The Statesmen couldn’t get their offense to stay on the field, converting just 1-of-7 first-half third down plays and failing on both of their fourth down plays.

VSU capitalized mainly due to punter Stephen Wright. Wright’s eight punts averaged 45.4 yards, including four of them pinning the Statesmen within the 20, and three within the five.

Two of those punts resulted in four points on two safeties.

The first one came with 2:22 left in the first, as Travis Harrison and Demario Jones tackled Ben Stallings in the end zone, and the second one came when Jermel Daniels brought Hyatt to the ground in the end zone.

The Blazers were clicking on defense and special teams, and the offense got in on the fun as well with 11:55 left in the second. VSU drove 62 yards, as Willie Copeland tossed a 6-yard pass to Zach Parker. However, Zac Williams would miss a key extra point, preventing the Blazers from kicking a field goal late in the game to send it into overtime.

Copeland led the Blazers’ offense against one of the nation’s top defenses, throwing for 246 yards, as VSU finished with a total of 462 offensive yards.

Cedric Jones had 91 yards of receiving, with 24 coming on VSU’s third touchdown 10:28 in the third.

The Blazers will look to rebound as they travel to West Alabama next Saturday.