#14 UT MARTIN FALLS ON THE ROAD AT #5 MISSOURI STATE IN 35-30 SHOOTOUT

Thursday, September 8

Springfield, Mo.

7 p.m.

UT Martin

1-1

Missouri State

2-0

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

UT Martin

Missouri St.

#14 UT MARTIN FALLS ON THE ROAD AT #5 MISSOURI STATE IN 35-30 SHOOTOUT

9/8/2022 10:45:00 PM | Football

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SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – In the week's lone matchup between nationally ranked opponents and a rematch of last season's NCAA Division I Championship first round contest, the No. 14 University of Tennessee at Martin football team went toe-to-toe with No. 5 ranked Missouri State on Thursday evening before ultimately falling just short by a final score of 35-30 at Plaster Stadium.

The Skyhawks (1-1) battled from their first offensive drive of the game until their last, bookending both drives with touchdowns passes to challenge their nationally ranked foe on the road. With last season's contest being decided by just one point, tonight's contest looked to have a similar theme and stuck to its script until the Bears escaped with a five-point victory.

UT Martin tallied 429 yards of total offense on the night while challenging Missouri State through the air with 344 passing yards. Quarterback Dresser Winn led the Skyhawk offense by completing 29-of-41 pass attempts for 344 yards and three touchdowns in his second career start against the Bears. With the strong performance, Winn moved into ninth in program history in both career passing yards (3,533) and passing touchdowns (25).

A big recipient of Winn's completions was Colton Dowell who hauled in 10 receptions for a career-high 159 yards and one touchdown. Dowell got the Skyhawks on the board on their first drive courtesy of a 24-yard touchdown reception while tallying seven catches of 10 yards or more. His evening moved him into select company by becoming just the fourth player in program history to eclipse 2,000 career receiving yards (2,019) while also moving into a tie for ninth on the school's career touchdown leaderboard with his 15^th snag.

Running back Zak Wallace also had a nice evening with 17 carries for 76 yards and one touchdown. He ripped a game-long 36-yard carry late in the fourth quarter to set up the Skyhawks final touchdown drive while also scoring on a 15-yard carry of his own. The touchdown scamper marked the 20^th of his career – moving him into a tie for sixth place in program history.

Gallery: (9-8-2022) Football at #5 Missouri State

UT Martin's defense posted some bright moments in the high scoring affair – including a key goal line stand in the third quarter to stuff the run at the one-yard line. The squad also tallied five sacks – totaling 30 yards.

The linebacker core of Rob Hicks and John H. Ford II led the team for the second straight outing in the tackle department. Hicks tallied a game-high 13 tackles in the contest while Ford notched 12 stops – including 2.0 tackles for loss. The Skyhawks also found sacks from Tyler Gore, Daylan Dotson, Chris Hunter, TJ Neal and Hicks while Kenyonte Davis forced a fumble.

"Tonight was a hard fought game," UT Martin head coach Jason Simpson said. "They are a good football team and I feel like we are good football team. We competed hard and hard our opportunities. We just have to coach better and that starts with me. We had opportunities in that game to take a lead and we didn't take advantage of it. Give them credit, they made some plays and blocked us. There is a lot to build on and I look forward to getting back to work on Sunday."

Missouri State (2-0) remained unbeaten behind the playmaking ability of its star quarterback Jason Shelley who completed 19-of-24 passes for 297 yards and five touchdowns. Shelley found his receiver Tyrone Scott for three touchdowns while Jacardia Wright and Celdon Manning also recorded touchdown receptions. Wright also excelled in the rushing attack with 23 carries for 120 yards.

Both teams exchanged blows throughout the contest with neither squad pushing the advantage out to double figures until the fourth quarter. UT Martin struck first with Winn's 24-yard connection to Dowell to cap off an eight-play, 73-yard scoring drive on the team's first offensive possession. Missouri State struck right back however, scoring just 95 seconds later on a 64-yard touchdown pass from Shelley to Manning to knot the game up at 7-7.

Missouri State then took its first lead midway through the second quarter on a 10-yard completion from Shelley to Scott at the six-minute mark before UT Martin found the equalizer with 2:45 to play in the half on a 15-yard touchdown by Wallace down the home sideline. The score did not remain tied heading into the half however as the Bears strung together a quick drive, capped off by a 19-yard pass from Shelley to Wright to take a 21-14 advantage into halftime.

UT Martin controlled the third quarter while holding Missouri State off the scoreboard. The Skyhawks tied the game early in the period on a five-yard pass from Winn to DJ Nelson for the redshirt-freshman's first career touchdown at the 9:48 mark. The visitors then retook the lead for the first time since the opening drive when Tyler Larco booted a 23-yard field goal with 1:16 to play in the third quarter to put the Skyhawks on top 24-21.

Missouri State looked to take control in the fourth quarter as Shelley found Scott for a seven-yard touchdown at the 10:09 mark of the final period before finding the same connection – this time for 22-yards with 4:37 to play to give the Bears a two-score advantage at 35-24.

Facing an 11-point deficit, UT Martin marched down the field and scored a touchdown in less than two minutes as Winn found EJ Smoot for a 14-yard touchdown with 2:43 to play. The Skyhawks would attempt a two-point conversion to try and cut the margin down to a field goal margin, but the squad could not convert the attempt. After an unsuccessful on-side kick try which Missouri State recovered, time was on the Bears side as the game clock expired with a five-point win for the home team.

UT Martin will now turn its attention to Mountain West foe Boise State on Saturday, Sept. 17. Kickoff is scheduled for 3 p.m. CST and will be broadcast on FS1.