After a heartbreaking 20-19 loss to open the season against Prairie View A&M, Texas Southern will enter the bye week looking to address some in-game mistakes that helped aid the Panthers in the Labor Day Classic at Prairie View this past Saturday. The Tigers (0-1) had a total of four turnovers (2 fumbles, 2 interceptions) with one fumble coming on the potential game winning drive that was recovered by the Panthers.

“Tough loss for us this past weekend against Prairie View,” said TSU head coach Clarence McKinney. “I thought we had some opportunities that could have changed the outcome of the game. But we are very proud of how our team fought and played extremely hard in all three phases (Offense, Defense, and Special Teams) of the game and I think we are a much-improved team.”

“I think our guys on both the O-line and D-line came to play and played with tremendous amount of effort. We can only improve on what we did last week, so I am definitely proud of the way our guys went out and competed.”

The bye week will also play a major factor in helping TSU get some of their players who are dealing with some nagging injuries some much needed rest and treatment before their 2021 home opener at BBVA Stadium in Houston on March 20th against the Southern Jaguars.

Both Devin Williams and Thaddeus Peyton are dealing with some nagging injuries after splitting time under center against Prairie View.

Texas Southern hopes to get coach McKinney his first victory as the Tigers coach when they face Southern (1-1) who after defeating Alabama State University in their season opener, suffered a close loss to the University of Arkansas-Pine Bluff 33-30 on last week.

“They are one of the top programs in our league,” said coach McKinney about the 2019 West Division Champions. “We know that we are going to have our work cut out for us, but we will be excited and be ready to play that week. We will be ready.”