COOKEVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Draylen Ellis threw a pair of touchdown passes and raced 50 yards for a touchdown just before intermission as Tennessee State scored the first 30 points in a 30-13 win over Tennessee Tech in their Ohio Valley Conference opener Saturday.
The Tigers dropped their first four games of the season and now have won back-to-back contests, including last week’s 41-17 win over Bethune-Cookman.
The Tigers drove 70 yards in 14 plays with their first possession to set up Kaleb Mosley’s 27-yard field goal. Ellis hit Benjamin Johnson II from 30-yards out on their next possession before capping the half with a 50-yard run with :38 left.
Deveon Bryant found Jytireus Smith with a short pass for a touchdown to put Tennessee State up 23-0 early in the third quarter, and Ellis hit JJ Holloman with a 21-yard strike to make it 30-0.
Jeremiah Oatsvall threw a pair of fourth-quarter touchdown passes for Tennessee Tech (1-5, 0-3).
Ellis completed half of his 28 pass attempts, hitting nine different receivers for Tennessee State (2-4, 1-0). Jalen Rouse carried 20 times for 126 yards rushing.
Oatsvall was 18-of-30 passing for 177 yards and two touchdowns with an interception and ran 13 times for 61 yards.
__
More AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/college-football and https://twitter.com/ap_top25. Sign up for the AP’s college football newsletter: https://tinyurl.com/mrxhe6f2