Lindenwood Shuts Out Tennessee State 27-0 as Andrew Baumgart Records Three Sacks

Tennessee State had its chances early. A touchdown pass in the first quarter, then a 41-yard field goal try a few minutes later. Neither one counted, and by the end of a long, chippy Saturday afternoon in St. Charles, Missouri, the scoreboard at Steward Field at Hunter Stadium read Lindenwood 27, Tennessee State 0.

The Lions forced three turnovers, sacked Tennessee State quarterbacks six times and held the Tigers to 183 total yards. Quarterback Pops Battle threw for 265 yards and two touchdowns without an interception, Will Graham hit both of his field goal tries, and linebacker Andrew Baumgart spent much of the day in the Tennessee State backfield with three sacks. Lindenwood moves to 4-4 overall and 3-1 in the OVC-Big South. Tennessee State falls to 2-7 and 0-4 in league play.

It is the third win in a row for a Lindenwood team that started 1-4, and the defense has now allowed 13, 9 and 0 points over that stretch.

A scoreless first quarter that could have gone the other way

Tennessee State nearly struck first. With 9:25 left in the first quarter, Daylin Lee found Cam Bulluck for what would have been a 27-yard touchdown. A Tennessee State personal foul wiped it off the board. The drive stalled, and with 5:05 to go in the quarter, Preston Hurless missed a 41-yard field goal.

That sequence set the tone for the visitors. Tennessee State finished with 6 penalties for 80 yards, and two of those flags erased or killed the kind of plays a 2-6 team cannot afford to give back on the road.

Lindenwood did not do much better on offense early. The first quarter ended 0-0, with both punters busy. Liam Corley punted five times for Lindenwood on the day, averaging 38.6 yards, and Tennessee State's Tumey also punted five times, for a 41.6 average with a long of 60.

Battle and the Lions break through

The game turned on the first snap of the second quarter. Lindenwood had built a 10-play, 76-yard drive that ate 5:19 of clock, and with 14:46 left in the half, Battle threw a 27-yard touchdown pass to Drew Krobath. Graham added the extra point for a 7-0 lead.

The next Lindenwood possession was shorter but just as useful. A five-play, 26-yard drive ended with Graham's 37-yard field goal at the 10:15 mark, pushing the lead to 10-0.

Then the defense took over. With 8:28 left before halftime, DeVonta Owens intercepted Lee and appeared to return it 73 yards for a touchdown. A Lindenwood holding penalty brought the play back, but the Lions kept the ball. Late in the half, with 1:49 remaining, M. Burke sacked Lee and knocked the ball loose, and Nolan O'Hara recovered at the Lindenwood 49. Tennessee State had now handed over the ball twice in the second quarter, and the half ended 10-0.

The turning point: Pratt's interception

Lindenwood opened the second half with patience. An 11-play, 41-yard march took 5:05 off the clock and ended with Graham's 28-yard field goal at the 5:34 mark of the third quarter. That made it 13-0, still a two-score game but not out of reach for a Tennessee State team that had moved the ball in spurts.

Tennessee State turned to Byron McNair at quarterback, looking for a spark. Instead, Zech Pratt intercepted McNair and returned it nine yards to the Tennessee State 40. Lindenwood needed only two plays from there. Jalen Smith caught a 28-yard pass to set it up, then took a 12-yard touchdown throw from Battle with 3:32 left in the third quarter. Graham's kick made it 20-0.

That was the moment the game slipped away from the Tigers. In roughly 90 seconds of game time, a 13-point game became a 20-point game, and the Lindenwood defense, which had already forced two turnovers, had no reason to take chances. The quarter also ended with a targeting call against Tennessee State's J. LaBranche, one more flag in a day full of them.

A 98-yard drive to put it away

The fourth quarter began with a big Lindenwood gain that did not count. Battle hit Krobath for 40 yards down to the Tennessee State 1, but a Lindenwood personal foul negated the play. Lindenwood eventually had to give the ball back, and Tumey's 51-yard punt pinned the Lions at their own 2-yard line.

Lindenwood answered with its best drive of the day. The Lions went 98 yards in 13 plays and burned 6:25 of clock. Elijah Roy caught passes of 13, 24 and 16 yards along the way, and Jared Rhodes finished it with a 2-yard touchdown run with 3:39 to play. Graham's extra point made it 27-0.

Tennessee State's last real threat ended with 1:07 left. Facing fourth-and-13, the Tigers dropped back one more time and Baumgart sacked the quarterback for a 15-yard loss, turning the ball over on downs. Lindenwood knelt out the rest of the clock.

The numbers that matter

Lindenwood outgained Tennessee State 378 to 183 and won the first down battle 23 to 11. The Lions held the ball for 32:31 to the Tigers' 26:22, and they did it without a single turnover. Tennessee State had three.

Battle completed 24 of 32 passes for 265 yards and two touchdowns and added 71 rushing yards on 16 carries, the most of any player on either team. Jalen Smith led Lindenwood with 69 receiving yards on five catches and a touchdown. Krobath had five catches for 53 yards and a score, Roy caught three balls for 53 yards, and Christopher Bennett Jr. had five catches for 42 yards. Steve Hall ran 10 times for 20 yards and caught four passes for 46. Rhodes had 20 yards on eight carries with the late touchdown.

The Lindenwood running game was not the story, with 113 yards on 37 carries, but it did not need to be. Lindenwood converted 6 of 13 third downs.

On defense, the numbers are hard to argue with: six sacks, nine tackles for loss and two interceptions. Baumgart finished with six tackles, 3.5 tackles for loss and three sacks. Keshawn Lyons led the team with eight tackles. C. Jacobmeier and Burke each had a sack, and A. Zook and A. Rustemeyer split one.

Tennessee State managed only 28 rushing yards on 26 carries, a number dragged down by the sacks. Lee completed 10 of 15 passes for 90 yards with an interception, and McNair went 9 of 13 for 65 yards with an interception. Bulluck was the bright spot with seven catches for 64 yards, and Anthony Taylor added four catches for 40. Treadaway carried 11 times for 26 yards.

Tennessee State's defense kept the game closer than the final margin suggests for a long stretch. Jaylon Price had two sacks, Marlon Huff added one, and Epoki Fakaosi made eight tackles. The Tigers converted 4 of 12 third downs and went 0 for 1 on fourth down.

What it means

For Lindenwood, the slow start to the season is now firmly behind it. A team picked third in the preseason poll sat at 1-4 at one point. Three straight wins later, the Lions are 4-4, 3-1 in league play and in the mix near the top of the OVC-Big South. Last week's 44-9 win over Chicago State was about the offense and Battle's 292 passing yards. This week was about a defense that never let Tennessee State get comfortable.

Lindenwood also beat Tennessee State 35-13 in Nashville last November, so this is two straight wins in the series.

For Tennessee State, the season keeps getting harder. The Tigers were picked last in the preseason poll and have now lost four straight league games. Last week's 20-7 loss at Charleston Southern featured three turnovers too, and the pattern held again on Saturday. Four games into league play, the Tigers have not found a way to keep the ball.

Up next

Lindenwood plays at Gardner-Webb on Nov. 7, then at UT Martin on Nov. 14, before hosting Western Illinois on Nov. 21. Tennessee State hosts Southeast Missouri on Nov. 7 and Eastern Illinois on Nov. 14, then travels to Gardner-Webb on Nov. 21.

The takeaway

This shutout was earned. Lindenwood's offense left points on the field with a negated 40-yard pass at the goal line, but the defense never gave Tennessee State a reason to believe. If the Lions keep playing defense like this, the second half of their season could look nothing like the first.

Sources: ESPN box score and play-by-play; Lindenwood Athletics; earlier Undrafted coverage. More college football coverage on Undrafted.

Photos: Lindenwood Athletics (file photo).