OVC Football Previews - Week 8 10/18/2011 6:00:00 PM This Week's ScheduleSaturday, October 22#8 Jacksonville State at Kentucky, 11:01 a.m. (ESPNU)*Austin Peay at Southeast Missouri, 1:00 p.m. (OVCSports.TV)*UT Martin at Eastern Illinois, 1:30 p.m. (OVCSports.TV)*Tennessee State at Eastern Kentucky, 2:00 p.m. (OVCSports.TV) #8 Jacksonville State Gamecocks (5-1, 4-0 OVC)at Kentucky Wildcats (2-4, 0-3 SEC)Saturday, Oct. 22 • 11:01 a.m. CTCommonwealth Stadium (67,942) • Lexington, Ky.TV:...................................................................... ESPNULive Stats:.......................................... http://bit.ly/pZheeqSeries Record:............................................. First meetingLast Meeting:.............................................................. n/aJack Crowe at Jacksonville State:............... 79-49 (12 yrs.)Jack Crowe Overall:.................................... 93-79 (17 yrs.)Joker Phillips at Kentucky:............................. 8-11 (2 yrs.)Joker Phillips Overall:............................................. sameJacksonville State Last Week:...... W, 44-14 at Austin PeayKentucky Last Week:.................................................. IdleGAME NOTES: Saturday will mark the first game in the all-time series between Jacksonville State and Kentucky. It marks the 18th game all-time for Jax State against a Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) opponent. Last year the Gamecocks topped a SEC foe in their FBS matchup, beating Ole Miss 49-48 in double overtime. JSU is 1-2 all-time against teams from the SEC. Kentucky is 5-0 all-time against teams from the current alignment. The game marks the annual Homecoming contest for Kentucky.SCOUTING JACKSONVILLE STATE: Jacksonville State won its fourth-straight game by going on the road to top Austin Peay 44-14 on Saturday. The win improved the Gamecocks to 4-0 in the OVC and the team is currently on top of the standings by themselves (after Tennessee Tech suffered a defeat on Saturday night). Junior running back Washaun Ealey had his third consecutive 100-plus yard rushing game as he ran for 124 yards and a touchdown on 18 carries. A year ago Ealey was playing at Georgia and ran for 157 yards and five touchdowns in a 44-31 victory over Kentucky on his way to CFPA National Running Back of the Week honors. While Ealey led the offensive attack, it was the JSU defense that made the biggest difference, as the Gamecocks intercepted the Governors five times and help APSU to just 94 rushing yards. Jacksonville State returned those five interceptions a total of 119 yards, helping the team win the field position battle all night. The team's final two touchdowns of the game came on interceptions returns, as Ben Endress returned one with 3:37 to play in the game and Jamaal Johnson returned one 45 yards with 2:25 to go. Brooks Robinson picked up a fumble and returned it 31 yards for a score in the second quarter. In total Jax State scored 28 points in that second quarter, the most points by the team in a quarter since the 2004 season. Overall Jacksonville State is 49-7 when scoring 30 or more points under Jack Crowe. More importantly the team snapped a three-game losing streak coming off of bye weeks. Jacksonville State currently ranks 10th nationally in red zone offense (91%) and eighth nationally in fewest interceptions thrown (2). Jacksonville State is now ranked No. 8 in the FCS Coaches poll and No. 10 in the Sports Network/Fathead.com poll. The No. 8 ranking is the highest of the season for the Gamecocks (who were No. 9 in the preseason poll).SCOUTING KENTUCKY: After playing three consecutive Top 25 opponents, Kentucky had a bye last week and now begins a three-game home stand. The Wildcats have struggled offensively this season, ranking 118th out of 120 FBS teams in total offense and scoring offense and 119th in pass efficiency. During the bye week the team learned that true freshman tailback Josh Clemons will miss the rest of the year with an injury; Clemons was leading the team in rushing (279 yards) when injured. The team's top rusher now is junior quarterback Morgan Newton. Defensively Danny Trevathan (72) and Winston Guy (67) rank first and second in the SEC in tackles. This season Trevathan became only the 18th player in Wildcat history to have 300 or more career tackles. UK does rank second nationally in fewest yards penalized (26.67 yards/game) and sixth in net punting (41.43 yards/punt). Punter Ryan Tydlacka ranks 17th nationally in punting.Austin Peay Governors (2-4, 2-2 OVC)at Southeast Missouri State Redhawks (1-5, 1-3 OVC)Saturday, Oct. 22 • 1:00 p.m. CTHouck Stadium (10,000) • Cape Girardeau, Mo.TV:........................................................... OVCSports.TVLive Stats: http://www.redhawkstv.com/LiveStats/2011Live/Football/xlive.htmSeries Record:..................... Southeast Missouri leads 9-6Last Meeting:...... Southeast Missouri won 41-24 (10/16/10)Rick Christophel at Austin Peay:................... 17-33 (5 yrs.)Rick Christophel Overall:......................................... sameTony Samuel at Southeast Missouri:............. 23-40 (6 yrs.)Tony Samuel Overall:.................................. 57-97 (14 yrs.)Austin Peay Last Week: L, 44-14 vs. #10 Jacksonville StateSoutheast Missouri Last Week: L, 41-17 at Eastern KentuckyGAME NOTES: Austin Peay will travel to Cape Girardeau for the 16th time on Saturday afternoon. Southeast Missouri leads the series by a 9-6 margin, although the series is been back-and-forth since the Governors re-joined the OVC prior to the 2007 season. Since then a different team has won every other year, with Southeast Missouri coming out of top last season 41-24. In that game Southeast found itself down 21-13 early in the third quarter, but scored 28 total second half points on its way to the win (and eventual OVC Championship). All-American running back Henry Harris ran for 152 yards and three touchdowns on his way to OVC Offensive Player of the Week honors. Quarterback Matt Scheible added 116 rushing yards and a touchdown to go with 80 passing yards. Austin Peay was led by Terrence Holt (81 yards, 1 TD) and Ryan White (79 yards, 1 TD) on the ground. Antwaun Majors had 17 tackles for APSU. Both teams enter this weekend's game with two-game losing streaks. It will be Homecoming at Southeast Missouri on Saturday.SCOUTING AUSTIN PEAY: Austin Peay dropped a 44-14 decision to No. 10 Jacksonville State on Saturday night. APSU scored first and the game was tied early in the second quarter before JSU exploded for 28 points in the second quarter. The Govs did not help their own cause by throwing five interceptions (the most by a team in a game since 1999), two of which were returned for touchdowns, and fumbling on a ball that was scooped up and returned for a touchdown. Despite turning the ball over, Austin Peay also did a good job of taking the ball away, recovering three fumbles, the most in a game this season for the team. APSU had entered the game with just six turnovers gained for the entire season. Antwaun Majors and Amius Smith shared team-high tackle honors with 10 apiece. Devin Stark hauled in a 15-yard touchdown in the first quarter, marking his fifth touchdown of the season; that is the most since Lanis Frederick had seven in the 2006 season. Running back Ryan White had 68 rushing yards in the game and is now just 24 yards short of third place on the APSU career list.SCOUTING SOUTHEAST MISSOURI: Southeast Missouri fell behind 20-0 at Eastern Kentucky and committed a season-high six turnovers and eventually lost 41-17. Despite the loss senior quarterback Matt Scheible had a great game, rushing for 75 yards and two touchdowns and passing for 174 yards. In doing so Scheible became the first player in OVC history to throw for 4,000 and rush for 2,000 yards in a career. Scheible now has 2,054 rushing yards and 4,101 passing yards for his career and is just 322 yards of total offense away from moving into the OVC career Top 10. Scheible did become Southeast's all-time leader in total offense in the contest. Redshirt freshman Spencer Davis accounted for 230 all-purpose yards on the night, making three catches for 116 yards, rushing for 21 yards and netting 93 yards on returns. Davis had an 82-yard reception in the game, marking the third-longest reception in school history. Davis currently leads the OVC and ranks 22nd nationally in all-purpose yards (144.2 yards/game). Junior Blake Peiffer had a game-high 16 tackles, marking his fifth double-digit tackles outing in six games this season. Peiffer currently ranks sixth nationally in tackles/game (12.33).UT Martin Skyhawks (3-3, 2-2 OVC)at Eastern Illinois Panthers (1-6, 0-5 OVC)Saturday, Oct. 22 • 1:30 p.m. CTO'Brien Field (10,000) • Charleston, Ill.TV:.................................................. WEIU/OVCSports.TVLive Stats:.......... http://www.sidearmstats.com/eiu/footballSeries Record:.......................... Eastern Illinois leads 12-4Last Meeting:...................... UT Martin won 20-10 (9/18/10)Jason Simpson at UT Martin:........................ 35-28 (6 yrs.)Jason Simpson Overall:.......................................... sameBob Spoo at Eastern Illinois:................ 143-128-1 (25 yrs.)Bob Spoo Overall:................................................. sameUT Martin Last Week:............... L, 33-30 at South AlabamaEastern Illinois Last Week:............ L, 36-27 at Murray StateGAME NOTES: It will be Homecoming in Charleston, Ill. on Saturday as Eastern Illinois hosts UT Martin. The Panthers are searching for its first OVC victory of the season; overall the team has lost six-straight games since winning its season-opener against Illinois State. EIU leads the all-time series 12-4, but that series is tied 4-4 over the last eight years, with no team winning back-to-back games over that period. A season ago UT Martin won 20-10 at home in what was the OVC opener for both teams. UTM led 14-10 at halftime but the second half was a defensive battle as the only scores came from the foot of Cody Sandlin who connected on field goals from 31 and 26 yards to solidify the victory. The Skyhawks outgained the Panthers 402-222 in total offense and EIU was just 1-of-14 on third down during the game. Jason McNair ran for 130 yards and a touchdown while Tevin Barksdale ran for 75 yards and a score. Brandon Large passed for 138 yards and Erik Lora had 11 catches for 102 yards for the Panthers.SCOUTING UT MARTIN: UT Martin traveled to South Alabama (a team in its third year of football on its way to the Football Bowl Subdivision) and came out on the short end of a 33-30 decision despite scoring the final 17 points of the game. It marks the third loss of the season for UTM, which have come by a combined seven total points. The Skyhawks trailed at halftime (16-7) for the first time this season and were down 33-13 at the end of the third quarter. But the Skyhawks offense came alive in the final quarter, as Cody Sandlin kicked a 38-yard field goal, Quentin Sims caught a 2-yard touchdown pass and DJ McNeil rushed for a one yard touchdown to trim the margin to just three points with eight seconds remaining. Sims, the transfer from Georgia Tech, caught six passes for 78 yards and three touchdowns. Stephen Shiver added seven receptions for 96 yards and threw a touchdown pass to Sims in the first quarter. Shiver now has 102 receptions and 1,618 receiving yards in his career; the 102 receptions are eighth most in UTM history while the 1,618 yards are seventh most. Ben Johnson led the Skyhawks will 11 tackles and forced a fumble; Johnson now ranks fourth nationally in forced fumbles on the season (0.60/game).SCOUTING EASTERN ILLINOIS: Eastern Illinois nearly picked up its first OVC win of the season at Murray State on Saturday, leading 27-17 at the end of the third quarter and by three points until MSU took the lead with 1:28 to play. The Panthers defense had held Walter Payton Watch List quarterback Casey Brockman in check until the last drive when he led the team 75 plays in six yards to take the lead. Eastern would take over at its own 28-yard line with 1:21 to play, but fumbled on the first play and four plays later Murray State ran for a 24-yard score to ice the game. The Panthers offense played well in the contest, out-gaining the Racers 392-to-386 on the day. Jake Walker had 88 rushing yards and two scores while quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo passed for 247 yards and two scores. Five of those passes and both touchdowns went to Chris Wright, who had 130 receiving yards on the day. Wright now had seven touchdown catches this season and 17 for his career (ninth on the school's career list). Punter Scott Weatherford averaged 38.9 yards per punt and as he helped EIU limit one of the nation's best punt returners to only 30 yards on the day.Tennessee State Tigers (3-4, 2-2 OVC)at Eastern Kentucky Colonels (3-3, 2-1 OVC)Saturday, Oct. 22 • 2:00 p.m. CTRoy Kidd Stadium (20,000) • Richmond, Ky.TV:........................................................... OVCSports.TVLive Stats: http://www.sidearmstats.com/eku/football/index.htmSeries Record:...................... Eastern Kentucky leads 19-4Last Meeting:......... Tennessee State won 20-17 (10/10/09)Rod Reed at Tennessee State:....................... 6-12 (2 yrs.)Rod Reed Overall:.................................................. sameDean Hood at Eastern Kentucky:.................. 22-18 (4 yrs.)Dean Hood Overall:................................................ sameTennessee State Last Week: W, 42-40 at #19 Tennessee TechEastern Kentucky Last Week: W, 41-17 vs. Southeast MissouriGAME NOTES: Eastern Kentucky welcomes Tennessee State to Roy Kidd Stadium on Saturday for its annual Homecoming game. The teams have played 23 times since 1982, although the squads did not play last year due to TSU's unbalanced OVC schedule. After winning only twice in the first 21 meetings in the series, Tennessee State has won each of the last two, winning 34-20 in 2008 and 20-17 in 2009. EKU entered that game ranked No. 16 in the country but TSU got on the board first as Eugene Clifford returned an interception 66 yards for a touchdown. Eastern Kentucky battled back and led 17-13 with 5:48 to play after C.J. Walker ran the ball in from eight yards out. But Tennessee State had one final drive left as the team went 59 yards in 10 plays as Preston Brown capped the drive with a 2-yard touchdown run with 1:34 to go. EKU would have one final shot but could not convert on fourth down at the TSU 36-yard line. The Colonels out-gained the Tigers 311-to-283 but threw two interceptions in the game. Preston Brown had two rushing touchdowns for TSU while CJ Walker had 73 yards and a score for EKU.SCOUTING TENNESSEE STATE: After snapping a streak of not winning an OVC game since the end of the 2009 season last week, Tennessee State made it two wins in a row on Saturday, upsetting No. 19 Tennessee Tech 42-40 in a shootout in Cookeville. Despite being out-gained 462-to-398, TSU forced four turnovers on its way to the victory. Leading 28-20 at halftime, Tennessee State opened the second half with back-to-back touchdown just 59 seconds apart, as the lead ballooned to 42-20. But TTU would fight back and score four times the rest of the game, including a touchdown with 15 seconds to go, but failed to get the on-side kick at the end of the game. Sophomore DB Antonio Harper was named OVC Defensive Player of the Week after registering an OVC single-game best this season with 4.0 tackles-for-loss and 2.5 sacks. His most crucial sack came in the fourth quarter with TTU in field goal range and went for a loss of six yards; on the next play Tech missed a 42-yard field goal (which would have been the difference in the game had it been good). Redshirt freshman quarterback Michael German earned his third-straight OVC Newcomer of the Week honors after completing 19-of-29 passes for 232 yards and two touchdowns and also rushing for a touchdown.SCOUTING EASTERN KENTUCKY: After losing three of its first four games (all by close margins), Eastern Kentucky has rebounded by winning its last two games and the team is now 2-1 in OVC play, just one loss behind Jacksonville State in the loss column for first place. Last week the Colonels topped Southeast Missouri 41-17 to improve to 12-1 in OVC home games under head coach Dean Hood; the team has won seven-straight OVC games at Roy Kidd Stadium. For the third time this season EKU did not turn the ball over and for the third time this year the team won (the Colonels have eight turnovers in their three losses this year). The Eastern offense rushed for 244 yards on the night and the defense forced Southeast Missouri into a season-high six turnovers on the night. Matt Denham ha his second 100-yard rushing game, rushing for 142 yards and two scores on a season-high 23 carries. It marked the first time since 2007 that a EKU player had 100 or more yards in back-to-back games. Quarterback T.J. Pryor added 72 yards on the ground to go with 99 yards and a touchdown through the air. Patrick McClellan had a team-high nine tackles and intercepted a pass at his team's own 8-yard line that ended a Southeast threat as they looked to cut the margin (once 20-0) to potentially just three points. Brooklyn Fox also picked off a pass, as did Kevin Hamlin who returned it 39 yards for the final touchdown of the game.