Monday (and Sunday) news

Hi folks. It's not often I completely miss a day of bringing you the latest news from around the OVC, but I did yesterday. Sometimes the real kind of crowds out football. Blasphemey, I know. Anyway, here's the latest from around the league, including links to stories from Sunday's papers. Stay tuned for players of the week and the top 25 update later today.

Austin Peay fell back into old habits Saturday, according to the (Clarksville, Tenn.) Leaf Chronicle, frittering away a halftime lead to fall 44-35 to North Greenville, a Division II team. On the bright side, Chris Fletcher's 163 yards made him the Govs' all-time career rushing leader.

Antonio Heffner missed the game and Tennessee State missed its chance to remain in the lead of the OVC title chase Saturday, according to the (Charleston, Ill.) Journal Gazette/Times-Courier, falling to Eastern Illinois 29-3. With quarterback Heffner nursing a shoulder injury on the sidelines, the paper says, the Tigers had only running back Javarris Williams to turn to, and the Panthers held him to 38 yards. EIU coach Bob Spoo, still recovering from pre-season surgery, was able to watch the game from a booth in the press box.

The Richmond (Ky.) Register says quarterback Josh Greco started Saturday for Eastern Kentucky in the game against Murray State, but wound up splitting time with sophomore transfer Allan Holland. The result: a 51-21 victory, with 495 yards of offense. The Colonels managed to get two other quarterbacks in the game as well.

The (Louisville, Ky.) Courier-Journal also reports on EKU's QB situation. Coach Danny Hope told the paper the quarterbacks would continue to split time. "Competition is something really, really good for your football team," Hope told the paper. "It's funny. When you have competition at any position, it's just called a competition. When you have that at the quarterback spot, they call it a controversy. It's not a quarterback controversy."

Jacksonville State might have gone on to win in overtime Saturday, but they didn't have to, as Chattanooga coach Rodney Allison opted to give back the game-tying field goal with seconds to play after a roughing-the-kicker penalty on Jax State. The Mocs were unable to score in four downs, and the Gamecocks hung on for a 13-10 win. The Anniston (Ala.) Star (sorry, subscribers only) reports today that JSU coach Jack Crowe won't criticize Allison's call, but he's happy with the way the game turned out. I've gotta say, I didn't know how serious Allison was about not wanting to beat Jax State until he handed them the win. The Star examined that call in detail in a story from Sunday's paper, and noted in another that when running back Clay Green gets more than 100 yards, the Gamecocks win. He had 163 Saturday.

The Birmingham (Ala.) News says Samford couldn't take advantage of a late Tennessee Tech fumble to score, and three turnovers by the Bulldogs helped the Golden Eagles to a 20-14 win.

In a column in today's Murray (Ky.) Ledger & Times, Scott Naney compares Murray State's football and men's basketball programs (guess which one comes off looking better). Both are working under first-year head coaches who both are billing this season a rebuilding time.

While TSU was without Antonio Heffner Saturday, coach James Webster said that had nothing to do with the offensive collapse in the loss to EIU, according to The (Nashville) Tennessean. Webster instead gives credit to the EIU defense and notes that the Tigers lost two fumbles. In a notebook roundup, the paper notes EIU's domination of Javarris Williams, and of wide receiver Mike Mason.