Box Score West Virginia University Tech was supposed to come to Ron Finley Stadium on Saturday and roll up yard after yard of offense. However the only rolling the Golden Bear offense did was in the mud, as the Campbellsville University Fighting Tiger defense held the eighth-ranked offense to 219 total yards in a 16-6 Mid-South Conference East Division victory.

Playing on a rain-soaked field, the Tigers' defense allowed only 122 yards of offense in the first half and less than 100 in the second half to subdue the Bears, who average 495 yards per game. One of the main ways of stopping the offense was turnovers, as the Golden Bears struggled to hold on to the football, fumbling 10 times and losing it four times. Tiger safety Karl Charles also picked off a pass to give the CU five takeaways in the game.

"I thought our guys came in and executed our game plan well. (West Virginia Tech) tried to do what they do every game. The field conditions really affected us more on defense than it did on offense. It slowed us up on trying to put some pressure on the quarterback. It's hard to blitz in the slop," CU head coach Perry Thomas said.

West Virginia Tech managed to build a drive with just over a minute to play in the first quarter and connected on a 27-yard pass from Michael Scott to Josh Humphrey to take a 6-0 lead. The Gold Bears' extra point attempt failed. The Tigers answered quickly when true freshman Dy'lan Underwood of LaGrange, Ky., took his first collegiate carry 47 yards and into the red zone with less than a minute to go in the quarter. Two plays later, he punched the ball in from 10 yards out to tie the game, 6-6. David Hon's extra point gave the Tigers the lead, 7-6.

Dy'lan Underwood

Underwood, who finished the game with 120 yards on 19 carries and one catch for 10 yards, was a last-minute addition to Saturday's roster after running back David Mason was injured in practice Wednesday and starting tailback Wayne Coffee went down with an injury Sept. 19.

"It was a freak thing that they got injured. I've learned from them. I've learned from my coaches, and my father has taught me some things. I just put it all together and came out here and played strong with my team," Underwood said. "It felt good (to be out there) because the team wants as many faces as they can to get out here and help them out."

Thomas simply was waiting to get Underwood healthy, it seems.

"He's a heck of a ball player, and we knew that when we recruited him," Thomas said. "He came in and gave us a big spark with our other backs out and some of our receivers out. He has the speed that if he gets a seam he can get some big yards for us."

In the third quarter, quarterback Nathan Cooper added some insurance with a 16-yard scamper for a touchdown to extend the lead, 14-6. The Tigers' final points came in the final two minutes of the game on a safety, when Scott was called for intentional grounding inside his end zone.

The win, especially forcing five turnovers and holding a team to 270 yards less than their average, give the Tigers (2-2, 1-0 MSC East) some confidence on defense as they head to Shorter College, currently ranked No. 11, Thursday.

"We walk out of these games with more confidence that you can compete with anyone. When you can slow up teams I think our guys will be very confident going down to Shorter. I think they understand we can't make mistakes, but I think they're going to be very confident, and they have the right to be," Thomas said. "When we're playing good football we can play with these teams. Now, we just have to beat one of these Top 10 teams."

Thursday's game in Rome, Ga. will be broadcast live on CollegeFanz.com as the NAIA National Game of the Week. Kickoff is 7 p.m. The broadcast will begin at 6:30 p.m.

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