The University of Tennessee at Martin football team went on the road as a multi-touchdown underdog and gave No. 6 Tennessee Tech all it could handle in a matchup for the OVC-Big South Football Association championship, before falling in a 20-17 heartbreaker.

The Skyhawks finishes the season with a 6-6 overall record and 6-2 in the OVC-Big South standings to record the program’s 10th top-two finish in the conference standings during the Jason Simpson Era. A decorated senior class which won parts of four consecutive conference championships, finishes its collective career with 43 wins since 2021.

Highlighting the top individual performances for the Skyhawks was the play of quarterback Jase Bauer who completed 18-of-26 pass attempts for 155 yards and a touchdown while adding another touchdown on the ground. Chris Franklin led the team with 61 rushing yards while Scottie Alexander was top on the receiving list with 60 yards.

Defensively, the Skyhawks kept the nation’s second ranked scoring offense to just 20 points –well below its 42 points per game average. The squad was led by OVC-Big South Defensive Player of the Year nominee Keyshawn Johnson who racked up a team-high 10 tackles – including 3.5 tackles for loss and a pair of sacks. With his two sacks, he brought his season total up to 13.5 sacks to surpass UT Martin Hall of Famer Emanuel McNeil’s previous school single-season record of 13.0 set back in 1988.