Tennessee State football vs Murray State: Scouting report, score prediction
The Tennessee State football team will enter Saturday's game at Murray State (2 p.m., ESPN+) tied for second with Southeast Missouri in the Ohio Valley Conference standings and tied for second with Lindenwood for the conference's second-longest winning streak.
The Tigers (3-4, 2-0) were in pretty much the same place at this point in the season in 2021. They went on to beat Murray State 27-21 to extend their win streak to four games.
Murray State (0-8, 0-3) is in last place in the league.
Final meeting?
This is Murray State's final season in the OVC, which it has been a part of since the conference was created in 1948. The Racers will move to the Missouri Valley Conference in 2023.
TSU and Murray State are not scheduled to play again at this point.
Murray State leads the series 19-14. The Tigers' win last season snapped a five-game losing streak against the Racers.
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No offense
Murray State has only scored more than 20 points in one game this season, a 35-21 loss to Eastern Illinois. The Racers are last in the OVC and 117th nationally in scoring offense averaging just 12.4 points per game.
TSU struggled to score early in the season. The Tigers averaged just 12.7 points in their first three games. Over the last three, however, they have averaged 36.0 points.
Murray State is also last in the OVC in total offense (292.4 yards) while TSU is fifth (343.1).
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Draylen Ellis is rolling
TSU quarterback Draylen Ellis finished last season ranked first in the OVC in passing (291.8 yards per game) when he played for Austin Peay. He transferred to TSU and is currently ranked fifth (197.7 yards) in the conference.
Ellis has played extremely well during the Tigers' win streak. He has completed 51-of-82 passes for 694 yards with six touchdowns and one interception over that stretch.
Ellis reached 1,000 passing yards for the season last week against Eastern Illinois.
Prediction
TSU 34, Murray State 14: Coach Eddie George said if he feels at any point leading up to the game his players are taking the winless Racers lightly, he will remind them of their 28-27 overtime loss to Lane on Oct. 1. TSU's defense is capable of shutting down Murray State's offense.
Reach Mike Organ at 615-259-8021 or on Twitter @MikeOrganWriter.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Tennessee State football vs Murray State: Score prediction
