It took more than 60 minutes to declare a winner of Saturday’s regular season football finale between the University of Tennessee at Martin and Lindenwood, but the Skyhawks prevailed 33-26 at Hardy Graham Stadium.
The victory 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, Jr. in the endzone.
Trevonte Rucker hauled in a pair of touchdown receptions – his third game this season with multiple catches for scores – 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.
(Photo Credit: UTM Athletics)
