After Saturday’s 24-14 come-from-behind victory over Southeast Missouri State, the Skyhawk football team officially has the best record of any Division-I or professional football team in the state of Tennessee.

Just like the rest of the season, it took the Skyhawks nearly two and a half quarters to start scoring.

The Redhawks, on the other hand, managed to convert their first play from the line of scrimmage back 80 yards for a touchdown and had a 7-0 lead just 13 seconds into the game.

With about six and half minutes left in the first quarter, the Skyhawks put together a nine-play, 43-yard drive that resulted in a 34-yard field goal by senior Taylor Brown.

Just a little over two minutes later, SEMO answered back with their second TD on a 33-yard run by running back Tim Holloman and pulled farther ahead, 14-3.

It looked as if that would be the score headed into the break, but with 32 seconds left in the half, the Redhawks put another touchdown on the board on a 37-yard pass from quarterback Mike Haley to receiver T.J. Milcic.

UTM was once again down at halftime, 21-3.

True to form, the Skyhawks came out in the second half and started what has been their trend of unanswered points.

Halfway through the third quarter, UTM took advantage of a SEMO offsides penalty and put together a 10-play, 58-yard drive that ended with a five yard run by tailback Don Chapman for the Skyhawks first touchdown of the day.

Following the touchdown, Brown went for the onside kick and UTM recovered the ball at the SEMO 21-yard line.

Quarterback Brady Wahlberg, who returned to the lineup after sitting out the previous week because of injury, then threw his first and only interception of the game.

This one interception was a welcome change from the past three weeks when Wahlberg and backup QB Drew Jackson were picked-off a combined 13 times.

The Redhawks were unable to capitalize on the interception and unsuccessfully tried for a first down on a fourth-and-eight and UTM took over possession at the SEMO 42-yard line.

The Skyhawks once again took advantage of a SEMO penalty on a rarely seen unsportsmanlike conduct call for fighting among themselves. This put UTM at the SEMO 13. Three plays later, Chapman once again ran the ball in, this time for seven yards, to put the score at 21-17.

SEMO started off the fourth quarter by throwing an interception to defensive back Andrew Johnson which he returned 25 yards back into scoring territory.

Wahlberg then went on an eight-yard rush down to the 2-yard line. Chapman then twice leapt over the Redhawk defense, the second flight getting in the end zone. The Skyhawks took their first lead of the day, 24-21.

With just over seven minutes left in the game, the UTM defense quite possibly saved the game. The Redhawks completed two back-to-back passes to put them at midfield.

The Skyhawk defense managed to hold SEMO on the next three rush attempts, stopping them on a second-and-four, third-and two, and impressive fourth-and-one.

UTM managed to put together a 12-play final drive that took the remaining 5:48 off the clock, giving the Skyhawks their fifth victory of the season, 24-21.

This marks the first time in 10 years that UTM has won five games. The Skyhawks are now 5-4 overall, and 3-3 for fifth place in the OVC. The Skyhawks dominated time of possession, holding the ball for over 40 minutes.

Spending so much time on offense resulted in lower defensive numbers than normal for UTM. For only the second game this season, no Skyhawk broke double digits on tackles.

Cornerback Jason Coleman led the team with seven, and linebackers David Gilmore, Markeseo Jackson and Johnson each had five.

Johnson had one of the two UTM sacks on the day with Rayvon Sims picking up the other.

On offense, Wahlberg was 25-of-38 with 190 yards passing and 39 yards rushing.

Chapman, who scored all three TDs, picked up 61 yards receiving and had 107 yards rushing, which puts him over the 1,000 yard mark for the second year in a row. Free safety Chad McMahan also posted 84 yards on punt returns.

The Skyhawks now turn their attention to their last road game of the season against Eastern Kentucky, who is also 5-4 overall, and 5-1 in second place in the OVC.

EKU is coming off a big 43-7 cross-state victory over Murray State. Kickoff is scheduled for 12:30 p.m. central, 1:30 p.m. eastern time.