Nashville, TNโ – Tennessee State University football coach Reggie Barlow remained optimistic following a 45-0 loss to North Dakotaโฃ State Saturday, emphasizing the opportunity for player development despite the lopsided score.The game, played Septemberโ 6, 2025, saw North Dakota State‘s starters score on all six first-half possessions, building a 45-0 halftime lead.
TSU mirrored North โDakota State’s approach in the second half, substituting heavily to provide playing time for less experiencedโข players.โฃ “Just like them,they played a lot โof people,we played a good bit of players who don’t โnormally get to play,” Barlow said. Defensiveโข end Khy’lek Jarrett, a โrecent transfer from Princeton, recorded a tackle, alongside contributions โฃfrom wide receiver โLelan โWilhoite (transfer from Florida A&M and former Siegelโค High School star), quarterback Myron McNair, running โฃback Zack simmons Brown, โฃand defensive tackles marlon โขHuff and Braelen Perry (transfer fromโข Prairieโค View A&M). “It was good โexperience for guysโค like that to see fast ball and it’ll help us โคdown the road,” Barlow added.
The game also servedโ as an evaluation โperiod for TSU’s quarterbacks – Jonathan Palmer, Myron McNair, and Caleb McCreary. Palmer, a former Page Highโฃ School standout, started the game, with McNair playing the second half and McCreary seeing action in the fourth quarter. Barlow stated the plan was to give each quarterback a chance to play, noting, “This was the โperfect game to do it. Obviously, it was not a conference game and we were playingโค against a really good opponent.” Palmer completedโฃ 5 of 13 passes for 38 โyards, McNair went โฃ2 for 4 for 12 yards, and McCreary was 1-for-1 for 11 yards.
Running back Kendric rhymes highlighted aโ more positive โsecond-half performance from the Tigers. “At halftime we said,’They came out onโฃ fire so we have to match the energy,’ ” Rhymes said.โค “In the โคsecond half we regrouped, we recuperated and got everything together. Sometimes you have to play the game and have fun outโฃ there and that’s what we did.” Rhymesโข finished with 43 rushing yards on 12 carries and two receptions for 10 yards, after โgaining just 15 yards on five carries in the โfirst half.
