On Saturday, September 2 the Tennessee State University Tigers football team strapped on the pads and headed out onto the field to take on the Notre Dame Fighting Irish in South Bend, Indiana. This matchup is one never seen before; this is the first time Notre Dame has faced an HBCU school. Not only that it is the first time they have faced a school at the FCS level.

The Irish received the opening kickoff from the Tigers and got their offense rolling right away. Notre Dame drove right down the field on their opening possession which was capped off by a 36-yard touchdown run by Jeremiyah Love. The Tigers responded with a nice job of their own that was stalled at the ND 20 which led to a field goal. On the ensuing kickoff, Notre Dame return man Devyn Ford fumbled the ball giving the Tigers prime field position deep in ND territory. However, the TSU offense fell flat which led to a field goal attempt that would be blocked by the Irish. The score was 7-3 and that was as close as it was going to get. The Irish rattled off 49 straight points resulting in a 56-3 victory over TSU.

Besides the first drive, the Tiger offense could not get anything going. They struggled through the air and on the ground. The Tigers could only get 67 yards passing while only gaining 89 running. On the other hand, Notre Dame had no issue moving the ball with over 500 yards of offense and only 5 plays that resulted in negative yardage in the first half. The Irish were almost perfect on 3^rd down conversations going 9-11, while the Tigers only managed 4 conversions in 14 tries two of those coming on the first drive of the game.

 

The Tigers continue their season next week on WNSR when they face Arkansas Pine-Bluff in the Southern Heritage Classic at Liberty Stadium in Memphis. Kickoff is at 6:00 PM.

 

Alek Kisiel / WNSR Columnist 

@AlekKisiel on Twitter