MARTIN, Tenn. (Interstat) — The Tennessee-Martin Skyhawks used a dominant ground game and a stifling defense to defeat the Tennessee State Tigers 26-7 on Saturday at Hardy M. Graham Stadium.

The Skyhawks improved to 5-5 on the season, while the Tigers fell to 2-8.

Tennessee-Martin quarterback Jase Bauer, a 6-foot-3, 215-pound sophomore from Ankeny, Iowa, led the offensive charge, not with his arm but with his legs. He rushed for 60 yards and two touchdowns on 14 carries, including an 18-yard scamper for the game’s first score in the opening quarter. He added a second 1-yard plunge in the second quarter.

The Skyhawks’ backfield duo of Thomas Ansley and Chris Franklin proved unstoppable. Ansley, a 6-foot-1, 225-pound running back from Palm Desert, California, gashed the Tigers for 118 yards on 17 carries. Franklin, a 5-foot-11 safety from Little Rock, Arkansas who also plays on offense, broke the game open with a 51-yard touchdown run in the third quarter, part of his 111-yard rushing performance on 18 attempts.

The Skyhawks’ defense was equally impressive, holding the Tigers off the scoreboard until the final quarter. The unit recorded multiple sacks and consistently disrupted the Tennessee State passing game. The pressure culminated in a third-quarter safety when Trey Cotton blocked a punt by Tennessee State’s Mark Shenouda out of the back of the end zone.

Tennessee State’s offense struggled to find consistency, utilizing two quarterbacks to little effect. Starter Byron McNair, a 6-foot, 185-pound sophomore from St. Louis, Missouri, completed 13 of 23 passes for 76 yards and was sacked three times. Jonathan Palmer, a 6-foot-3, 210-pound quarterback from Franklin, Tennessee, relieved him in the fourth quarter, completing 11 of 15 passes for 89 yards and leading the Tigers on their lone scoring drive.

That drive was capped by a 1-yard touchdown run by Taveon Porter with 9:59 remaining in the game. Porter, a 5-foot-10 running back from Chicago Heights, Illinois, scored the Tigers’ only points.

Wide receiver Snap Reed was a bright spot for Tennessee State, catching seven passes for 50 yards. Shenouda, the Tigers’ punter from Mount Juliet, Tennessee, was busy, booting seven punts for 343 yards, including an 82-yarder.

For Tennessee-Martin, kicker Cade Hechter of Sydney, Canada, was perfect on the day, converting all three extra-point attempts and a 26-yard field goal in the fourth quarter. Punter Jaren Van Winkle from Clay, Alabama, averaged 43.4 yards on five punts.

The victory moves Tennessee-Martin to a .500 record as they head into their final two games of the season. The Skyhawks were projected to win by Interstat’s ELO system with a 93.40 percent probability, though the final score fell well below the simulator’s projected 38-32 outcome and the combined point total of 33 failed to reach the over/under line of 50.5. Tennessee State, which had been a 14-point underdog, covered the spread with the 19-point loss.

Tennessee-Martin will host Charleston Southern next Saturday, while Tennessee State will return home to face Gardner-Webb.