ST. CHARLES – The linemen in the heavy jumbo package rumbled onto the field with Lindenwood facing a second-and-goal from the 1-yard line. With left tackle Gavin Hulet on the end of the line, there was no thought of a pass to the left, so Tennessee Tech shifted its focus to the right.
Quarterback Nate Glantz rolled to his right, then threw a pass back to his left where the 6-foot-6, 309-pound Hulet was waiting. With a pair of stabilizing knee braces and hair flowing from the back of his helmet, Hulet caught the ball at the six-yard line, cradled it like a running back and looked for someone to run over.
There was no defender in sight, so he jogged towards the end zone, did a semi-shimmy at the two, and then cruised across the goal line to the delight of his fellow offensive linemen.
“It fun to throw some of the ‘Big Sexys’ a touchdown every once in awhile,” Lindenwood coach Jed Stugart said.
Hulet’s sexy touchdown was fitting for an unusual day that included two-and-a-half hours of weather delays and no halftime as Tennessee Tech defeated Lindenwood 52-28 in a 6-hour marathon Saturday at Hunter Stadium.
Lindenwood (3-4; 2-1) will look to rebound from its first conference loss when it hosts Gardner-Webb (4-3; 2-1) at 2 p.m. Saturday at Hunter Stadium. The Runnin’ Bulldogs defeated Lindenwood 42-35 in their first-ever meeting last season.
At the University of Sioux Falls, both Stugart and offensive coordinator Dusty Hovorka coached alongside current University of Alabama offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb. They watched on television as the Crimson Tide threw a screen pass to 366-pound offensive tackle Kadyn Proctor in the red zone during a game against Georgia on Sept. 27.
“(Grubb) was my offensive coordinator for three years and he liked to do stuff like that,” Stugart said. “We’ve always had those little niches in our (Lindenwood) offense. We actually scored a touchdown on that (Hulet) play a couple years ago. It was fun to see our guys execute it.”
Lindenwood played Tennessee Tech tougher than any team this season. The Golden Eagles failed to score on their opening drive for the first time, they trailed at the end of the first quarter for the first time, and leading 38-28 at the second weather delay, they had to make winning plays in the fourth quarter.
“We have just not played fourth quarter games, and the way the defense played in the fourth quarter, the way we ran the ball, the way we finished, I could not be more proud of this team,” Tennessee Tech coach Bobby Wilder said.
Shortly after Hulet’s sexy touchdown cut the Lindenwood deficit to 38-28, a second weather delay was announced. Ninety minutes later, the teams resumed play and Tennessee Tech continued its execution in the trenches.
Quintell Quinn bounced off two Lindenwood tacklers and galloped 58 yards for a touchdown to increase the Golden Eagles lead to 45-28. Then, with Lindenwood moving additional defenders to the line of scrimmage, quarterback Kekoa Visperas found Noah Robinson with one-on-one coverage for a 29-yard touchdown to seal the 52-28 win.
“The score looked worse that what I think the game was. At the end of day, I was proud of the fight that our kids had,” Stugart said.
Lindenwood led 7-3 when punter A.J. Vinatieri dropped a soggy snap and was tackled at the 11-yard line. Two plays later, Visperas burst into the clear and bowled over a Lions’ defender at the goal line to give Tennessee Tech the lead.
“That ignited our entire sideline. That was the key run that really got us going,” Wilder said.
Led by a 294-yard passing day from Nate Glantz, the Lindenwood offense moved the ball effectively. Shortly after the first weather delay, Glantz found Darrin Fugitt for a 17-yard touchdown to regain the lead, 14-10.
Fugitt had his biggest day of the season with six catches for 64 yards and a touchdown.
Tennessee Tech took a 17-14 lead into a nonexistent halftime intermission that was canceled in an attempt to play between the next wave of thunderstorms. The Golden Eagles scored on their first drive, then blocked a Vinatieri punt and scored again to take a 38-21 lead into the fourth quarter.
The two Lindenwood special teams miscues set the table for Tennessee Tech to score on touchdowns drives of 11 and 7 yards.
“We spotted them 14 points, and you can’t make self-inflicted mistakes in games like this,” Stugart said. “We have to execute our punt operation better. We’re typically pretty good at that, but it failed us on Saturday.”
Despite the wet conditions, there was only one turnover in the game – a fumble forced by Lindenwood defensive back Alex Dawkins and recovered by Jayden Patrick. The takeaway spurred a 12-play, 55-yard drive that resulted in Hulet’s catch, rumble and touchdown celebration to cut the deficit to 38-28.
“We had practiced that play all week. It wasn’t trying to be funny, it was just a good play call in that situation down in the red zone,” Stugart said.
But the physicality of the Tennessee Tech rushing attack proved to be no joke. Led by running backs Quintell Quinn and Q’Daryius Jennings, the Golden Eagles amassed 311 yards on the ground and remained undefeated.
“We had leads, we had momentum, we had good energy,” Stugart said. “Part of the disappointment is that we had a chance at home against a really good football team.”
Gardner-Webb (4-3; 2-1) is also coming off a disappointing result in a 37-7 home loss to Tennessee-Martin. The Runnin’ Bulldogs have a pair of runners, Carson Gresock and Quasean Holmes, who have gained 488 and 485 yards respectively. Quarterback Cole Pennington is the son of former NFL quarterback Chad Pennington.
“They have two really good running backs and their quarterback is very efficient. We have to be sound, and we have to be in our gaps,” Stugart said.
And the Lions will try to use the lessons learned during an unusual day with an unsatisfactory result in an effort to get back on the winning track on Saturday.
“Our guys learned a lot.” Stugart said. “There’s a little chip on their shoulder. They want to go out, eliminate mistakes, play a sound, three phase football game, and let the chips fall where they may.”