Monday papers

Here's what's in the news today about OVC teams from newspapers around the league:

The (Clarksville, Tenn.) Leaf Chronicle ticks off what appears to be every mistake Austin Peay State made Saturday in a 38-13 loss to Southeast Missouri State, and has coach Carroll McCray analyze it.

The (Charleston, Ill.) Journal Gazette/Times-Courier starts with the third-quarter pass into the endzone that could have put Eastern Illinois within a touchdown of Illinois. Instead, Mike Donato's effort was picked off, and it was all downhill from there for the Panthers. The most important play of the game, however, may have been the first. EIU senior linebacker Clint Sellers, an all-American and Buck Buchannon award candidate, took a hard hit that injured his shoulder and took him out of the game. How about the rest of the season? The coaches aren't sure yet, but expect to know more today. The paper also interviews an Illini player with local ties for his thoughts on the game.

The Anniston (Ala.) Star (sorry, subscribers only) says Jacksonville State players and staff are thankful for the week off following another heartbreaking loss to Furman. Last year the Gamecocks turned around and lost another last-minute contest to Chattanooga. This time JSU gets extra time to preapre before diving into OVC play against Southeast Missouri at home Sept. 16.

The Southeast Missourian analyzes SEMO's victory Saturday at APSU. This story is from Sunday, but I didn't see it online yesterday. The paper also says coach Tony Samuel left two players behind in Cape Girardeau, starting cornerbacks Monroe Hicks and Todshon Jones, for (naturally) violating unspecified team rules. Samuel didn't say if the two would play against UM-Rolla this Saturday.

The (Nashville) Tennesean says Tennessee State coaches had already decided to try for two and not kick if Mike Mason had caught an Antonio Heffner pass in the fourth quarter, with the Tigers down 27-20. Instead, the pass was incomplete, and the Tigers lost.