HOUSTON, Texas – A stellar defensive effort in the second half propelled Missouri S&T to its fifth straight victory Saturday afternoon – and first win over a team from the NCAA Division I ranks in 13 years – as the Miners knocked off Texas Southern 23-20.

The S&T defense held the Tigers to just a field goal in the second half as it made two Ben Styron (Harrisonville, MO/Harrisonville) field goals in the final 30 minutes hold up for the victory.  It was the Miners' first win over a team from Division I (Texas Southern plays in the Football Championship Subdivision) since beating Butler in 2006, ending a 12-game losing streak against Division I teams in the process.

After Styron had given the Miners a 23-17 lead with his second field goal in the second half, the Tigers drove all the way to the S&T two-yard line early in the fourth quarter, but had to settle for a 24-yard field goal from Ric Garcia to cut the lead in half.   When it got the ball back following a Miner punt with 4:48 to play, Texas Southern (0-6) drove to the Miners' nine-yard line before Tershawn Wharton (University City, MO/University City) forced quarterback Devin Williams to throw an incomplete pass on third down to send Garcia out in an effort to tie the game.

However, Garcia pushed his 30-yard attempt wide to the right with 21 seconds remaining and the Miners ran out the clock to improve to 5-1 on the season.

The Miner defense opened the scoring in Saturday's contest when Ryan Kirkendall (Silsbee, TX/Silsbee) picked off a Williams pass on the Tigers' second series of the game and returned it 18 yards for a touchdown.  Texas Southern drew even later in the first quarter when Dominic Franklin scored on an eight-yard run, but the Miners regained the lead on their next possession when Styron booted a 32-yard field goal.

The Tigers evened things up again when Garcia connected from 45 yards out three minutes into the second quarter, then took its first – and only – lead of the game when they got the ball back following an S&T interception and Franklin closed the drive with a one-yard scoring run.  The Franklin touchdown marked the first points allowed this season by the Miners immediately following a turnover.

S&T answered right back, getting deep into Tiger territory when Brennan Simms (Punta Gorda, FL/Charlotte) hit Tate Nickleberry (Columbia, MO/Rock Bridge) for 34 yards to the TSU 15-yard line.  Another Simms completion to Austin Griffin (West Palm Beach, FL/Oxbridge Academy) on third down moved the ball to the one, where the Miner quarterback took it in himself to tie the game at 17 heading into halftime.

The Miners would take the lead for good after getting the ball following the second half kickoff, with Simms hitting Payton McAlister (Decatur, TX/Decatur) for 18 on a third down play and then connecting with Logan Armontrout (Centralia, MO/Centralia) for 20 more yards to get into the red zone.  After the drive stalled, Styron hit a 31-yard field goal to put the Miners back in front.

S&T's defense took over matters from there, forcing punts on four straight Tiger possessions before TSU got back on the scoreboard.  A 43-yard pass from Williams to Donnie Corley got the Tigers to the three-yard line, but the Miners held firm to force the successful Garcia field goal to cut the S&T advantage to three.

The Miners were able to get two first downs on their next possession before having to punt and backed the Tigers to their own 12-yard line to start the drive with under five minutes left.  Texas Southern converted a pair of third down plays, the second of which was a completion to Malik Webb to reach the nine-yard line. 

A sack by Stefan Camplin (Raytown, MO/Raytown) backed the Tigers up eight yards, then a running play and the quarterback hurry by Wharton that forced the incompletion sent the field goal unit onto the field – and Garcia missed the attempt that would have tied the score.

Camplin finished with 10 tackles to pace the Miner defense, while Vidal Daniels (Oakland, CA/Mountain Pointe), Wulfe Retzlaff (Truckee, CA/Truckee) and Justin Onwugbufor (Maize, KS/Northwest) all had nine tackles apiece.  Camplin also had one of the two quarterback sacks recorded by the Miners – Wharton had the other – as the defense withstood a 446-yard game by the Tigers.

The Miners finished the day with 397 yards of total offense, picking up 178 of them on the ground.  Deshawn Jones (Olympia Fields, IL/Rich Central) had 96 to lead the way as he cleared the 3,000-yard mark for his career, making him the third Miners surpass that plateau, while Simms completed 14 of his 34 passes for 219 yards; Armontrout had four of those receptions for 59 yards.

S&T's win Saturday was the 10^th by an NCAA Division II school over a team from the Division I ranks this season.

Missouri S&T will return to Great Lakes Valley Conference play next Saturday when it faces Truman State in a 2 p.m. contest in Kirksville, Mo.  The Bulldogs (5-1) were ranked 24^th nationally heading into play this weekend, but fell from the unbeaten ranks following a 28-24 setback Saturday at Lindenwood.