Josh Sullivan, a U.S. pastor kidnapped at gunpoint while delivering a sermon in his church in South Africa Thursday evening has been rescued in a shootout that left three suspects dead, authorities say.

The Tennessee pastor kidnapped at gunpoint at a South African church — then rescued in a deadly shootout — was “upset” after learning soon after being saved that his beloved Volunteers lost their starting quarterback Nico Iamaleava.

South African law enforcement officials have rescued an American missionary who was abducted by armed and masked men as he was preaching in the Eastern Cape province last week.