SATURDAY'S SCORES
Kentucky 38, #8 Jacksonville State 14
@Southeast Missouri 17, Austin Peay 13
UT Martin 24, @Eastern Illinois 23
@Eastern Kentucky 33, Tennessee State 22
KENTUCKY 38, #8 JACKSONVILLE STATE 14
LEXINGTON, Ky. - Jacksonville State's attempt to knock off its second Southeastern Conference foe in as many seasons fell short with a 38-14 loss at Kentucky on Saturday at Commonwealth Stadium.
JSU had its four-game winning streak snapped and moves to 5-2 overall on the season, but remains undefeataed with a 3-0 OVC mark. UK (3-4) returned to the win column after dropping its last four games.
The Wildcats' defense scored the game's first points on Martavius Neloms' 40-yard fumble return with 3:33 in the opening period to take the early lead. The UK offense took note and scored on its next three possessions to post a 24-7 halftime lead en route to the win.
The Wildcats took advantage of three Jax State turnovers as all three turnovers accounted for 21 points for UK.
UK's La'Rod King caught his first of two touchdowns early in the second quarter with a 29-yard catch to extend the Wildcats' lead to 14-0. UK added to its lead after quarterback Morgan Newton took it in from one-yard out with 6:05 left in the half.
JSU got on the board after putting together a nine-play, 79 yard drive as quarterback Coty Blanchard connected with Alan Bonner for a 22-yard TD strike with 2:22 left before halftime. The scoring play was Bonner's first receiving touchdown of the season at the 10th of his career.
UK tacked on a 27-yard field goal as the opening half came to a close to build a 24-7 lead at the intermission.
After a scoreless third period, the Wildcat defense set up another scoring opportunity after UK's Danny Trevathan pick off a Blanchard pass and returned it to the Gamecock six yard line. UK opened the final period with King's catch in the endzone.
Freshman Gabriel Chambers put the final points of the game for Jax State, returning the ensuing kick off with a 99-yard return. The return ranks fourth all-time in JSU history and also ties for the fourth longest return in FCS this season.
UK added its final points of the contest with a nine-yard run with 6:40 remaining. The Wildcat offense finished with 445 yards of total offense, while JSU was limited to just 270 yards of production.
Junior Washaun Ealey turned in his fourth-straight game with 100-plus rushing yards. The last Gamecock to rush for over 100 yards in four straight games was Clay Green in 2005. Blanchard finished with 112 yards through the air, marking his seventh-consecutive game with 100 or more yards passing.
Defensively for JSU, freshman Pierre Warren was credited with a pair of fumble recoveries in the contest. The last time a Gamecock recovered a pair of fumbles was Jawaan Booker in 2009 against Florida State. Rashad Smith led JSU in tackles with nine on the day, including a pair of stops for a loss.
SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 17, AUSTIN PEAY 13
CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. - True freshman Tim Hamm-Bey had two interceptions, one of which led to the go-ahead touchdown, to lead Southeast Missouri (2-5, 2-3) to a 17-13 win over Austin Peay (2-5, 2-3) Saturday on Homecoming at Houck Stadium.
Hamm-Bey returned his first career interception 36 yards after Philip Klaproth forced Jake Ryan to throw a bad pass.
On the next play, Renard Celestin scored on a 22-yard run to give Southeast a 14-10 lead with 11:55 left in the third quarter.
After that, the Redhawks would not trail again, scoring once more on a 31-yard field goal by Drew Geldbach to put the finishing touches on the 17-13 win at the 6:05 mark.
Southeast played well in all three phases of the game en route to recording its 11th Homecoming win at the NCAA Division I level.
Defensively, the Redhawks only gave up three points in the second half, a 33-yard field goal by Stephen Stansell at the 12:57 mark of the fourth quarter. The three points were the least Southeast has allowed in the second half of a game this season.
Punter Joe Vucic also gave Southeast a big lift on special teams. Vucic averaged 45 yards per punt and pinned the Governors inside their own 10-yardline on three occasions.
APSU got on the board first, putting together 13-play, 95-yard drive on its opening possession.
Ryan White averaged 7.5 yards per carry and ran the ball eight times for 60 yards to lead the way. White later capped the drive with a 7-yard touchdown run to give the Governors a 7-0 advantage with just under four minutes left in the first quarter.
Southeast's freshmen tandem of Spencer Davis and AJ Cobb helped set up the Redhawks first score.
Cobb ran for a combined 11 yards on consecutive carries and Davis broke free for a 30-yard run down the near sideline to move Southeast to the APSU 13-yardline.
Matt Scheible's 18-yard completion to Aaron King and 12-yard pass to Art Mueller also helped key the 11-play, 76-yard drive which ended on a 3-yard run by Ron Coleman with 13:49 remaining in the second quarter.
After Southeast's defense stopped APSU on fourth down, the Redhawks turned the ball over when Rob Bryant recovered Celestin's fumble at the Governors 19-yardline.
APSU capitalized on the turnover with a 37-yard field goal by Stansell, as the Governors took a 10-7 edge at the half.
APSU used a fourth-down conversion and converted on back-to-back third-down plays to set up a 33-yard Stansell's late field goal that cut the Redhawks lead to
17-13 just a little over two minutes into the fourth quarter.
It was rather interesting to see how evenly APSU and Southeast matched up. Both finished with 16 first downs. The Governors held a 183-167 advantage in rushing yards, while the Redhawks had the upper hand in both passing yards (128-104) and total offense (295-287).
Scheible completed 9-of-12 passes for 128 yards and ran for 30 yards on 16 carries. He moved up two spots to fifth on Southeast's all-time career passing yards list with 4,229.
Celestin ran for a game-high 56 yards and a touchdown, while Foster added a game-high 81 yards on four catches. His 58-yard reception marked both the second-longest catch and fourth-longest play from scrimmage this season.
Blake Peiffer, Bryan Blanfort and Klaproth were Southeast's leading tacklers. Peiffer led the way with 10 tackles and needs only 25 more to reach 200 in his career.
Meanwhile, Blanfort and Klaproth followed with eight tackles each.
UT MARTIN 24, EASTERN ILLINOIS 23
CHARLESTON, Ill. - The University of Tennessee at Martin relied on big plays and a key defensive stand to salvage a 24-23 victory over host Eastern Illinois on Saturday.
With the victory the Skyhawks improve to 3-2 in the Ohio Valley Conference and 4-3 on the season.
The UT Martin defense stopped Eastern Illinois quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo on fourth-and-two when junior Jarvis McCann forced the sophomore quarterback to fumble the ball. Junior Darrin Nalls recovered the loose ball and the Skyhawks were able to run out the final 1:42 of the game.
The UT Martin defense put an end to EIU's running game early, but never could stop Garoppolo and the Panthers' passing assault. Garoppolo completed 27-of-36 passes for 294 yards and three touchdowns. The Panthers had 289 yards of offense. The running game accounted for -5 yards.
UT Martin junior Montori Hughes, a Tennessee transfer, led the Skyhawk defense with 10 tackles, one sack, 5.5 tackles for loss, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery. McCann had five tackles, one TFL and the forced fumble.
EASTERN KENTUCKY 33, TENNESSEE STATE 22
RICHMOND, Ky. - On a day when the Eastern Kentucky University offense struggled to string together sustainable drives, the Colonel defense scored seven points and set the team up for two short scoring drives in a 33-22 Homecoming victory over visiting Tennessee State University Saturday afternoon at Roy Kidd Stadium.
Eastern (4-3, 3-1 OVC) won its third straight game and eighth straight at home against Ohio Valley Conference teams. EKU junior running back Matt Denham became the first Colonel since late in the 2007 season to eclipse the 100-yard rushing mark in three consecutive games, finishing with a career-high 226 yards on 35 carries and two touchdowns. It was Denham's second 200-yard performance of the season.
Tennessee State had averaged 48.5 points in its previous two games before being held to a season-low 22 points by the Colonels.
After the Tigers (3-5, 2-3 OVC) drew first blood with a field goal early in the first quarter, junior defensive back Justin Bell got the Colonels on the board when he picked off a fourth down pass at the EKU 21-yard line and returned it 79 yards for a touchdown.
With Eastern leading 7-6 late in the first half, junior Brooklyn Fox returned a fumble 22 yards to the TSU 15 to set the offense up with a short field. On 3rd-and-14 from the 19-yard line, junior quarterback T.J. Pryor connected with junior wide receiver Tyrone Goard in the back right corner of the end zone. Goard kept one foot in bounds and the extra-point gave EKU a 14-6 lead at the break.
Tennessee State closed the gap back to one point, 14-13, on a fourth down two-yard Dante Thomas touchdown run midway through the third quarter. The Colonel offense immediately answered with its first sustained scoring drive of the game. Goard picked up 50 yards on a run and Denham finished it off with a four-yard run on an option pitch for a 21-13 lead. The drive covered 80 yards in seven plays and took 3:10 off the clock.
On TSU's ensuing possession, the Colonel defense did it again. This time junior linebacker Kevin Hamlin intercepted a pass at the 45-yard line and returned it 32 yards to the TSU 13. Senior H.B. Banjoman followed Denham's 10-yard run with a one-yard touchdown plunge. Eastern failed on the two-point conversion, but led 27-13.
A Tiger field goal late in the third quarter and an 89-yard touchdown pass from Jeremy Perry to Calvin McNairl in the fourth cut the deficit to 27-22 with 7:56 left to play.
Denham's second touchdown of the game, this time a 29-yard run off another option pitch, with 4:53 on the clock secured the victory for the Colonels.
The two teams were polar opposites offensively. EKU out-gained the Tigers 375-65 on the ground while TSU held a 343-55 advantage through the air. Eastern held the ball for seven minutes longer and converted twice as many third downs, 8-4.