UT Martin Pushes No. 6 Tennessee Tech To Brink But Falls In Championship Bout

Saturday, November 22

Cookeville, Tenn.

Noon

UT Martin

6-6 , 6-2

Tennessee Tech

11-1 , 8-0

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

UT Martin

Tennessee Tech

UT Martin Pushes No. 6 Tennessee Tech To Brink But Falls In Championship Bout

11/22/2025 4:13:00 PM | Football

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COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – The University of Tennessee at Martin football team went on the road as a multi-touchdown underdog and gave No. 6 Tennessee Tech all it could handle in a matchup for the OVC-Big South Football Association championship, before falling in a 20-17 heartbreaker.

The Skyhawks finishes the season with a 6-6 overall record and 6-2 in the OVC-Big South standings to record the program's 10^th top-two finish in the conference standings during the Jason Simpson Era. A decorated senior class which won parts of four consecutive conference championships, finishes its collective career with 43 wins since 2021.

Highlighting the top individual performances for the Skyhawks was the play of quarterback Jase Bauer who completed 18-of-26 pass attempts for 155 yards and a touchdown while adding another touchdown on the ground. Chris Franklin led the team with 61 rushing yards while Scottie Alexander was top on the receiving list with 60 yards.

Defensively, the Skyhawks kept the nation's second ranked scoring offense to just 20 points –well below its 42 points per game average. The squad was led by OVC-Big South Defensive Player of the Year nominee Keyshawn Johnson who racked up a team-high 10 tackles – including 3.5 tackles for loss and a pair of sacks. With his two sacks, he brought his season total up to 13.5 sacks to surpass UT Martin Hall of Famer Emanuel McNeil's previous school single-season record of 13.0 set back in 1988.

"I am proud of our kids," UT Martin head coach Jason Simpson said. "We had a chance to win that one. We played extremely physical on defense and competed on offense. I'm proud of how our kids bounced back this year, but I'm disappointed that I felt like we couldn't get a break when we needed it."

UT Martin jumped up on the scoreboard first with a 27-yard touchdown connection between Bauer and wide receiver Bryce Bailey in the back corner of the endzone with 5:52 to play in the first quarter. The Skyhawks later pushed their advantage out to 10 points early in the second period after Cade Hechter booted a 32-yard field goal.

No. 6 Tennessee Tech (11-1, 8-0 OVC-Big South) clinched its first outright conference championship in 50 years after beginning to scratch back in the second quarter as a 28-yard field goal by Dom LeBlanc got the squad on the board right before halftime. Then late in the third quarter, the Golden Eagles tied up the contest on a 23-yard touchdown pass from Kekoa Visperas to Q'Daryius Jennings at a 10-10 margin.

The fourth quarter continued a back-and-forth matchup between two conference heavyweights. UT Martin punched in a go-ahead touchdown on a one-yard rush by Bauer with 7:48 to play in the game to take a 17-10 advantage. Tennessee Tech responded however as Visperas orchestrated a 12-play, 75-yard drive to eat the clock before finding Brian Courtney for an eight-yard touchdown to knot the game at 17-17 with 2:59 to play.

The Skyhawks had a drive to respond but was forced to punt the ball back to the Golden Eagles for a potential game-winning drive with 1:30 to play. Tech strung together a 63-yard drive to march down the field before LeBlanc split the uprights with a 35-yard field goal to clinch the program's outright championship and the automatic bid to next week's NCAA Division I playoffs.