Southeast Missouri and Tennessee Tech picked up home victories on Saturday while four Association teams lost at FBS opponents on the road.
SCORES
@#17/20 Tennessee Tech 45, Chattanooga 17
@Southeast Missouri 30, North Alabama 21
@Indiana State 38,
Eastern Illinois 14
#1/1 North Dakota State 59,
@Tennessee State 3
@Appalachian State 20,
Lindenwood 13
@Georgia Tech 52,
Gardner-Webb 12
@Coastal Carolina 13,
Charleston Southern 0
@UTEP 42,
UT Martin 17
#17/20 TENNESSEE TECH 45, CHATTANOOGA 17 | BOX SCORE
No. 17 Tennessee Tech football cruised past Chattanooga 45-17 to move to 2-0 for the 2025 season on Saturday at Tucker Stadium. The Golden Eagles win their first two games of the season for the first time since the 2012 season, when Tech defeated Hampton (W, 41-31) and North Greenville (W, 42-14) to open that campaign. Quarterback Kekoa Visperas completed 18-of-27 for 240 yards and two touchdowns. Aidan Littles recorded 109 all-purpose yards with two touchdowns (1 rec, 1 rush). Tech posted 513 total yards of offense (221 rush, 292 pass) and held Chattanooga to 274 total yards (25 rush, 249 pass), notching another complete performance against an opponent knocking on the door of the FCS Top 25. The 25 rushing yards by Chattanooga were the fewest allowed since the Golden Eagles surrendered zero yards to Tennessee State in 2024.
SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 30, NORTH ALABAMA 21 | BOX SCORE
Southeast Missouri rattled off 30-straight points en route to a 30-21 home-opening win over North Alabama Saturday night at Houck Field. SEMO, which trailed 7-0 with 43 seconds left in the first quarter, answered by scoring the next 30 points and UNA never recovered. Quarterback Jax Leatherwood completed 21-of-33 passes for 225 yards and two touchdowns. Payton Brown paved the way on the ground with 16 carries for 81 yards and Cam Pedro caught four passes for 82 yards. Pedro went over 1,000 receiving yards in his career. Defensively, SEMO stopped UNA three times on fourth down. For the second-straight game, Landon Sylvie led the Redhawks, this time with eight tackles.
INDIANA STATE 38, EASTERN ILLINOIS 14 | BOX SCORE
Charles Kellom rushed for 86 yards and two touchdowns but Indiana State's defense was able to keep the Eastern Illinois offense in check for much of the game picking up a 38-14 win over the Panthers. ISU improved to 2-0 while EIU fell to 1-1. The Sycamores led 17-0 at the half scoring in the first quarter on a 19-yard touchdown pass from Elijah Owens to Plez Lawrence. The second scoring drive was led by Sycamores back-up quarterback Keegan Patterson who ended the day passing for 111 yards and rushing for an Indiana State high of 78 yards.
#1/1 NORTH DAKOTA STATE 59, TENNESSEE STATE 3 | BOX SCORE
Tennessee State dropped its first game of the season on Saturday, falling 59-3 to defending FCS national champion North Dakota State at Nissan Stadium. The Tigers (1-1) found bright spots on both sides of the ball despite the tough result. Running back Kendric Rhymes led the ground game with 43 rushing yards, while Zack Simmons-Brown added 32 yards on eight carries, averaging 4.0 yards per attempt. In the passing game, Tyson Edwards hauled in TSU's longest reception of the day on a 16-yard grab. On defense, Byron Davis stood out with four tackles and a second-half interception, marking the Tigers' first pick of the season.
APPALACHIAN STATE 20, LINDENWOOD 13 | BOX SCORE
The Lindenwood football team (0-2) fought hard, but fell to Appalachian State (2-0) by a score of 20-13 on Saturday in Boone, N.C. Appalachian State scored on its first offensive play from scrimmage to take a 7-0 lead. The Mountaineers thought they doubled the lead a few minutes later, but the ball was punched out by Jayden Patrick before the endzone which kept App State up by a score. The Mountaineers scored again late in the first, going up 14-0 after one. The Lions defense got a big stop early in the second quarter giving them good field position. With the offense taking over near midfield, Nate Glantz eventually found the endzone with a one-yard touchdown rush, cutting the deficit to 14-6. The Black and Gold held the Mountaineers to just 48 yards in the middle frame and trailed by a touchdown at the break.
GEORGIA TECH 52, GARDNER-WEBB 12 | BOX SCORE
Gardner-Webb (1-1) football was dealt a 59-12 loss at the hands of the ACC's Georgia Tech (2-0) on Saturday afternoon inside Bobby Dodd Stadium. Graduate wide receiver Anthony Lowe led the Runnin' Bulldogs with eight catches for 88 yards and a score. Backup quarterback Cole Pennington came into the game, completing 14-of-21 passes for 164 yards and a score. The running game was held in check on the day with graduate back Quasean Holmes leading the way with 48 yards on 14 carries.Redshirt sophomore Chris Lofton ended the contest with five receptions and 56 yards. Gardner-Webb finished with 326 yards of total offense, including 209 through the air and 117 on the ground. The Runnin' Bulldogs took an early lead in the ball game after a huge hit on defense by redshirt junior Darius Johnson Jr. caused a fumble, giving GWU the ball in plus territory. On the ensuing drive, starting quarterback Nate Hampton used his legs, rushing for 20 yards while graduate running back Quasean Holmes added a 26-yard burst before Hampton found Lowe for a 1-yard pitch-and-catch. The extra point was missed, but the Dawgs led 6-0.
COASTAL CAROLINA 13, CHARLESTON SOUTHERN 0 | BOX SCORE
The former annual rivalry game between Charleston Southern and Coastal Carolina was renewed on Saturday for the first time since 2016. The hosts came away with a 13-0 victory in a slug fest between the FCS and FBS programs. Coastal Carolina had the lone points of the first half in the contest with them booting through a 21-yard field goal to cap off a 15 play, 57-yard drive at the start of the second quarter. The Buccaneers' defense picked off Chants' quarterback MJ Morris twice in the half with newcomers Anthony Paulk and Nick Sawyer getting them both times inside their own 10. In the second half, the defense was able to get off the field again with an interception in the redzone with Steve Zayachkowsky coming down with it for the first of his career. Gilbert Brown had a tremendous day in the punting game with nine punts for 366 yards total with an average of 40.7 yards per. He had four downed inside the 20 and two that traveled over 50 yards. He had a long of 82 for a new school record as well as OVC / Big South Football Association record in the first half.
UTEP 42, UT MARTIN 17 | BOX SCORE
The second quarter proved costly for the University of Tennessee at Martin football squad this evening as the Skyhawks fell 42-17 at Conference USA member UTEP. The contest was in a 43-minute lightning delay late in the first quarter but that didn't stop UT Martin from doubling up the host Miners in total yards (92 to 46) while holding an 11:25 to 3:35 advantage in time of possession through 15 minutes of play. A turnover created by the Skyhawk defense led to a UT Martin touchdown on the first play of the second quarter, knotting the score at 7-all. However, UTEP scored 21 unanswered points to close out the first half on the way to the win. As a team, the Skyhawks passed for 295 yards tonight – their highest since throwing for 318 yards at Tennessee Tech on Nov. 4, 2023.