IN THE REARVIEW
Mississippi Valley State nearly opened the season with a huge upset.
A 31-point underdog Saturday in Nashville to Tennessee State, the Delta Devils put quite a scare into the Tigers at Nissan Stadium in Nashville. It was Valley’s most competitive finish in a season opener since the 2014 season when it earned a 32-7 win over Faith University of Florida.
Tennessee State’s Antonio Zita made four of five field goal attempts, including a 26-yarder that capped the scoring with 3:10 remaining. The Delta Devils then drove to the Tigers 21 in 12 plays, but the drive stalled with an incomplete pass on fourth-and-7 with 1:11 remaining.
COMING UP
Valley will travel to Beaumont, Texas Saturday for a 6 p.m. kickoff against Lamar.
OFFENSIVE MVP
Quarterback Dejerric Bryant went 27 of 52 passing for 205 yards and a touchdown pass. JohnDerrick Smith of Greenwood had six receptions for 60 yards and 29 yards on the ground to lead all rushers.
DEFENSIVE MVP
Keonte’ Daniels forced a fumble, recovered the ball and ran 32 yards for a touchdown in the first quarter. He also had one tackle for loss.
Tracy Thompkins led the way with 12 tackles.
CATCHING THE BREAKS
The Tigers had two challenges go in their favor. The second challenge came on a pass down the sideline to Malik Abdul-Haqq, who was ruled out of bounds. The replay showed he was inbounds. The 28-yard reception set up a field goal to put TSU ahead by a touchdown with 3:10 to play.
BOTTOM LINE
This is a game the Delta Devils would have been blown out in last season, so it’s obvious Dancy has done a good job to start Year 2. The Delta Devils may just fool a bunch of folks like head coach Vincent Dancy predicted during preseason camp.
