COLLEGE FOOTBALL: TIGERS SHRED INDIANS IN FINALE

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- For two college football teams having dismal years, Southeast Missouri State University and Tennessee State put on quite an entertaining season-ending show here Saturday afternoon.

In a back-and-forth game that featured numerous momentum swings, the host Tigers overcame two early deficits, built a sizable second-half lead, held off a Southeast comeback and eventually pulled away for a 51-33 victory in front of just 1,835 fans at 68,000-seat Adelphia Coliseum.

So TSU, which had won the past two Ohio Valley Conference championships, at least got to close out its disappointing year with a 3-8 overall record and a 2-5 OVC mark.

Southeast ended its first season under coach Tim Billings also at 3-8 overall and a seventh-place 1-6 in the eight-team OVC. The Indians lost seven of their final eight games after starting the year 2-1.

"It's kind of the way things have gone all season," said Billings. "We have plenty of opportunities, but we just can't come up with the big play when we need it. There are plenty of balls on the ground (fumbles) that we have an opportunity to get but we don't come up with any today."

The Indians were able to move the ball well much of the day, but they didn't take full advantage of a TSU defense that had been shredded for an OVC-record 800 yards by Murray State last week.

Southeast finished with 358 yards. Quarterback Bobby Brune, taking over early in the second quarter after starter Rashad West reinjured the ankle that has bothered him for much of the season, completed 18 of 28 passes for 213 yards and three touchdowns. He also tossed a pair of two-point conversion passes.

Leslie Weaver closed out his career in style by catching nine passes for 126 yards and two TDs. Byron White led the rushing attack with 85 yards on 11 attempts while Marcus Patton added 60 yards on 12 carries.

TSU piled up 531 yards, including 281 on the ground as Michael Durden gained 105 yards on 13 carries.

Tigers quarterback Kenton Evans tossed four TD passes as he was 21-for-39 for 297 yards. He also ran for a score.

The way the game started, it looked like neither team would ever be able to slow the other down. First, TSU scored on the opening possession of the contest when Seth Goodowens kicked a 41-yard field goal.

Southeast came back the first time it had the football, marching 79 yards in just six plays. White scored the touchdown on a 19-yard run as the Indians grabbed a 7-3 lead.

TSU answered back on its ensuing possession, going 80 yards in 10 plays and scoring on a 10-yard pass from Evans to C.J. Johnson for a 10-7 advantage with more than four minutes still left in the opening period.

After that hectic start, things settled down some. West, who had engineered Southeast's first scoring drive, was hurt on the next series and never returned. Brune was able to help give the Indians a 14-10 lead when he hit Corey Chester on a 5-yard TD pass with just under 10 minutes left in the second quarter.

Then came a killer sequence for Southeast, which had the Tigers backed up on a third-and-29 from deep in their own territory. But Evans completed a long pass to gain a first down, then he hit Ande Durojaiye with a 33-yard TD strike on the next play. Even though the kick failed, TSU had a 16-14 lead that it would not relinquish.

"We have them backed up but they just throw it up and make a great play on the ball," Billings said.

TSU went up 23-14 with a little more than five minutes left before halftime when Donnell Brantley broke loose for a 42-yard TD run. The Tigers carried that nine-point advantage into the break, thanks to an interception in the end zone by Southeast's Marco Tipton with just seven seconds left after it appeared as if TSU would widen its lead.

The Tigers did stretch the margin early in the second half. After Jason Witczak missed a 41-yard field-goal attempt on the opening possession of the third quarter, TSU drove 76 yards and scored on a 13-yard pass from Evans to Johnson, making it 30-14.

But the Indians still had some life left in them. Brune hit Leslie Weaver with a 4-yard TD pass on fourth-and-goal in the opening minute of the final period. Brune and Weaver also hooked up for the two-point conversion, bringing Southeast to within 30-22.

Leotis Belcher forced an Evans fumble on TSU's ensuing possession and Demar Winston recovered at the Tigers' 16-yard line. Southeast stalled but Witczak booted a 32-yard field goal, slicing TSU's lead to 30-25 with 11:30 left to play.

It didn't take TSU long to douse Southeast's comeback hopes, however. A big kickoff return set the Tigers up just 33 yards from the end zone and Evans' 7-yard TD run with 9:28 remaining put TSU up 37-25. That drive was kept alive by an offsides penalty after Southeast had apparently stopped the Tigers on fourth-and-one.

"We had the momentum. We were in the game, but that penalty just killed the momentum," Billings said. "And we let them run the kickoff all the way back to the 30."

Southeast then fumbled the ensuing kickoff at its 41 and TSU scored on a 9-yard pass from Evans to Julius Hull, making it 44-25 with 5:57 left.

Brune hit Weaver with a 15-yard TD pass and then found Chester for the conversion with 3:58 remaining, cutting TSU's lead to 44-33.

But the Indians failed to recover an onside kick and TSU tacked on an insurance TD with 3:38 left.

And now it's off on the recruiting trail for Billings and his staff. The coach knows there is much work to be done in order to get the Indians' program headed in the right direction.

"We've got some good players, we just don't have enough," said Billings. "It's been a tough, tough year, but we're going to be working hard. We have a long uphill battle and we have to take it step by step."