Tennessee State's football players included their injured teammate Christion Abercrombie in their thoughts and prayers throughout the week and on Saturday night carried his jersey onto the field with them.

Team captains Michael Hughes and LaQuaris Cook brought Abercrombie's blue No. 6 jersey to midfield for the coin toss for the game at Austin Peay's Fortera Stadium, which the Governors won 49-34.

It was their way of paying tribute to Abercrombie, a transfer from Illinois who suffered a severe head injury in last week's game at Vanderbilt.

Coach Rod Reed waited to tell his players about the tribute until just before the captains left the sideline for the coin toss.

The two teams and coaching staffs then came together at midfield to pray for Abercrombie's recovery.

"The prayer meant a lot because we see Christion as our brother," TSU linebacker Dante' Ferguson said. "We might not be blood, but we built a bond over the summer as teammates. We feel like we're losing a part of our team; our brother. My message to him is, 'I love you and just keep fighting bro; we're all here for you.'"

The prayer was Austin Peay coach Will Healy's idea.

"Will texted me earlier in the day and said that they would like to do it and I thought it was a great gesture," Reed said. "You never can have too many prayers for a situation like that."

After the coin toss Abercrombie's jersey was draped over his shoulder pads and placed on top of an equipment trunk on the sideline at the 50-yard line.

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Big crowd for a big game

The largest crowd (12,201) to ever see a game at Austin Peay showed up. The previous record was 9,428 last year against Southeast Missouri.

Some TSU fans wore white T-shirts with No. 6 in blue and "We Love Our Tiger Boys And Family — Forever (with praying hands)" printed on the back.

Several TSU's players had "6" written on the tape on their wrists.

Helmet decals honoring Abercrombie have been ordered and will be worn by TSU's players for the remainder of the season. The decal with a blue background and white lettering includes Abercrombie's No. 6 and "AB," which is his nickname.

Abercrombie, a sophomore middle linebacker from Atlanta, remains in critical condition at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. He was rushed there during the first half of the Vanderbilt game and underwent emergency surgery.

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Aristocrats play tune for Abercrombie

At halftime the TSU Aristocrat of Bands paused during a raucous performance to play "Jesus Loves You" in Abercrombie's honor.

It was fitting. Abercrombie's mother, Staci, said earlier in the week that Christion loves music, especially gospel. He has responded, she said, since the surgery while listening to some of his favorite songs.

The band's master of ceremonies Jerry Davis said on the public address system, "If you believe prayer changes things, make some holy noise!"

After the performance Davis asked fans to keep Abercrombie and his family in their prayers.

The band then cranked up the volume again for its final number.

Defense struggles without Abercrombie

There was no denying the defense was hobbled without its leader, especially early. Abercrombie was TSU's second-leading tackler (18) after the first three games.

"It was kind of hard out there without (Abercrombie)," safety Vincent Sellers said. "He makes all the calls, gets us lined up right. We tried to go out there and fight as hard as we could for him and I just feel bad that we couldn't come up with the W for him."

The 49 points scored by Austin Peay were the most the Governors have ever scored against TSU and the most they've scored in an OVC game since scoring 55 in a win over UT-Martin in 1996.

TSU's offense didn't do the defense any favors. The Tigers had five turnovers (four fumbles, one interception) mostly deep in their own territory, three of which led to Austin Peay touchdowns.

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Three of the Tigers' top four tacklers — Sellers, Cook and Dajour Nesbeth — in the first half are defensive backs.

Sellers (8) and Cook (8) finished as the leading tacklers with many of their stops coming downfield.

Austin Peay piled up 447 total yards, including 258 rushing.

Even under the difficult circumstances, Reed was disappointed after the loss.

"I did a poor job of getting this team prepared to play," he said. "We had too many turnovers. We didn't play Tennessee State defense, gave up too many yards in the rush game."

Replacement plays well

Freshman Terry Straughter from Opa-Locka, Fla., made his first start Saturday, replacing Abercrombie.

He began a bit slow, recording three assisted tackles in the first half, but played better as the game went on. He finished with seven total tackles, including three solos and one for a loss.

“With the incident (to Abercrombie), everything came fast for me," Straughter said. "I had to get in the playbook a little more. I always try to stay ready, so I had to step up. I feel like from the mistakes, we’re going to learn. Me being a first-time starter, I feel like I’ll be more comfortable next week.”

Straughter played for the first time in his career against Vanderbilt. He had an interception deep in TSU territory when he was sent in as a fourth linebacker on third down.

After Abercrombie left the game, Straughter moved to middle linebacker where he played the entire second half.

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