For the second straight home game, the Lions were just a play or two from coming away with a victory. Once again, though, Lindenwood fell just short as it lost to No. 14 Fort Hays State on Saturday by a 38-35 margin.
 
The story coming into the game was the Tigers defense which was allowing just 11.0 points a game.  Fort Hays State has one of the top rushing defenses in the country, and it was able to slow down Lindenwood's rushing attack. The Lions responded though with one of the top passing games in program history, which kept the team in the contest until the very end.
 
Fort Hays State went up 7-0 after its first possession, but Lindenwood's defense came up with a big play the next time the Tigers touched the ball. Bakari Triggs knocked the ball out of a runner's hands, and Ace Rogers recovered it in Fort Hays territory. Lindenwood gained eight yards on its first three plays, but on fourth down Calen Campbell found running room and picked up the first down. Two plays later, Najee Jackson kept the ball and ran it in from one-yard out.
 
The Tigers scored one more time in the first quarter, helped by two third-down conversions in the red zone. On the final play of the first quarter, Jackson found Deantrell Prince for a 51-yard pass play. That helped the Lions tie the game at 14 early in the second quarter. That drive was capped off by an 11-yard Jackson pass to DeSean Warren.
 
Lindenwood's defense was the highlight of the second quarter. It allowed just 66 yards in the period, with 50 of those coming on one drive. The long drive resulted in a missed field goal, and the Tigers had to punt the ball the other three times they touched it in the second quarter. The Lions offense took advantage and gave the team a 21-14 lead with 3:24 remaining in the half. Warren continued his big-play abilities, catching a fourth-down pass to extend the drive and then catching a four-yard touchdown pass.
 
Fort Hays State opened the second half with a big play on its fourth snap with a 48-yard touchdown play that tied the game at 21. Lindenwood quickly answered by finding the endzone on its next trip. Shakeem Wharton rushed the ball in from a yard out. After trading punts, the Tigers got another big pass play. A Lindenwood defender was inches from breaking up a third-down pass, but the receiver caught the pass and went 76 yards to tie the game at 28.
 
With the score tied early in the fourth, the Lions drove into the redzone, but came away with no points after a missed field goal. Lindenwood's defense came up with another turnover in Fort Hays territory, with Rogers coming up with another fumble recovery. The Lions could not get points out of it though and they had to punt the ball away.
 
Midway through the final quarter, Fort Hays State retook the lead with a field goal. After both teams turned the ball over, with Lindenwood's being an interception by Ricky McCoy, the Lions got the ball back deep in their territory with 5:41 remaining. On the third play of that drive, Jackson got hurt and had to briefly leave the game. The Tigers took advantage by intercepting a pass and returning it 25 yards for a touchdown and a 10-point lead.
 
Jackson returned and led the Lions to one more touchdown, this one on a 17-yard pass to Prince. Only 63 seconds remained though and the Tigers were able to run out the clock after they recovered the onside kick.
 
Jackson finished with 365 yards passing, the 13th-most in program history, and the most by a Lion since 2013. His 29 completions were the sixth-most in school history for a game, and he threw for three touchdowns and no interceptions. Jackson completed passes to eight different players, led by Prince who had 175 yards, the seventh-most in program history. Prince caught 10 passes, which was also a top-10 single-game mark.
 
Defensively, Darrius Williams, Cj Bivens, and Drew Seers all had team-highs with 10 tackles. Seers also had a tackle for loss and one forced fumble. Antonio Davis had 1.5 tackles for loss, the most on the team.
 
Lindenwood falls to 2-3 on the season. The Lions travel to Missouri Western next weekend for a 1 p.m. contest.