Player Profiles - of College Football Games

All-Time Postseason Summaries
2003 NCAA Division II Semifinal Playoff Game
Grand Valley State 31, Texas A&M-Kingsville 3
Kingsville, Tex. • Dec. 6, 2003
Javelina Stadium
Scoring 1 2 3 4 TP
Grand Valley State 7 7 3 14 31
Texas A&M-Kingsville 3 0 0 0 3
QTR Time Team-Play(PAT){Plays-Yards} GV TAM
1 12:18 TAM Richard Hammond 37-yard field goal
{4-5, 1:28} 0 3
1 7:29 GV Cullen Finnerty 20-yard run
(Dave Hendrix-kick) {14-67, 4:49} 7 3
2 1:01 GV Michael Tennessee 30-yard run
(Dave Hendrix-kick) {4-39, 1:25} 14 3
3 10:17 GV Dave Hendrix 23-yard field goal {5-13, 1:27} 17 3
4 9:30 GV Cullen Finnerty 3-yard run
(Dave Hendrix-kick) {16-80, 8:54} 24 3
4 6:18 GV Michael Tennessee 15-yard run
(Dave Hendrix-kick) {4-35, 1:27} 31 3
TEAM STATISTICS GV TAM
First Downs 19 10
Rushes/Yards 61/299 27/46
Passes (A-C-I) 19-8-0 21-11-3
Yards Passing 54 84
Total Offense 353 130
Punts/Average 3/33 0/0
Fumbles/Lost 1--7 0-0
Penalties 11-114 10-82
Time of Possession 37:20 22:40
INDIVIDUAL LEADERS:
RUSHING: GV-Tennessee 37-155, Finnerty 17-117; TAM-Williams 16-72.
PASSING: GV-Finnerty 8-17-0, 54; TAM-Taylor 11-21-3, 84.
RECEIVING: GV-Tennessee 5-17; TAM-Washington 4-42, Williams 3-33.
A-10500
Kingsville, Texas - Despite that wide grin that accompanies Michael Tennessee
wherever he goes, the Grand Valley State University junior admitted to being a frustrated
running back in each of the Lakers’ first two playoff games.
Rightly so, since the defenses of Bentley (Mass.) College and Saginaw Valley
State basically placed 11 guys on the line of scrimmage to stop the All-Great Lakes
Intercollegiate Athletic Conference performer.
Saturday afternoon, on a cold and sunny day in south Texas, Tennessee, with help
from quarterback Cullen Finnerty, accepted a familiar challenge issued by Texas
A&M University-Kingsville’s defense. This time, he made the Javelinas pay dearly
in leading the Lakers to their third straight national title game appearance.
Tennessee rushed 37 times for 155 yards and two touchdowns to turn the NCAA
Division II semifinal showdown into a one-sided 31-3 GVSU victory before a
Javelina Stadium crowd of 10,500.
The Lakers will defend their title Saturday at 4 p.m. against the University of
North Dakota, the team that defeated them in the 2001 national championship game.
“Each week defenses give us something different, so we just take what we can
get, and today they gave us the running game,” Tennessee said after carrying the
defending national champions to their third straight trip to the national championship
game at Florence, Ala.
“We know if we can put points on the board in any way, our defense is going to
do its job and keep points off the board.”
Finnerty did much of his damage on the ground as well, rushing for 117 yards
and two touchdowns on 17 carries. The redshirt freshman passed just 17 times, completing
eight for 54 yards.
The Javelinas, who averaged 197.4 rushing yards behind 1,500-yard running back
Larry Williams, and 403.9 total yards, gained just 46 rushing yards and 130 total
offensive yards.
They faltered against a Grand Valley defense that intercepted A&M-Kingsville
2002 • 2003 • 2005 • 2006 National Champions
quarterback Daniel Taylor three times, sacked him four times, and recovered two
fumbles.
“When you look at ball games where teams are so equal, it’s the ability to play
great defense and run the football,” said GVSU coach Brian Kelly. “That’s really
been our recipe, and finding a way to scratch out some points.”
“That’s a very talented team in Texas A&M-Kingsville. We got some breaks.
We got fortunate and were able to get some turnovers. And, again, we were able to
control the clock to the point where we could shorten the game.”
Grand Valley ran 80 offensive plays, and possessed the ball for 37 minutes and
20 seconds. The Javelinas had the football for 22:40, and ran 48 plays.
“That will get you some wins,” Kelly said when told A&M-Kingsville’s yardage
total was 130.
The Lakers, whose last five games have been played away from Lubbers
Stadium, have now won 19 straight road games. They are 10-1 over the last three
seasons in postseason competition.
“It was exceptional,” defensive tackle Keyonta Marshall said of Saturday’s defensive
effort. “Our coaches do a great job every week getting us prepared to defend
whoever we play. We knew what they were going to run before they ran it.”
The setback was the first in the last 13 home games for A&M-Kingsville. It also
ended the Javelinas’ 11-game winning streak.
Finnerty’s 20-yard scamper down the left sideline midway through the first quarter
gave GVSU a 7-3 lead. Then, with 1:01 remaining in the second quarter,
Tennessee hit the middle of the line on a fourth-and-1 call at the Javelinas’ 30-yard
line, squeezed through a mass of bodies and sprinted to the end zone for a 14-3
GVSU lead.
“You could tell we were wearing them down, and they were getting a little
fatigued and frustrated,” Tennessee said. “That combination makes for a long day
for those guys. They started to make mistakes, and we took advantage of those mistakes.”
David Hendrix’s 23-yard field goal in the opening moments of the third quarter
made it a 17-3 advantage.
The Lakers sealed the triumph with a lengthy fourth-quarter march. Behind the
running of Tennessee and Finnerty, Grand Valley rumbled 80 yards on 16 plays, and
capped the drive with Finnerty’s 3-yard jaunt around the right side.
Tennesse’s final touchdown came on a 15-yard run with 6:18 to play.
“Quarterback runs are a big part of our offense, and they worked for us in this
one,” Finnerty said. “We have a great running back in Michael and a great offensive
line. Defenses like to key on Michael, so, here and there, we run the football
with me, and there’s a lot of easy open looks out there.”
“Like Michael said, they were going for the big hit. I could tell when they were
trying to tackle me that they were trying to strip the ball. That enabled me to keep
my legs moving and break tackles.”
Texas A&M-Kingsville began the day’s scoring with Richard Hammond’s 37-yard
field goal. His kick came after an errant Finnerty lateral to Tennessee at the GVSU
25-yard line on the third play of the game.
Last week, Saginaw Valley State also kicked a field goal on its first offensive
possession before being held scoreless the remainder of the day.
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