Sunday papers

Here's what the papers have to say about yesterday's action around the OVC:

The (Clarksville, Tenn.) Leaf Chronicle says Saturday was the same old story for Austin Peay State: a chance to win frittered away late. Only this time it was on the road against a Division II squad. Missouri-Rolla beat the Govs 21-14. Tight end Jon Sanders dropped a Mark Cunningham pass on fourth-and-seven with 2:15 to play, and the Miners were able to run the clock out from there.

The Richmond (Ky.) Register notes the similarities of Saturday's Eastern Illinois-Eastern Kentucky matchup to last year's: On both occasions the Panthers scored four times in the first quarter and held off an EKU rally. The EKU defense made it a little more interesting this time around, giving up just 142 yards to the Panthers over the final three quarters (after surrendering 204 in the first), but the outcome was the same. It can now be said with certainty: the pre-season favorite Colonels will not be contending for a spot in the playoffs.

The Anniston (Ala.) Star (sorry, subscribers only) recounts the 35-3 dismantling of Jacksonville State by Mississippi State Saturday. The bright spot: the MSU offense had just 78 yards against the Gamecocks in the first half. The telling stat: Payton Award candidate Clay Green had just 48 yards, the majority of JSU's 52 yards rushing for the day. Another story spotlights the key reason for those offensive struggles: the Bulldog defensive line. Green found no room to run between or around them, and when Matt Hardin tried to pass they were all over him. A notebook item in the printed paper but not online says a new scoreboard at JSU's Paul Snow Stadium should be in place by spring practice. The JumboTron will rise over the east-side end-zone stands, according to the paper, and will have video replay capability.

The Birmingham (Ala.) News says Samford badly needed Saturday's 33-7 win over Murray State. The Bulldogs were happy to take advantage of six Racer turnovers and spoil Murray's homecoming.

The Southeast Missourian says almost everybody on Arkansas' sideline got to play in the 63-7 rout of SEMO. For SEMO, the most important stat was the $300,000 check they got for playing the game. The Redhawks did manage to score on Arkansas, something they didn't do against Eastern Illinois last week, and at least no one got hurt, according to another story.

Wide receiver Mike Mason's absence limited Tennessee State in the second half, according to The (Nashville) Tennessean, but not enough to cost them the game against a Tennessee Tech squad the paper describes as "pesky." TSU running back Javarris Williams had 195 yards rushing and two touchdowns. The story notes that the Tigers now are legitamately part of the race for the OVC title, at 2-0 in the league. A notebook item says Mason may return for next week's game at Jacksonville State.

The (Cookeville, Tenn.) Herald-Citizen says Lee Sweeney's 50 pass attempts for Tennessee Tech were one short of the school-record 51. Sweeney connected on 28 of those tosses, for 305 yards, three touchdowns and one interception. Here's your link to the HC sports section, since links to individual stories don't work.