A year after reviving hopes across with their first FCS playoff appearance in over a decade, Tennessee State’s 2025 football campaign ended in disarray.
The Tigers stumbled to a 2–10 overall record and went winless in Big South/OVC play, finishing 0–8, erasing much of the momentum that surrounded the program last fall during Eddie George’s tenure before he was hired at Bowling Green in the offseason.
Tennessee State was edged by a point in a 7-6 loss to Charleston Southern on the road Saturday afternoon.
Kendric Rhymes led all Tigers rushers with 70 yards in the contest, picking up 5.8 yards per carry. Zack Simmons-Brown also added 60 yards on the ground, averaging 7.5 yards per carry.
DeVaughn Slaughter reeled in nine catches for 68 yards.
Jelani Willis paced the Tennessee State defensive effort, totaling four tackles and two recovered fumbles. Lathun Snipes added three tackles and one sack. Jaylon Price also posted three tackles and a sack in the loss.
The Tigers won the turnover battle in Saturday’s game, forcing two turnovers while losing possession of the ball once.
Defensively, Tennessee State held up reasonably well against the Charleston Southern offensive attack, holding the Buccaneers to 336 total yards.
However, the larger issue is that Tennessee State struggled on both sides of the ball throughout the year.
TSU finished with the Big South/OVC’s worst total offense (251.1 yards per game) and scoring offense (12.9 points), so help is needed on that side of the ball. Barlow said he will start by attempting to bulk up the offensive line.
“We’re looking at a legit 15 to 20 guys who want to be a part of our team,” coach Reggie Barlow told The Tennessean. “We have some seniors leaving and we have to be ready for guys that want to leave and go somewhere else as well. We’ll have a good bead on that stuff here in the next three days and go from there.”
