Tigers win season opener over UTPB 26-16

HOUSTON- The Texas Southern Tigers used a strong start in the first half to propel them to a 26-16 win over UT-Permian Basin in their season opener at BBVA Compass Stadium.

TSU quarterback Glen Cuiellette connected with wide receiver Bobby Hartzog for a 39-yard touchdown strike to put the Tigers on  the board first at the 9:34 mark of the first quarter bringing the score to 7-0.

Texas Southern took a commanding 14-0 advantage when  Cuiellette found Tren'Davian Dickson in the back of the end zone on a 15-yard touchdown catch at the 5:53 mark of the first quarter.

The extra point attempt was blocked and returned for a score as the Tigers led 13-2.TSU would add three points on a 43-yard Aaron Cuevas field goal as time expired in the first half.

The second half would bring about a much more competitive level of play as UTPB sensing the game getting out of reach attempted to mount a comeback.

After watching TSU take a 23-2 lead after a Bryston Cummings touchdown catch at the 2:58 mark of the third quarter the Falcons scored their first touchdown of the night early in the fourth quarter (14:51) on a 2-yard touchdown run by backup quarterback Sam Allen.

TSU would add another Cuevas field goal with 10:37 left to play in regulation. The Falcons would go on to score on a 64-yard touchdown pass from Allen to Ben Galaviz bringing the score to 26-16 with 8:58 remaining which would subsequently be the games' final tally.

For the game Texas Southern amassed 363 total yards offensively (128 R, 235 P), while UTPB gained 297 total yards (182 R, 115 P).

The Tigers will now prepare to travel to San Marcos, Texas on Saturday, Sept. 8 to face the Texas State Bobcats in what will be TSU's first road contest of the 2018 season.

Post Game Press Conference Transcript

Opening Statements
 
Coach Haywood:
"It's Always good to get a win because wins are hard to come by. The players did a great job by doing enough to win, so I commend and congratulate them on the win. However, we have a lot to correct in a short period of time as we start tomorrow and start cleaning this up and head to the next opponent. We have some guys and talent to work with and get better. We can get better all the way around from coaches to players. We are going to have to get some guys healthy because we have a lot of guys beat up right now."
 
Defensive Coordinator Tom Anthony
"First half our guys did a pretty good job with a short field a couple of times, I saw a little of adversity and they responded well. Second half they switched quarterbacks on us and brought in number 8. They went to more quarterback run things and he ran down the then field on us and we adjusted on the sideline. Our guys adjusted very well to the changes we didn't want to make. That long touchdown pass on third down, I told the guys on the sideline I put them in a bad call. We had a backup safety in there and that was on me. Besides that, our kids fought hard in the first game of the year. We had a lot of guys go down with cramps so that something we have to work on is getting our guys in better shape and sustain drives as we go on."
 
Offensive Coordinator Coach Morris Watts
"We made some big plays in game. The biggest disappointment I have right now is our consistency.  We were not consistent enough to be able to win games week after week. We had trouble with our communication from press box, to sideline, to field. It's not anyone fault, it just showed that we had not worked on it enough. There were times when we were bleeding the clock and that should never happen. There are some corrections that need to be made. The positive thing about it all is that we made some big plays that allowed us to win the football game."
 
Coach Morris Watts on communication issue….
"I'd like to say yes to that but no, that wasn't part of the problem I don't think. I'm sure it hurt a little bit the fact that they had to come in here and sit around for 2 1/2 hrs.  but we just had some break down on things that was tough to signal and we signal and we wrist band both and some things we didn't have match up caused us some problems in the future we can forever burn time outs for those type situations cause it'll always come back to haunt you at the end of the game that we won you'd wish you had one in your back pocket. I'm not sure that we rehearsed it enough which would be my fault I'm not sure that we had the right things on the wrist band verses not wrist bands we had some communication problems with it. It can be cleaned up easy it's just always disappointing when you have those things happen."
 
Coach Morris Watts on second half….
 "We made some big plays like I say, but what will stick in everyone's mind is when we were second and goal from the 2-yard line and we didn't get it in. I don't care if the game was over and won or what you cannot afford to overlook things like that. We should be scoring every time I don't care who we're playing, we're finding a way to get the ball in the end zone."
 
Coach Michael Haywood on offensive line play….
 "First thing we have to do is we have to get some guys healthy. We're really beat up on the offensive line, right guard. We're just trying to make shift right now, trying to get the right combination in with the right guard and the right tackle. I think our left side is solidified from the center to the left guard, left tackle. Except Drew went down with a shoulder injury, I'm not sure how severe the shoulder injury is. But, we have a way to go with getting our right combination and our offensive line and coming in I thought it was our weakness and it showed up tonight as our weakness and we have to do a much better job of first of all, running things in which they can run because anytime we were drop back passing in a five-step drop, it was short edges. We had pressure on the quarterback and that can't happen so we're going to try if we get in that situation, we're going to have to put a tight end over there, put a back over there. We're going to have to provide help, but at the same time then we're one short in the passing route. But we're going to have to protect the quarterback before anything else."
 
Coach Morris Watts on quarterback position…
 "At times, I thought he played really well especially at the start of the game. When we didn't protect, as coach said, when we didn't protect as well I think he got a little rattled at times you know but he made enough big plays for us to get points on the board. He can always get better and he will, he's a tough kid and he's a dedicated football player that works hard each week to make his self-better, to produce and preform on game day. But we didn't help him many of times and that's something that has to be improved. I think we're ok there, we just need to give him more time to be able to function back there."

Follow Texas Southern Athletics
For complete coverage of Texas Southern Athletics, please follow the Tigers on social media at @TXSOTigers (Twitter), Texas Southern University Athletics (Facebook), @TXSOTigers (Instagram) or visit the official home of Texas Southern Athletics at tsusports.com.