OVC Football Previews - Week 11 11/8/2011 5:45:00 PM This Week's ScheduleSaturday, November 12*#20 Tennessee Tech at #25 Eastern Kentucky, 12:00 p.m. (OVCSports.TV)*Austin Peay at Murray State, 1:00 p.m. (OVCSports.TV)*Jacksonville State at Southeast Missouri, 1:00 p.m. (OVCSports.TV)Eastern Illinois at Southern Illinois, 2:00 p.m.* UT Martin at Tennessee State, 5:00 p.m. (OVCSports.TV) #20 Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles (5-3, 4-2 OVC)at #25 Eastern Kentucky Colonels (6-3, 5-1 OVC)Saturday, Nov. 12 • 12:00 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 50-17Last Meeting:......... Eastern Kentucky won 42-29 (11/13/10)Watson Brown at Tennessee Tech:................ 23-30 (5 yrs.)Watson Brown Overall:......................... 117-181-1 (27 yrs.)Dean Hood at Eastern Kentucky:.................. 25-18 (4 yrs.)Dean Hood Overall:................................................ sameTennessee Tech Last Week:........ L, 38-37 vs. Murray StateEastern Kentucky Last Week: W, 52-48 at #18 Jacksonville StateGAME NOTES: In the most important game of the season so far, Tennessee Tech will try to keep its OVC Championship hopes alive when it plays at league-leading Eastern Kentucky on Saturday. An EKU victory and a UT Martin loss at Tennessee State would wrap-up at OVC's automatic playoff bid for the Colonels (who would own a tiebreaker over JSU). A Tennessee Tech victory would put them in good position over EKU in several tiebreaker scenarios as the Golden Eagles are looking for their first OVC title since 1975 and their first-ever FCS Playoff appearance; wins it its final two games would give TTU the title and playoff bid. An OVC title for EKU would be its 21st overall (a record) and would mark the 20th playoff appearance for the team (second-most all-time). Eastern Kentucky leads the all-time series by a 50-17 margin and have won four in a row and nine of the last 10 against Tennessee Tech. In last year's meeting Eastern Kentucky won 42-29 in Cookeville behind an outstanding performance from T.J. Pryor. Pryor passed for 279 yards and four touchdowns and rushed for 100 yards and another score. Orlandus Harris hauled in nine passes for 200 yards and two scores for EKU while Tech was led by 128 yards on the ground from Jocques Crawford.SCOUTING TENNESSEE TECH: Tennessee Tech slipped out of a three-way tie for first place after falling 38-37 to Murray State at home on Saturday. The Golden Eagles battled back from a 14-point halftime deficit only to see a missed extra point with 2:05 to play in the game turn out to be the difference. Tech out-gained Murray State (453-403) Adam Urbano, the transfer from Georgia Southern, ran for 119 yards (and had a reception for 24 yards) and quarterback Tre Lamb threw for 197 yards and two scores. Senior wideout Tim Benford hauled in six passes for 116 yards and a score (which came with 2:05 to go); Benford now has 204 career catches (3rd in OVC history) for 2,948 yards (fifth in OVC history). Dontey Gay rushed for three touchdowns in the loss and now ranks fourth nationally in scoring (9.75 points/game). Senior defensive back Jake McIntosh tallied a career-high 15 tackles in the loss.SCOUTING EASTERN KENTUCKY: After not appearing in the FCS Top 25 polls since Oct. 19, 2009 (when they were 21/20), Eastern Kentucky jumped back into the Top 25 at No. 25 after winning its fifth game in a row on Saturday, a 52-48 come-from-behind thriller at No. 18 Jacksonville State. The Colonels trailed 48-24 with 7:25 to go in the game following a JSU touchdown run. But junior quarterback T.J. Pryor led scoring drives of 64, 58 and 37 yards over the next 6:01 to pull out the improbably victory. Pryor finished the day 16-of-26 for a season-high 282 yards and five touchdown passes (three of which came in the final seven minutes of the game). Pryor earned National Player of the Week honors from the College Sporting News for his efforts. Another key play in the comeback came from sophomore Anthony Brown, who recovered a fumble and raced 71 yards for a score to trim the margin to 10 points. Eventually it was Pryor hooking up with Tyrone Goard for a 37-yard score with 1:24 to play that proved to be the different. The EKU defense then made one last stand, stopping Jax State at the one-yard line as time expired. Junior running back Matt Denham had his third-straight 200-plus yard game (209) and fourth 200-yard game in the last five outings; he is now the only FCS player in the country with four 200-yard games this season. The 52 points scored by EKU is the most in four years under head coach Dean Hood.Austin Peay Governors (3-6, 2-4 OVC)at Murray State Racers (5-4, 3-3 OVC)Saturday, Nov. 12 • 1:00 p.m. CTStewart Stadium (16,800) • Murray, Ky.TV:........................................................... OVCSports.TVLive Stats: http://goracers.com/sports/2010/7/6/GEN_0706100406.aspx?id=186Series Record:........................... Murray State leads 31-13Last Meeting:................ Murray State won 61-35 (11/13/10)Rick Christophel at Austin Peay:................... 18-35 (5 yrs.)Rick Christophel Overall:......................................... sameChris Hatcher at Murray State:........................ 11-9 (2 yrs.)Chris Hatcher Overall:............................... 105-36 (12 yrs.)Austin Peay Last Week:.............. W, 40-0 vs. Central StateMurray State Last Week:.. W, 38-37 at #15 Tennessee TechGAME NOTES: Austin Peay will travel to Murray State on Saturday for the 45th all-time meeting in the series that dates back to 1953. Murray State has won three in a row and 10 of the last 11 in the series. A year ago the Racers racked up 673 yards of total offense on its way to a 61-35 blowout victory in Clarksville. In that game Casey Brockman earned National Player of the Week honors after completing 38-of-57 passes for 497 yards and three touchdowns and rushing for another score. Marcus Harris hauled in 11 of those passes for 138 yards and a touchdown and Duane Brady rushed for 114 yards and two scores. Terrence Holt had 140 rushing yards and three scores from the Governors while Ryan White added 119 yards and a score on the ground.SCOUTING AUSTIN PEAY: Austin Peay stepped out of OVC play to record its first shutout since the 2003 season as the Governors topped Division II Central State 40-0 on Saturday. It also marked the largest margin of victory for the program since downing Kentucky Wesleyan 50-0 also in the 2003 season. The team had 472 yards of total offense, a season-high; it marked the second time this year the team had more than 400 yards in a game (APSU had 431 yards against Tennessee State). Senior Ryan White carried the ball 20 times for 146 yards and two touchdowns in the victory, marking his third-straight 100-yard rushing game (and 14th for his career). Overall the team rolled up 407 rushing yards as Wesley Kitts (85 yards), Ean Pemberton (82), Tee Howell (52) and Scott Thomas (38) all got into the act. Howell also had a 65-yard punt return for a touchdown in the third quarter, marking the first punt return for a score for the team since the 2009 season (Terrence Holt vs. TSU). Govs punter Ben Campbell averaged 48.8 yards on four punts with a long of 59 yard; he now ranks third in the OVC in punting (39.49 yards/punt). SCOUTING MURRAY STATE: Murray State kept its hopes of a seven-win season and potential at-large berth in the FCS Playoffs alive with a 38-37 victory at No. 15 Tennessee Tech on Saturday. Despite falling behind 10-0, the Racers stormed back to grab a 31-17 halftime lead and won the game after Tech missed a game-tying extra point attempt with 2:05 to play. Ironically the Racers had lost last week's game with EKU when they missed a fourth quarter extra point attempt. It marked Murray State's first win in Cookeville since the 1999 season and first road victory over a ranked opponent since topping No. 14 Eastern Illinois on Oct. 19, 1996 (MSU was ranked No. 8 at the time). Quarterback Casey Brockman completed 31-of-43 passes for 270 yards and three touchdowns. Brockman is now just 19 completions away from the OVC single-season mark of 279, and is 720 yards away from the OVC single-season passing yards mark (3,497). Senior kicker Kienan Cullen became the OVC's all-time leader in field goals made (53) when he converted a 33-yarder in the second quarter. That conversion helped him break a record that had stood for 27 years. Cullen also made all five of his extra point attempts (the first time MSU had converted all its extra points in a game this season) and averaged 41.5 yards on four punts to earn OVC Specialist of the Week honors. Cullen also moved into the OVC's career Top 10 for scoring (9th, 270 points) during the contest. Sam Small and Darius Buck each had eight tackles to lead the team; Buck also picked off a pass in the second quarter which led to a Racer touchdown right before the half.Jacksonville State Gamecocks (5-4, 4-2 OVC)at Southeast Missouri State Redhawks (3-6, 2-4 OVC)Saturday, Nov. 12 • 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:..................... Jacksonville State leads 10-5Last Meeting:........ Jacksonville State won 29-27 (11/13/10)Jack Crowe at Jacksonville State:............... 79-52 (12 yrs.)Jack Crowe Overall:.................................... 93-82 (17 yrs.)Tony Samuel at Southeast Missouri:............. 25-41 (6 yrs.)Tony Samuel Overall:.................................. 59-98 (14 yrs.)Jacksonville State Last Week: L, 52-48 vs. Eastern KentuckySoutheast Missouri Last Week: W, 55-44 vs. Central MethodistGAME NOTES: Having lost three games in a row, and back-to-back home Conference games for the first time since joining the OVC, Jacksonville State enters this weekend's game needing to win out and other teams help its cause if it wants to advance to the FCS Playoffs for the second year in a row. The Gamecocks would need Eastern Kentucky to lose two games and have Tennessee Tech beat EKU and lose to Austin Peay in order to win a head-to-head tiebreaker with UT Martin (a team it beat by one point to open the season). JSU starts that quest at defending champion Southeast Missouri State, a squad the Gamecocks topped by two points last year in a thrilling contest between the two Top 10 teams at the time. In that back-and-forth affair Southeast Missouri scored to grab a 5-point lead on a Henry Harris rush with 4:06 to play only to see JSU go 57 yards in 11 plays and score on an Alan Bonner touchdown reception with 11 seconds to play. Harris had 134 rushing yards in that game while Matt Scheible had 145 passing yards (and a touchdown) and 57 rushing yards (and two touchdowns). Marques Ivory had 222 passing yards and a score for JSU. Overall Jax State has won three in a row and eight of nine against Southeast.SCOUTING JACKSONVILLE STATE: Jacksonville State fell out of a three-way tie for first place with a heartbreaking 52-48 loss to Eastern Kentucky on Saturday. The Gamecocks led 48-24 with 7:25 to play but saw EKU score three offensive and one defensive touchdown over the next 6:01 to pull out the victory. The loss dropped JSU out of both FCS Top 25 polls, the first time in 40 weeks (dating back to Nov. 2008) that the Gamecocks have not been nationally-ranked. Junior running back Washaun Ealey earned his fourth OVC Newcomer of the Week honor of the year after carrying the ball 17 times for 217 yards (12.8 yards/carry) and scoring two touchdowns. Ealey had touchdown runs of 61 and 83 yards, with the 83-yarder coming in the fourth quarter and putting JSU up 48-24. That run was the fourth-longest rushing touchdown in Gamecocks history. Junior Alan Bonner celebrated his 21st birthday with nine catches for 205 yards and two touchdowns (74 and 31 yards). The 205 receiving yards was the second-most in school history and Bonner added in 64 yards on kick/punt returns to finish the day with 269 all-purpose yards. The loss marked the first back-to-back losses in OVC games in a stretch of 27 games.SCOUTING SOUTHEAST MISSOURI: Southeast Missouri stepped out of Conference play on Saturday to top NAIA foe Central Methodist 55-44 in a shootout at Houck Stadium. The 99 combined points in the game were the most for Southeast in regulation play during its Division I football era. Senior QB Matt Scheible passed for 243 yards and three touchdowns and ran for 112 yards and an additional score. The 355 yards of total offense was a career-high as he increased his career total offense numbers to 6,953, eighth all-time in OVC history; Scheible is just 45 yards away from moving into seventh place (past former NFL player Kelly Holcomb) on the list. Lennies McFerren added 99 yards and a score on the ground for the Redhawks. Junior linebacker Blake Peiffer had another monster game, tallying a career-high 18 tackles in the game; it was his seventh-straight double-digit tackle game as he became the first SEMO player since 2008 to have 100 tackles in a season (117). Peiffer ranks sixth nationally in tackles (13.0/game).Eastern Illinois Panthers (2-8, 1-7 OVC)at Southern Illinois Salukis (2-7, 1-6 MVFC)Saturday, Nov. 12 • 2:00 p.m. CTSaluki Stadium (15,000) • Carbondale, Ill.TV:.......................................................... SIUSalukis.comLive Stats:............................................ http://bit.ly/rwZsyjSeries Record:.................... Southern Illinois leads 37-22-1Last Meeting:............. Southern Illinois won 48-7 (11/28/09)Bob Spoo at Eastern Illinois:................ 144-130-1 (25 yrs.)Bob Spoo Overall:................................................. sameDale Lennon at Southern Illinois:................... 27-18 (4 yrs.)Dale Lennon Overall:................................. 129-51 (15 yrs.)Eastern Illinois Last Week:.... L, 18-17 vs. Tennessee StateSouthern Illinois Last Week: L, 45-34 at South Dakota StateGAME NOTES: Saturday's game marks the final on the sidelines in the brilliant career of Eastern Illinois head coach Bob Spoo, who will retire after the game. Spoo has been the head coach at EIU for 25 years, winning 144 games and taking the Panthers to nine FCS Playoff appearances and four OVC Championships. Spoo ranks fourth in OVC history with 68 OVC victories while his 92 overall victories while a coach in the OVC (since 1996) ranks fifth all-time. Spoo will conclude his career in-state foe Southern Illinois, in what will be the 61st meeting between the schools. The last three times the teams have played have been in the FCS Playoffs, with SIUE coming out on top each time, most recently in 2009. It will be the first regular season matchup between the two schools since 2001, a 49-21 EIU victory in Carbondale. In the 2009 Playoff game the Salukis entered the matchup ranked No. 1 in the country and jumped out to a 24-7 halftime lead on the way to a 48-7 win. SIU out-gained EIU 389-to-189 on a cold day in Carbondale.SCOUTING EASTERN ILLINOIS: Coming off a win at Austin Peay two weeks ago, Eastern Illinois nearly made it two wins in a row on Saturday, but fell 18-17 to Tennessee State in its final home game of the season. EIU led 7-5 at halftime following a Chris Wright 13-yard touchdown reception, a safety on a bad snap on a punt attempt and a TSU 51-yard field goal right before the half. The Panthers would score 10 points in the third quarter to grab a 17-5 lead as Jake Walker ran one in from four yards out and Cameron Berra connected on a 37-yard field goal. But Tennessee State controlled the final quarter, getting a pair of touchdown runs from Trabis Ward, the last coming with 1:49 to play, to win by one point and spoil Coach Spoo's final home game (which saw more than 100 former players in attendance to honor their former coach). Walker rushed for 109 yards on 24 carries, his second-straight game with 100-plus yards. The junior also hauled in two passes to finish with 124 all-purpose yards for the game. Senior Gordy Kickels led the Panthers defense with a career-high 15 tackles (6 solo) and 1.5 tackles-for-loss.SCOUTING SOUTHERN ILLINOIS: Southern Illinois started the season with two wins in its first three games, sandwiching wins over Southeast Missouri State and Missouri State around a loss at Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) foe Ole Miss. Since the victory over Missouri State on Sept. 24, the Salukis have have lost six in a row, all of which have come in Missouri Valley Football Conference (MVFC) play (and three of the games have come against Top 25 FCS programs). Last time out SIU lost 45-34 at South Dakota State despite junior Jewel Hampton having a career-day with 167 yards and two touchdowns on 28 carries; it was the most rushing yards for a SIU back since current Jacksonville Jaguar Deji Karim ran for 273 yards in 2009. On the season Hampton has 833 rushing yards and 13 touchdowns. Quarterback Kory Faulkner has completed 60.2 percent of his passes for 1,096 yards and four scores this year and rushed for 178 yards and three additional scores. Mike McElroy picked off two passes in the game, giving him 13 career interceptions, one shy of third-place in school history. Those were two of three total interceptions on the day for the Salukis, who entered the game with only four in the previous eight games.UT Martin Skyhawks (5-4, 4-2 OVC)at Tennessee State Tigers (4-5, 3-3 OVC)Saturday, Nov. 12 • 5:00 p.m. CTLP Field (68,798) • Nashville, Tenn.TV:........................................................... OVCSports.TVLive Stats: http://www.tsutigers.com/liveStats/liveStats.dbml?&DB_OEM_ID=19600Series Record:....................... Tennessee State leads 13-7Last Meeting:...................... UT Martin won 37-0 (11/13/10)Jason Simpson at UT Martin:........................ 37-29 (6 yrs.)Jason Simpson Overall:.......................................... sameRod Reed at Tennessee State:....................... 7-13 (2 yrs.)Rod Reed Overall:.................................................. sameUT Martin Last Week:............. L, 55-17 at Mississippi StateTennessee State Last Week:..... W, 18-17 at Eastern IllinoisGAME NOTES: The Sgt. York Trophy will be up for grabs on Saturday when defending champion UT Martin travels to LP Field to battle Tennessee State, the team that won the first two Sgt. York Championships (2007, 2008). Both teams enter the game 1-1 in the series this year, with the trophy going to one of the four OVC schools from Tennessee with the best record in the series. A victory by the Skyhawks would assure them of no worse than a tie for the championship, and they would retain the coveted trophy, since under tiebreaker rules they won it a year ago. A victory by Tennessee State would assure them at least a tie for the title and they would get the trophy if Tennessee Tech beats Austin Peay on Nov. 19 (since it has been longer for them since having the trophy); if Austin Peay would beat Tennessee Tech and finish in a tie with the Tigers, APSU would claim the trophy because they have never had it (the Govs finished in a tie in 2007 but TSU earned the actual trophy). The game is also of importance to UT Martin, who is just one game out of first place in the OVC. The Skyhawks need to win its final two games, have EKU top Tennessee Tech on Saturday and have Jacksonville State lose one of its final two games of the season (at SEMO, at TSU) in order to win the league's autobid to the FCS Playoffs. The matchup is the 21st all-time between the teams, with TSU holding a 13-7 advantage, although UTM has won four of the last five overall. A year ago UT Martin won 37-0 as the Skyhawks out-gained the Tigers 517-to-123. This week's game is the annual Homecoming contest for Tennessee State.SCOUTING UT MARTIN: UT Martin stepped out of Conference play on Saturday when the team traveled to FBS foe Mississippi State. The Skyhawks suffered a 55-17 defeat, the first time this season the team has lost by more than three points (UTM's three previous losses this season were by a combined seven points). Despite the loss UTM racked up 454 yards of total offense against the Bulldogs offense which was ranked No. 15 in the nation (FBS). Jason McNair rushed for a game-high 122 yards on 27 carries (his fourth 100-yard game of the season) while DJ McNeil added 82 yards and Tevin Barksdale had 53 yards on the ground. Defensively sophomore newcomer Ben Johnson had 13 tackles and an interception for the Skyhawks. As a team UT Martin ranks fourth nationally in scoring offense (37.22 points/game) and eighth in total offense (442.33 yards/game).SCOUTING TENNESSEE STATE: Tennessee State won for the third time in its last four games on Saturday, topping Eastern Illinois 18-17 in Charleston. The win evened the Tigers record at 3-3 in OVC play after the squad was winless in league play a year ago. TSU closes out the season now with two home games at LP Field. Sophomore Trabis Ward had a career-high 142 rushing yards and scored two fourth quarter touchdowns, the last coming with 1:49 to play, in completing a Tigers comeback (the team was behind 17-5 at the beginning of the fourth quarter). Sophomore Antonio Harper was named OVC Defensive Player of the Week for the second time this season after netting eight tackles, a sack, tackle-for-loss and forcing a fumble deep in its own territory, preventing an EIU score. Kicker Jamin Godrey set the TSU record for field goals in a season (15), making a career-long 51-yarder just prior to halftime. Godfrey currently ranks sixth nationally in field goals made/game (1.67).