UT Martin Falls On The Road To Western Illinois

Saturday, October 24

Macomb, Ill.

3 p.m.

UT Martin

3-5 , 2-1

Western Illinois

4-4 , 2-1

Team	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	Final F
UT Martin	0	10	7	7	24
Western Ill.	7	14	17	17	55

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10/24/2026 7:54:00 PM | Football

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MACOMB, Ill. – The University of Tennessee at Martin football team could not slow down the high-powered offense of Western Illinois in the host's Homecoming matchup, falling on the road by a final 55-24 margin at Hanson Field.

UT Martin (3-5, 2-1 OVC) totaled 366 yards of offense and stayed within striking distance for much of the contest before Western Illinois (4-4, 2-1 OVC) closed the game with 17-point fourth quarter to seal the conference matchup.

The Skyhawks found some success through the air, as quarterback Tate Surber completed 18-of-34 pass attempts for a career-high 266 yards but also threw two turnovers to stall offensive drives. Keyshaun Pipkin paced the team with four receptions and 77 yards – including a 47-yard reception to set up a scoring drive early in the second quarter. Meanwhile, Deuce Oliver eclipsed the 100-yard receiving mark for the first time in his career with a game-high 119 yards – including a 79-yard pass reception – which led to a Skyhawk touchdown.

Western Illinois did a nice job of keeping the UT Martin rushing offense in check throughout the game, limiting the Skyhawks to a season-low 90 rushing yards. Despite the tough running lanes, Jaydon Peete found the endzone twice on the ground, tallying two touchdowns on eight carries for 15 yards. Meanwhile, Chris Franklin also found the endzone with a 34-yard rushing touchdown late in the third quarter.

The tandem of Joel Castleberry and Brylan Jordan paced the team with six tackles each while Duston Chavis, Chris Wilson and Broderick Tommie Jr. each had a sack. Stefan Ponder also got involved by hauling in a tipped pass from CJ Cobbins and returning his first career interception 14 yards.

On special teams, central Illinois product Brandon Sims nailed a 22-yard field goal while Max Zuluaga consistently flipped the field for the Skyhawks by tallied four punts for an average of 51.2 yards per attempt – including a game-long 68-yard punt.

Gallery: (10-24-2026) Football at Western Illinois

"Anytime you give up 55 points on defense, as good as we were last week coaching and playing, that was as bad as we were today.," UT Martin head coach Jason Simpson said. "We had a lot of guys that went out with injuries, and it was kind of next man up, which didn't help the situation. On offense, we were pretty average. So pretty much, they kicked our tail across the board. You give them credit because they are a good team, but we have to go back to the drawing board."

Western Illinois leaned heavily on the shoulders of dual-threat quarterback Kennedy McGill who powers a high-scoring offense. McGill tallied 349 yards of total offense by rushing 25 times for 210 yards and three touchdowns while completing 12-of-22 pass attempts for 139 yards and a touchdown through the air. David Hargro also added two touchdowns for the Fighting Leathernecks, with one coming on the ground and one through the air.

The Leatherneck defense was led by Nick Reinicke with 10 tackles and an interception while Justin Buckner also added 10 tackles in the victory.

UT Martin returns to action on Saturday, Oct. 31 when playing host to Eastern Illinois for Homecoming at Hardy Graham Stadium.