LEBANON, Tenn. — If someone looked at the stat line, many would think Campbellsville University football would have dominated but the final score did not resemble that.

No. 15 Cumberland University (6-2, 2-1 MSC West) scored 24 unanswered points and beat the 23^rd ranked Tigers, 27-17.

BOX SCORE

"They are 15th in the country for a reason," said CU head coach Perry Thomas. "But this one is very tough to swallow because I think we were the better team today."

Campbellsville (4-3, 2-1 MSC West) outgained the Bulldogs by almost double. The Tigers finished with 437 yards of offense with 351 coming through the air. Cumberland University gained just 224 total yards.

In the past four games, Cumberland has run for an average of 351.3 yards but the Tigers held the Bulldogs to 124 today. Cumberland averages 243 yards a game on the ground this season, ranked ninth in the NAIA.

"They only picked up 124 yards rushing and 40 of that came on a fake punt," said Thomas. "I thought our defense really played well but the fake punt touchdown run and a fumble recovery ran back for a touchdown is 14 points, and that hurt us big time."

Campbellsville seemed to come out on fire and struck first on its opening possession. The Tigers marched down the field in 11 plays and Jarrod Harrington gave Campbellsville a 6-0 lead with his first rushing touchdown of the season. Will Ward added the PAT, 7-0.

"I felt like us starting that easy was awesome," said Thomas. "Especially coming off a bye week. We came out and moved the ball right down the field. But we relaxed after that it seemed. The energy just wasn't there after the opening drive. The saving grace for us was our defense. If it wasn't for our defense, this game could have been a totally different situation."

The quarterback situation for Cumberland University was troublesome, as second-string QB Broc Loveless was intercepted by Percy Minor. The first turnover gave the Tigers the ball at the Bulldog 30-yard line but the Campbellsville offense was unable to get back into the end zone until four minutes to go in the game. 

Cumberland's Grant Jones intercepted Jacob Russell with 11:32 left in the second quarter, setting up the Bulldogs' first score.

Campbellsville's defense stepped up with its back against the wall. The Bulldogs took over on the Tiger 24 but were held in the red zone. Mike Self kicked a 19-yard field goal, cutting the lead to 7-3.

The Tigers answered with a field goal of their own. A 32-yard pass-and-catch from Russell to Nathan Case set up Will Ward for the score. Ward kicked a career-long 40 yarder to put the Tigers back up seven.

But the Campbellsville offense went stagnant. Cumberland University scored 24-unanswered points via another field goal by Self and three touchdowns.

After Brock Loveless hit Clyde Payne for a 2-yard touchdown, the Bulldogs scored their final two TDs off a fumble recovery and a 40-yard fake punt.

Campbellsville picked up its best field possession start of the game after a Bulldog punt (Cumberland 45) but Marvin Lawrence was stripped by Kendall Trice on third down. Donovan Norfleet picked up the loose ball and went 61 yards for the scoop and score, 20-10.

Cumberland scored 14 points in the third quarter and only had the ball for under three minutes (2:56). The Tigers had just over 12 minutes of possession but had multiple drives stalled by offensive line breakdowns and sacks.

Russell was sacked five times for a loss of 31 yards.

Down 20-10 with 5:23 to play, the Campbellsville defense stopped the Bulldogs on third down but a little trickery did the Tigers' in.

Third-string quarterback Brian Reynolds lined up as the up-back in Cumberland University punt formation and took the snap straight up the middle for a 40-yard touchdown run – his first of the season.

"That fake punt was huge because it gave them a separation score," said Thomas. "That put them up 17 points and we were running out of time. We were able to get off the field today, which was a plus. We held them to 4-of-16 on third downs but the fake punt gave them all the momentum late."

Campbellsville finally got back on the scoreboard, but it was too little, too late. Russell hit Demytreus Gipson for a 49-yard touchdown pass to cut the lead 27-17, where it would stand at the end.

Gipson was Russell's favorite target on the afternoon, hitting him 11 times for 152 yards and the one TD, just 15 yards shy of the all-time record for receiving yards in a game. Trevon Chatman caught nine passes for 94 yards.

Russell finished the game with 348 yards on 28-for-46 passing. He threw for the one TD but was intercepted twice.

Campbellsville will stay on the road next week as the Tigers travel to Williamsburg, Ky. to face MSC East foe, University of the Cumberlands (1-6, 0-4 MSC East).

"We are still in this thing," said Thomas. "Now we have to come out and win the final three games of the season. We can't drop our heads after this loss."

Kick-off is scheduled for 12:30 p.m. EDT and you can catch all the action on the Campbellsville University Sports Network — 88.7 The Tiger. The Tiger Tailgate show will air at noon EDT.