MARTIN, Tenn. – It took more than 60 minutes to declare a winner of today’s regular season football finale between the University of Tennessee at Martin and Lindenwood but the Skyhawks prevailed via a 33-26 decision at Hardy Graham Stadium.
The victory, combined with a Tennessee Tech and Tennessee State win, resulted in the fourth consecutive conference championship for the UT Martin football program. The Skyhawks conclude the 2024 regular season with an 8-4 overall record and 6-2 mark in Big South-OVC play, tying Southeast Missouri, Tennessee Tech and Tennessee State for the 2024 league crown.
It was an emotional day from the start as 16 members of the squad were recognized with a pregame Senior Day ceremony. UT Martin took its first lead of the day with 1:45 to go in the third quarter before the Lions (5-7, 4-4 Big South-OVC) forced overtime with the game-tying touchdown and ensuing two-point conversion with 32 seconds remaining in regulation. The Skyhawks got the ball first in overtime and scored on five plays, capped off with a 1-yard pass from Kinkead Dent to Tyler Dostin. UT Martin’s defense then flexed its muscles, pushing the Lindenwood offense back 22 yards with a pair of sacks, a pass interference penalty and a game-ending interception by JaMichael McGoy in the endzone.
Trevonte Rucker hauled in a pair of touchdown receptions as part of a six-catch, 69-yard day while DeVonte Tanksley had a team-high six catches for 69 yards. Kinkead Dent completed 66.7 percent (18-for-27) of his pass attempts for 272 yards and three touchdowns while adding 64 rushing yards on nine carries. Patrick Smith ran for a game-high 80 yards on 15 totes while Glover Cook III contributed a touchdown on the ground for the Skyhawks.
The swarming UT Martin defense tallied 10 tackles for loss, seven sacks, five pass breakups, eight quarterback hurries and two forced fumbles today. Tevin Shipp corralled a game-high 10 tackles for UT Martin with two sacks while Davonte Murray had 2.5 sacks, a forced fumble and six overall stops. Chris Hunter, Jr. (eight tackles, two quarterback hurries), LaMarion Pierce (seven tackles, one tackle for loss, three pass breakups), Jaylon Sharpe (seven tackles, one sack, one interception), Taylor Burton (1.5 tackles for loss, one fumble recovery) and Charles Perkins (one sack, one forced fumble) also enjoyed big games for the Skyhawk defense.
On special teams, Jaren Van Winkle booted four punts for an average of 46.0 yards, including a long of 52 yards with a pair of punts that landed inside the 20-yard line.
The Lions were paced by quarterback Nate Glantz’s 348 passing yards, 42 rushing yards and two combined touchdowns (one passing, one rushing). Jeff Caldwell caught eight passes for 99 yards with a touchdown while Jared Rhodes tacked on a 13-yard rushing score. Defensively, Vincent King’s eight tackles led the way.
“Sometimes if you just keep playing and play through some unfortunate things, you have a chance to come out on top and we did that tonight,” UT Martin head coach Jason Simpson said. “Lindenwood is a good team and they didn’t back down. Last week was draining on the players – I think it took us after the first quarter to kind of get ourselves going. We battled back and we executed down the stretch – we were resilient and our players made plays.”
The Lions scored on their first possession of the game but missed the PAT. The Skyhawk defense then held strong until a two-yard touchdown with 11:40 to go in the second quarter.
Dent scampered for 55 yards midway through the second quarter to set up UT Martin’s first score of the day – a 23-yard strike to Rucker in the back right corner of the endzone. A Van Winkle PAT shaved the Skyhawk deficit to 13-7 – a score that would carry on to the halftime break.
Lindenwood kicked a 50-yard field goal on the opening drive of the second half to take a nine-point advantage. Following Sharpe’s interception, UT Martin scored on the next play with a 38-yard pass down the right sideline from Dent to Rucker. The Lions blocked the PAT and returned the scoop 85 yards for a rare two-point conversion, making the score 18-13.
The Skyhawks took their first lead thanks to Smith’s 22-yard scamper and dive for the front left pylon, giving UT Martin a 20-18 edge after Van Winkle’s PAT split the uprights.
Cook’s touchdown was the seventh play of the fourth quarter and pushed the Skyhawk lead out to 26-18. Lindenwood converted a 4th-and-5 on its own 39-yard line on the way to a 14-play, 93-yard scoring drive that evened the score with 32 ticks remaining. UT Martin hit a 27-yard pass play from Dent to Scottie Alexander to set up a potential game-winning field goal with four seconds left in regulation but the 49-yard attempt just missed right.
The Skyhawks then took momentum in overtime and didn’t let up, winning their seventh game in the last eight tries.
Boasting an impressive résumé that includes a Football Bowl Subdivision triumph (24-13 at Kennesaw State on Sept. 28) and only three FCS losses by a combined 11 points to teams who finished the regular season with a 24-12 record, UT Martin will tune into the NCAA FCS
Selection Show to see if it was awarded a playoff berth. The 24-team postseason field will be announced tomorrow at 11:30 a.m. on ESPNU.
