Are you ready for some football? It seems like a lot of Tennesseans are, and they have been for a while! High schools, colleges and the pros are all back in regular season action, and the stands have been rocking for the teams and the marching bands for weeks now.
Metro’s high schools have been battling for five weeks so far, including tonight, September 16. This marks the half-way point of their regular season, with playoff and title hopes in play. The championships will be decided in Chattanooga’s Finley Stadium December 1-3, 2022.
Local colleges are seeing action, also. TSU opened the season on the road with a respectable 36-29 loss at Eastern Washington University, then played Jackson State University in Memphis last weekend, falling 16-3 to No. 13 JSU in the 33rd Southern Heritage Classic. TSU falls to 0-2 after the loss.
Tennessee State got on the scoreboard first and jumped out to a 3-0 lead on the game’s opening drive. TSU didn’t score again in the game and Jackson State added 16 more points to finish off the scoring. This Saturday, September 17, the Tigers take their shortest road trip of the young season to Murfreesboro to face MTSU at 6:00 p.m. After a week off, the Tigers host the Lane College Dragons at 1:00 p.m. on Saturday, October 1 in Hale Stadium for their John Merritt Classic, and the following Saturday, October 8 at 5:00 p.m., they host the Bethune-Cookman University Wildcats for Homecoming in Nissan Stadium.
Vanderbilt started the season 2-0 with victories against Hawai’i (63-10) and Elon (42-31). Last weekend the Commodores hosted Wake Forest, losing 45-25. This Saturday, they host Northern Illinois at 2:30 p.m., before traveling to Tuscaloosa to face Alabama September 24 at 6:30 p.m. Their SEC rival, Tennessee opened at home September 1 with a 59-10 win over Ball State before visiting Pittsburgh last weekend, where they won a doozy 34-27 in Overtime. This Saturday they host Akron and then host Florida on the 24th.
The Tennessee Titans opened their regular season with a heartbreaking 21-20 loss to the New York (football) Giants at Nissan Stadium. After leading 13-0 at half-time, the Giants scored 3 touchdowns in the second half, with the third taking the score to them trailing 20-19 to the Titans. With a gutsy 2-piint conversion call, the Giants converted to take a 1 point lead with 1:06 remaining. The titans drove the field to the New York 29 yard line, where a 47 yard field goal attempt sailed wide left.
This coming Monday night, September 19, the Titans are in Buffalo to take on the Bills, with the live broadcast locally on WZTV, Channel 17.1 at 6:00 p.m. They then host the Raiders in Nissan Stadium on Sunday, September 25 at Noon. In October, the Titans will visit the Colts on October 2, the Commanders on October 9, take their Bye week on October 16, then host the Colts on October 23, visit the Texans on October 30, visit the Chiefs and Patrick Mahomes on November 6 and host Russell Wilson and the Broncos November 13.
