Tiffin University (0-1) struggled to get the offense rolling against 3rd-ranked Grand Valley State in their 2016 opener, amassing 254 yards of offense in a 45-7 loss.
The Dragons kept the game close early but the Lakers kept up the attack throughout the first half, first cracking the board on a big 43 yard touchdown pass at the 6:14 mark of the opening quarter to take a 7-0 lead. They capped off a 7 play, 70 yard drive with a 9 yard TD run with 9 seconds remaining in the quarter to lead 14-0 after one period.
The Lakers drove 92 yards in 9 plays for their next score, connecting on a 9 yard pass to lead 21-0 at halftime.
GVSU added 17 more points to open the second half, scoring on a 20 yard interception return, a 13 yard run, and a 43 yard field goal. Tiffin finally got on the board at the 8:03 mark of the fourth quarter, as Charles Holland hauled in a 10 yard pass from Antonio Pipkin to finish off a 7 play, 75 yard drive and make the score 38-7.
Overall Grand Valley State had 27 first downs to TU's 12 and outgained the Dragons 510-254. The Lakers' defense held TU to just 1 for 10 on third-down conversions and limited TU's passing attack to just 131 yards.
Pipkin finished 15 of 23 for 131 yards with a TD and interception. Holland had 57 yards receiving on 4 catches, while Jalen Santoro had 38 yards on 6 catches. JaQuan Hardy rushed for 55 yards on 7 rushes.
Defensively, Jawan Nelson had 11 tackles, while DJ Edwards-Steward and Ross Moore had 9 tackles each. Morgan Loyd had 7 tackles while Jacaob Mertus and Terry Harper had 6 tackles. Willie Mays posted 1.5 sacks, while Victor Cave and Vinny Jones each had a half sack.
