal 10 plays, 48 yards, TOP 4:28
SEMO 30, UTM 17
SEMO - WILKERSON, K. 15 yd pass from SANTACATERINA (TILLER, K. kick) 16 plays, 91 yards, TOP 3:48
SEMO 37, UTM 17
SEMO - TERRY, Marquis 17 yd run (TILLER, K. kick), 4 plays, 68 yards, TOP 1:16
SEMO 37, UTM 20
UTM - COURTRIGHT, Rya 30 yd field goal 14 plays, 62 yards, TOP 4:45
SEMO 40, UTM 20
SEMO - TILLER, K. 41 yd field goal 6 plays, 62 yards, TOP 2:39
SEMO 43, UTM 20
SEMO - TILLER, K. 38 yd field goal 4 plays, 4 yards, TOP 1:05
SEMO 50, UTM 20
SEMO - WILKERSON, K. 34 yd pass from SANTACATERINA (TILLER, K. kick) 3 plays, 36 yards, TOP 1:14
SEMO 50, UTM 26
UTM - WILLIAMS, Donne 24 yd pass from HUDSON, Joe (COURTRIGHT, Rya kickfailed) 9 plays, 63 yards, TOP 3:49
SEMO 56, UTM 26
SEMO - COOPER, Anthony 33 yd run (TILLER, K. kickfailed), 4 plays, 60 yards, TOP 2:09
SEMO 56, UTM 33
UTM - DOWELL, Colton 19 yd pass from BACHUS, John (COURTRIGHT, Rya kick) 7 plays, 61 yards, TOP 2:08
