Tennessee State football coach Eddie George spent a lot of time this week talking about Lindenwood’s offense, a unit the Tigers face Saturday that features the Big South/Ohio Valley Conference’s leading receiver and two of the best running backs the league.

He then talked about his team’s defense, which could be the key to keeping TSU in the league race.

TSU (3-2, 1-1) travels to Lindenwood (2-3, 1-0) for the first time on Saturday (1 p.m. CT).

TSU’s defense, ranked No. 29 nationally, has held the Tigers to every game this season except a 52-3 loss to No. 2 North Dakota State. Since the offense failed until the final drive last week against While Charleston Southern had to wait, it was their defense that helped the Tigers to a 13-9 win.

Eddie George says Lindenwood’s Jeff Caldwell can play in the NFL

Lindenwood junior Jeff Caldwell was a 2023 All-Big South/OVC wide receiver who has gotten even better this season. He caught a 65-yard touchdown against TSU last season and is second in the FCS in receiving yards with 508 on 23 receptions. He is tied for first in touchdown receptions with Eastern Washington’s Efton Chism III with seven.

“We have a big job this week stopping some really good playmakers,” George said. “Jeff Caldwell is really good. I think he has a chance to play on Sundays.”

Caldwell, who is 6-foot-2, will pose matchup problems for TSU’s secondary, which only has one starter – cornerback Malik Ganaway, 6-foot-1 – who is taller than 6-foot-1.

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Caldwell had a remarkable game last week in a 28-25 win over Eastern Illinois. He had four catches, all for touchdowns from 11, 24, 8 and 74 yards. That was the most touchdown catches by an FCS player in a game this season.

Eddie George also had concerns about Lindenwood’s running backs

While Caldwell makes Lindenwood’s passing game dangerous, the Lions are also very efficient on the ground and have two running backs in the top 10 in the Big South/OVC in No. 5 Cortezz Jones and No. 10 Steve Hall.

“Their running backs are going downhill,” George said. “They run the ball very well, they break tackles and they have an offensive line that sells.”

Jones, a transfer from Murray State, has 321 yards on 46 carries and two touchdowns, and Hall, a redshirt freshman, has 226 yards on 39 carries.

Defense was Tennessee State’s strength

TSU’s defense hasn’t given up a touchdown in seven quarters. The Tigers kept Charleston Southern out of the end zone last week and didn’t allow Tennessee Tech to score an offensive touchdown after the first quarter in a 24-14 loss on Sept. 21 and an interception return with 1:05 left in the game.

“If you look at where we are and what we’ve accomplished, the defense has been there for us every single game,” George said. “We got our noses bloody at North Dakota State, but for the most part I thought the defense did some things well. At this point in the season we were young in some positions. There were players there who were playing for the very first time. Four weeks later they have improved a lot.

For the second time this season, TSU linebacker Sanders Ellis was the Big South/OVC Freshman of the Week this week. The former Station Camp star is the Tigers’ leading tackler with 30 total stops, including six tackles for loss, 1.5 sacks and a fumble recovery.

Defensive end Keandre Booker, a transfer from Southeast Missouri, leads TSU in sacks (3.5) and tackles for loss (7).

Reach Mike Organ at 615-259-8021 or on X @MikeOrganWriter.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: TSU football: Eddie George says Lindenwood’s Jeff Caldwell NFL prospect