Savannah, Ga. -- A good defensive effort just wasn't good enough to win the battle.

SSU's defense gave up only 212 yards in the home opener and kept the Marauders out of the end zone after a touchdown on the first possession.

Central's defense, however, was slightly better on a frustrating night for the Tiger offense.

"I'm extremely disappointed. That's all I can say, extremely disappointed," SSU coach Aaron Kelton said.

Central scored the game's only touchdown on a 23-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Kendall Boney to Brandon Brock after a 16-play, 10-minute drive. The Marauders overcame four 10-yard holding penalties.

SSU (0-2, 0-1 SIAC) had chances to tie in the second half. Twice, the Tigers marched inside Central's 10-yard line. But in the third quarter, after a first-and-goal from the 5, SSU was stopped on downs at the 4.

In the fourth quarter, the Tigers had a first-and-goal from the 8, but a 10-yard penalty backed them up and ultimately Jimmy Mal's 30-yard field goal attempt was blocked by Jalil Lenore with 7:33 to go.

But SSU's fortunes faded early on as the offense bogged down against Central's odd-man defensive front which deviated from the tapes the Tigers watched of previous Marauder games.

SSU managed only 23 first-half yards and two first downs. One first down came after a roughing the kicker penalty.

"They didn't show they'd be in an odd front in any of their games. We hadn't seen that. We had to make adjustments as we were going," Kelton said.

The Tigers' defense also seemed a step behind at the start. Faced with a third-and-10 situation on the third play from scrimmage, Boney scrambled 11 yards for the first down.

Later in the drive, on third-and-22, defensive holding in the secondary gave the Marauders an automatic first down.

"We tried to get more aggressive on the ball and put more pressure on the quarterback. We had to go back to the drawing board," said Rountree, who had four tackles – two tackles for losses which included a sack.

Ahlik Booker led the defense with six total tackles.

In the middle of Central's touchdown drive, SSU lost defensive back Kirk Smith, who left the field with an injury.

Smith was back with his teammates on the sidelines at the end of the game.

SSU's defense kept the game close by getting a stop on downs after Central marched to the 26 midway through the second quarter.

And after quarterback Jadon Adams threw an interception to set up the Marauders at the SSU 17 at the start of the third quarter, the defense made two stops at the 1 and limited Central to an 18-yard field goal by Jose Chaires to make it 10-0.

Adams and the Tigers offense began to click later in the third quarter. They drove 56 yards to the Marauder 24 before settling for Mal's 41-yard field goal to make it 10-3.

Adams completed 8 of 21 passes for 73 yards. He was sacked four times and had two interceptions.

"We have to be better in the pass game for (Jadon) to be effective or else defenses will just crowd the box knowing he's going to run," Kelton said. "We have to diversify what we're doing with him. We have to be able to throw the ball and complete it."

SSU had two more opportunities – the first set up by Ronnie Faison's 53-yard punt return to the Central 20.

Two plays after the return, Adams and Faison hooked up on a 14-yard pass to the 5.

But the Tigers could get only one yard closer before turning the ball over on downs.

In the fourth quarter, SSU seemed to have the Marauders reeling after a pass of 23 yards to Demeke Colbert and runs of 11 yards by Joseph Hampton and Adams positioned the Tigers at the Central 8.

An incomplete pass followed by a holding penalty and two Adams scrambles backed up SSU and Mal's 30-yard field goal try was blocked.

"It's on to Tuskegee, that has to be our focus," said Kelton about the Tigers' upcoming game in Tuskegee next Saturday at 2 p.m. ET.