Special teams debacles doom No. 23 Monmouth football vs. 15 Tennessee Tech

It was all going so well for Monmouth football.

That may seem like an absurd statement after the No. 23 Hawks (0-1) suffered a 38-14 road loss to No. 15 Tennessee Tech (1-0) in the season opener on Saturday night, but it's a testament to just how profoundly the game swung on repeated lapses in the third phase of football: special teams.

"We didn't play well enough, not anywhere to the standard that we've set," Monmouth head coach Jeff Gallo said. "They beat us on special teams tonight. We turned the ball over, gave up field position, didn't get points in the spots when we should have gotten points."

The Monmouth defense was looking like the improved unit that had emerged in spring practices and fall training camp, and had seemingly found answers at the pass rusher spot after Donovan Dyson got a third down sack that put Tennessee Tech in 4th-and-18 at the two minute timeout of the first half. But from there, the Hawks collapsed and never recovered.

With the game tied 7-7, the Hawks were a two-minute drill away from taking the lead and setting the stage for a big upset. The struggling Monmouth offense had finally come alive on the previous possession, racing down the field on a 69-yard scoring drive in just under a minute-and-a-half. All the team needed was the ball.

Monmouth sophomore Anthony Brown signaled for the fair catch. The ball appeared to hit him in the chest and ricocheted 10 yards back toward Tennessee Tech for an easy recovery. But that was only the start of the special teams implosion.

After Tennessee Tech proceeded to capitalize on the field position with a 32-yard scoring drive to take a 14-7 lead, Brown took the subsequent kickoff out of the end zone and was tracked down short of the 20-yard line. After a three-and-out and with 30 seconds left in the half, the Monmouth punt was kicked to dangerous Tech return man Tre Holloway. His 20-yard return then set up a Tennessee Tech field goal to make it 17-7 at halftime. Holloway had nearly as many punt return yards at halftime (86) as the Monmouth offense had total yards (101).

"We had too many penalties period. And then special teams, they had an advantage there," Gallo said. "We turn the ball over and then allow a big punt return, give them essentially 10 points in about a minute."

The final self-inflicted special teams wound came on Monmouth's opening drive of the second half. After Tech's opening drive of the third quarter promptly extended the lead to 24-7, the Hawks answered with their own 81-yard drive to set up Sky Sholder for the chip shot field goal from 24 yards. It sailed wide right.

The offense stalled for most of the evening and the defense had a few lapses, although the unit performed much better than the 38 points allowed would suggest. Even the hometown broadcast crew conceded as much. The Hawks' special teams were an unmitigated disaster, and Monmouth might've had a chance if not for those mistakes happening at the most critical juncture of the game, commonly known as the middle eight (last four minutes of second quarter and first four minutes of third quarter) in coaching terms.

Four of Tech's six scoring drives began in Monmouth territory, and one of those was the final score with five minutes left and the game already out of reach. But the defense is the lone silver lining for the Hawks. They had five tackles for loss and two sacks (compared to just two TFLs for Tech) plus a forced fumble. They did trail their counterparts in one key category: pass break ups. Monmouth logged just one compared to 10 for Tennessee Tech.

The offense had moments, but the stats tell an unflinching story for the usual high-flying attack of Monmouth. Quarterback Frankie Weaver finished 20-for-41 for 179 yards and one interception, which was an unfortunate tipped ball that hung in the air long enough to easily be picked off.

The stifled passing game was also reflected in just two players averaging more than 10 yards per catch (neither was higher than 12) and the leading receiver just having 39 yards. That was actually one bright spot, as that was West Virginia transfer tight end Greg Genross showing up as a weapon in the passing game. The other bright spot was running back Elijah Jennings, who churned out 78 yards on 12 carries and had the first touchdown of the game for Monmouth.

"We didn't execute well enough," Gallo said. "From blocking to throwing to catching to penalties—we put ourselves back multiple times on third downs. We had procedural penalties or little things that take you from a 3rd-and-3 to a 3rd-and-8. It's hard to live there. I think we struggled on early downs having success in that first half."

But while the abysmal individual numbers tell the story of the blowout, the team metrics tell the story of what could have been. Monmouth had 21 first downs compared to 24 for Tennessee Tech. The Hawks were 5-for-13 on third down compared to 7-for-14 for the Eagles. So close, yet so far away.

It's safe to say the first game in the tenure of the first-year head coach was thoroughly spoiled, but the results are the results for the Hawks and Gallo.

"The expectation is to win," Gallo said. "And we didn't live up to it tonight. We didn't get the job done. And whether it's my first game or my 10th game, it just comes down to how well we can coach these guys throughout the week and then on the field, get them ready to execute at a high level."

The Hawks will now come home to prepare for a big home matchup against Sacred Heart next Saturday. It will be the season opener for the Pioneers, who are coming off an 8-4 season in 2025. It's the CAA conference opener for Monmouth, adding even more urgency as the team seeks its first win of the new year.

Even after opening the season with a disheartening road loss in one of just two matchups between ranked opponents in all of Division I football in Week 0, there is no shying away from the high-leverage moments. The Hawks must rise to the occasion.

"This is a good team and a good environment. We didn't play well enough," Gallo said. "These are the places you want to be. You want to be playing good teams in good environments."

This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Special teams debacles doom No. 23 Monmouth football vs. 15 Tennessee Tech