Players battle for a loose ball during Saturday’s Big South-OVC football game between Lindenwood and Tennessee Tech. (Photo: Cedric Williams)

NCAA Football – Oct. 7, 2023	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	Final
Tennessee Tech (1-4, 0-1)	0	0	0	0	0
Lindenwood (3-3, 1-1)	10	3	7	3	23

Cedric Williams
Senior Editor

ST. CHARLES, MO — The month of September was a rough one for the Lindenwood Lions defense.

Many thought the defense would be the strength of the team this year, with some many newcomers and inexperienced players moving into starting roles on the offense.

And things looked that way in the season opener, when the Lindenwood defense helped spark the Lions to a 77-9 win over Wisconsin-Stevens Point.

But that game was on August 31. September began the next day and the Lindenwood defense did not look the same. Not in any game it played for the entire month.

The Lions gave up 45, 40, 48, and 52 points in their four games in September — an average of 46.3 points per game — and lost three of those games.

September was a rough month for the Lindenwood Lions defense.

But then October came and head coach Jed Stugart and his staff had a heart to heart and pride to pride talk with the members of their defense about what kind of team they really wanted to be.

“We just talked about our pride and their pride and what this all meant to them,” Stugart said.

The Lions showed it meant it a lot to them, as they came out and laid a shutout on Tennessee Tech. Winning this week’s game 23-0 and posting the first football shutout for Lindenwood in nearly 20 years.

“This week was all about how we were going to respond to 2 tough losses,” Stugart said. “Basically, ride it out or fight it out. Today they took a step to fighting it out but that’s just one week. Our confidence has been shaken on ‘D’ and today, that makes that shut out more special for those guys.” They battled back. The schedule doesn’t get an easier and now we talk about sustaining. Great team win led by great special team play all around today.”

The game began with a huge play from the Lindenwood special teams, as senior receiver/kick returner Spencer Redd ran the opening kickoff back, 99 yards for a touchdown. It was his first kick return touchdown since he ran back a kickoff and a punt in 2021, when he was named Great Lakes Valley Conference Special Teams Player of the Year.

“I always like it when they kick it to me,” Redd said. “It’s a chance for me to make a play for my team. And when I saw it open up, I just thought, ‘let’s go, full speed, all the way to the end zone’. I really wanted that touchdown.”

Redd also made the biggest play of the day on offense, when he broke loose for a 52-yard touchdown catch from backup QB Carter Davis, who had come into the game following an injury to starting QB Cole Dugger.

“Spencer’s one of our big playmakers and he’s one of our great leaders,” Stugart said. “I’m never surprised when he makes a play for us. He’s unreal on those kick returns. Just a special talent.

“And on the touchdown pass, we were kind of expecting that maybe with Carter coming in, they were thinking we were going to do some running with our quarterback. They probably saw on film that we did that some last week when Carter got in. So we called an RPO (run-pass option play) and Carter read it perfectly. They left Spencer open and he hit him. Big time play, most definitely.”

From that point on, it was all about the Lindenwood defense, which held Tennessee Tech to just 218 total yards, forced three turnovers, and sacked Tennessee Tech’s quarterback six times. Sophomore defensive lineman Kobe McClendon, one of Lindenwood’s top returning players from last year, played a key role in that.

The 6-foot-4, 252-pounder from St. Mary’s High in St. Louis had seven tackles, four of them for loss, a fumble recovery, a quarterback hurry, and three of those quarterback sacks. Linebackers Brenden Dye, Sanjay Strickland, and Ethan Stuhlsatz combined for 18 tackles, 14 solo, and another of those sacks.

“I’m really happy for those guys,” Stugart said. “There’s no other way to say it. We we’re getting our butts kicked. But those guys just kept working and you could see the benefits of that today. Our guys played well. I was real glad to see them hold on to that shutout too. They earned that. They earned the right to say we put a zero up today.”

Lindenwood kicker Logan Seibert was four-for-four on field goal attempts. He connected from 46, 23, 41, and 43 yards to provide Lindenwood’s other points on the day, as the Lions snapped a two-game losing streak and evened their season record at 3-3.

The Lions are also 1-1 in Big South-OVC Association play and they’ll get a chance to improve on those marks, next Saturday, with another league game at Charleston Southern. It’ll be Lindenwood’s longest trip of the season.

The Buccaneers are 2-3 on the year and are coming off a bye this past weekend. Kickoff at Buccaneer Field in Charleston, S.C., next Saturday, is set for 3 p.m.

Scoring Summary

Qtr	Time	Scoring Play	TTU	LU
1st	14:47	LU – Redd,Spencer 99 yd kickoff return (Seibert,Logan kick)	0	7
1st	05:51	LU – Seibert,Logan 49 yd field goal 13 plays, 43 yards, TOP 05:45	0	10
2nd	01:12	LU – Seibert,Logan 23 yd field goal 9 plays, 27 yards, TOP 03:43	0	13
3rd	01:57	LU – Redd,Spencer 52 yd pass from Davis,Carter (Seibert,Logan kick) 1 plays, 52 yards, TOP 00:09	0	20
4th	11:31	LU – Seibert,Logan 41 yd field goal 6 plays, 21 yards, TOP 02:30	0	23

2023 Lindenwood Lions Football Schedule

Sat., October 14 — at Charleston Southern* — 3 pm

Sat., October 28 — at Tennessee State* — 2 pm

Sat., November 4 — vs. Eastern Illinois* — 2 pm

Sat., November 11 — vs. Bryant* — 1 pm

* – denotes Big South-Ohio Valley Conference game

All Lindenwood home games will be played at Harlen C. Hunter Stadium