Tennessee State football is officially in a tailspin, dropping their tenth consecutive Ohio Valley Conference game with a brutal 42-28 loss to UT Martin on October 10. The Tigers were up 21-7 in the first half, but quarterback Daylin Lee, who tossed four touchdowns, including a program-record 99-yard bomb to Cam Bulluck, also threw three picks and had a fumble returned for a touchdown. After the game, second-year coach Reggie Barlow dropped a bombshell: Lee has been playing through a sore shoulder and other injuries for weeks, which sounds like it’s been absolutely killing his late-game performances.
Lee’s Heroics Wasted By Late Game Woes
Man, you gotta feel for Daylin Lee. The guy’s a “trooper,” according to Coach Barlow, and he’s out there making plays despite being banged up. In the UT Martin game, he went 20-for-39 for 376 yards and those four scores. That 99-yard connection to Bulluck? Pure magic, a TSU record! But then the wheels came off, especially in the clutch. His fumble turned into a 97-yard scoop-and-score for Farand Washington, the longest in UT Martin history. And just when TSU was driving to potentially tie it up in the fourth quarter, facing a critical fourth-and-9, his pass got batted down. He did manage another 29-yard TD to Bulluck to cut the lead to 35-28 with just over eight minutes left, but then, bam! Joel Castleberry picked him off for an 18-yard pick-six with barely two minutes to go. Talk about a gut punch. Barlow admitted Lee “would love to have those throws back,” noting he “couldn’t really step into it” on one of the crucial ones. It’s tough to watch a guy struggle when you know he’s hurting. This isn’t a new problem either; a similar collapse happened on October 3 when Western Illinois erased a 21-10 fourth-quarter deficit to win 28-21.
The Run Game? Nonexistent.
Look, it’s not all on Lee’s shoulders, literal or figurative. This team is *one-dimensional*. They’re trying to throw their way out of every mess because their run game has just vanished. Against UT Martin, they ran the ball 21 times for a pathetic 15 yards. Fifteen yards! And that was *with* starting running back Zach Simmons-Brown back from a two-week knee injury. This isn’t an isolated incident either; TSU has only broken 100 rushing yards in one game all season, with 131 against Florida A&M. Coach Barlow didn’t mince words, saying, “We wanted to be better in the running game. You can’t just throw it. The opponent gets the chance to pin their ears back and come after you.” He nailed it. Without a credible run threat, defenses just feast on the passing game, especially when your quarterback is nursing an injury. Barlow even called out the offensive line, admitting it’s been “a work in progress” and they’ve been “mov[ing] some guys around.” But clearly, it hasn’t clicked yet, because the run game is “still just nonexistent.” That’s a huge problem that puts the offense in “bad situations on third down” constantly.
TSU is now 1-5 overall and 0-2 in conference play, reeling from a brutal 10-game OVC losing streak. They’ve gotta figure out how to protect Lee, get him healthy, and find *some* semblance of a ground attack, or this season is just going to keep slipping away.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Yahoo Sports.
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