Saturday roundup
Just got in from a long and rather frustrating visit to Starkville, Miss. Jacksonville State's defense gave the team plenty of chances to make a game of it, but the offense never got going. The tone was set on the first play of the game, as JSU quarterback Matt Hardin threw an interception that MSU's Derek Pegues ran 26 yards for a score. By halftime the score was 14-3 MSU, with the second Bulldog touchdown coming off a 44 yard punt return (read: the JSU D allowed no scores by the MSU offense in the first half). JSU never got anything going in the second half, though, and the defense wore out eventually. The final was 35-3.
Now for the rest of the league's results:
Eastern Illinois won the "Battle of the Easterns," downing Eastern Kentucky 28-21 at home. The Panthers put up 28 points in the first quarter, and then waited for EKU to catch up. Despite a score in each of the ensuing quarters, though, the Colonels couldn't quite get there. Turnovers were costly, as an intercepted Josh Greco pass and a Mark Dunn fumble both led to scores for EKU. Greco threw another interception late in the game that killed the Colonel rally and sealed the result. The Panthers now take the league lead at 3-0.
The outcome never was in doubt in Fayetteville, Ark., where Southeast Missouri State endured a 63-7 shellacking by Arkansas.
Samford won big at Murray State, 33-7. SU quarterback Jefferson Adcock had a breakout game, going 10-of-19 for 145 yards passing and two touchdowns, though he also threw two interceptions. He added two scores on foot. Marcus Rice had 92 yards rushing for the Bulldogs. The Racers threw four interceptions and fumbled twice.
Tennessee State survived a second-half rally by visiting Tennessee Tech to win 30-20. No other stats are available from ESPN.com, but it appears TSU's 27 first-half points were all they needed, and that Tech's touchdown in the third quarter, followed by two more in the fourth were all they'd get. TSU added a field goal in the fourth for good measure.
Looking ahead to the Monday polls, Eastern Illinois' stock should rise a bit from their #16 ranking. Idle UT-Martin shouldn't lose much ground. Jacksonville State will get no extra votes for the loss at Mississippi State, though Tennessee State might pick up a few.
posted by Jax42 @ 10:57 PM
2 comments
2 Comments:
My unsolicited two cents:
1. I think TSU is a contender, I felt at the beginning of the season they would be a lot better than predicted and I was right. They belong right in the pack with Martin and EIU and JSU at this point.
2. Murray is pretty bad, the worst team in the conference maybe. I don't think turnovers are THE problem, I think they are a symptom of the problem, namely poor offensive execution.
Good questions, both, pantherblue. I'm no expert, but I'll do my best to answer them.
1. Yes. I'm with golden_eagle; As a JSU fan I've been worried about Tenn. State for a while. I've had the chance to see them play on TV twice against "classic" opponents, and was impressed with both games. Heffner is a playmaker, and may not be the best of the crop of transfers James Webster reaped in the offseason. With a healthy Mike Mason joining the Tigers for their visit to J'ville the conference race might just get a little more interesting. Also, Javarris Williams is starting to put up Charles Anthony-like numbers. Scary. Imagine, if you will, a conference race that ends with UT-Martin and TSU undefeated in league play (they don't meet this year, as per the Tigers' skip-a-game agreement). Who would have predicted that in the pre-season?
2. Only as bad as their record indicates, which is pretty bad. I think, though, that Murray will notch a conference victory over someone this season; Matt Griffin's going to see some kind of improvement out of this bunch. I don't think it'll be against EIU, but after that they've got SEMO and EKU, followed by the season-ending visit from Martin (which team is going to be more pumped for that game?). As an alternative answer to your question I'll say: A little better than Indiana State.
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