Tuesday news

Here's what's up today:

According to The Anniston (Ala.) Star (sorry, subscribers only) Jacksonville State coach Jack Crowe won't get involved in any back-and-forth over what UT-Chattanooga coach Rodney Allison told a civic club in that city back in August, discussing a potential move to the OVC: "I think the Southern Conference is the SEC of Division 1-AA. I didn't come here to beat Jacksonville State." (Thanks to the Chattanooga Times-Free Press for keeping this quote online for posterity). Of course, that doesn't mean Crowe wouldn't read the line to his players, which he did on Sunday. The teams meet on the field Saturday. Allison, by the way, also said his team would be near the top of the OVC by now, and was working its way to the top of the SoCon. For the record, the Mocs carry a 3-7 mark into the game, 2-4 in the SoCon.

The Star also says JSU sophomore tackle Devon May's arrest last week was for a DUI charge, about five hours before the team bus left for Cookeville. May's not listed as a starter this week, and is "subject to team discipline."

The Gadsden (Ala.) Times provides a Crowe quote that gives some insight into what he thinks has cause the Gamecocks' recent offensive troubles: "I hope we can get our offensive line back to where we can be the running team that we should be."

The Murray (Ky.) Ledger & Times says the Murray State Racers are running out of time to pick up a conference win this season. They've got two chances left: pre-season OVC favorite Eastern Kentucky and current conference leader UT-Martin, wrapped around an off weekend.

The Southeast Missourian says SEMO is playing for a winning record, with games against UT-Martin, Tennessee State and Tennessee Tech left to play.

The (Nashville) Tennessean says TSU quarterback Antonio Heffner's status is questionable for this Saturday's game against Eastern Illinois. Heffner injured his shoulder against Samford last week.

Skyhawks soar in polls

UT-Martin cracked the top 10 in all three I-AA polls we follow here at the blog, ranking 10th in all three. That's the highest ranking I can remember for an OVC team since I started following the league with Jax State's entry in 2003. Does anyone out there recall a higher ranking in recent years?

Here are links to The Sports Network's media poll, College Sporting News' coaches poll (the official page isn't updated yet, so click here for the thread at AnyGivenSaturday.com), and the AnyGivenSaturday.com fan poll. The Skyhawks were ranked #12 in the first two polls last week, #14 in the fan poll.

Eastern Illinois, after a tough 15-9 loss to Martin Saturday, fell from #14 to #20 in the TSN & and CSN polls, and from #15 to #21 in the AGS poll.

Tennessee State managed to turn heads only among the media with a 29-7 win over Samford, garnering 30 votes for what would be 35th place in the "others receiveing votes" category of the TSN poll. The Tigers visit EIU this week, followed by games against Southeast Missouri State and Eastern Kentucky.

Martin, meanwhile, will attempt to climb even higher in the polls over the next three weeks, with games against SEMO, EKU and Murray State.

After the TSU game, EIU faces Tennessee Tech and Jacksonville State, trying to keep the Panthers' playoff hopes alive.

Monday news & announcements

Three schools have announced player of the week honors, though there's nothing out from the conference yet. Tennessee State's Javarris Williams is again the offensive player of the week, and Jacksonville State's Zach Walden is the specialist of the week. Tennessee Tech linebacker Aaron Williams, a redshirt freshman, is the newcomer of the week.

Check back later for the full list of honored players, and for the OVC's standings in this week's I-AA polls. How high will UT-Martin climb? How low will Eastern Illinois go? Can TSU crack the top 25?

Now, here's what the papers have today on OVC teams:

The (Clarksville, Tenn.) Leaf Chronicle again tells us how much better Austin Peay State played in the second hald against D-II Charleston (W. Va.) in Saturday's 49-10 win. The paper gives much of the credit for the Govs' momentum to Lanis Frederick's crunching block on the opening drive of the half.

Eastern Illinois is learning what the view looks like when you're not leading the pack, according to the (Charleston, Ill.) Journal Gazette/Times-Courier. EIU defensive coordinator Roc Bellantoni says his unit takes credit for the Panthers' 15-9 loss to new league leader UT-Martin. He told the paper, “We talk about outplaying the opposing defense, and they stopped us one more time than we stopped them." The paper says EIU linebacker Donald Thomas is feeling some of that blame. Late in the fourth quarter he reached out to tip the ball on a Greg Peterson pass, and tapped the Skyhawk QB's helmet instead. Thomas was flagged for a personal foul, giving UTM a first down at the EIU 40. They went on to score and win the game.

Jacksonville State Coach Jack Crowe feels a bit more comfortable about his team's ability to win close games after getting past Tennessee Tech 17-10 in overtime, according to The Anniston (Ala.) Star (sorry, subscribers only). The Star also says sophomore tackle Devon May will rejoin the team after being suspended from the TTU game for breaking curfew ... oh, and for getting arrested, we find out. The paper hasn't learned the charge yet. Crowe blames May's absence in part for the Gamecocks' woeful first-half offensive play.

The (Nashville) Tennessean has a shortie on Javarris Williams' POTW honor.

The Nashville City Paper says TSU fans finally have more to enjoy than tailgating and halftime. With the Tigers tied for the OVC lead, coach James Webster's comments earlier this season about conference play and a shot at the playoffs meaning more than the classic games are proving prophetic.

Sunday news

Here's what's online today after Saturday's action:

No close calls, no late letdowns for Austin Peay State this time, according to the (Clarksville, Tenn.) Leaf Chronicle. The Govs crusied to a 49-10 win over Charleston (W. Va.), finally looking like the higher power they're supposed to be against a Division II team. The Govs piled up 521 yards of offense, including 308 through the air from quarterback Mike Cunningham. (backup Gary Orr also threw one pass, a 44-yard touchdown srike for the game's final score). CUnningham was 26 of 34, with two TDs and none picked off. Runningback Chris Fletcher compiled 115 yards and two TDs of his own. APSU had four receivers with better than 40 yards, led by Lanis Frederick's 102 yards on six catches, with one touchdown.

The Anniston (Ala.) Star (soryy, subscribers only) says Jacksonville State's offense didn't show up until the second half against Tennessee Tech on Saturday. It's appropriate, then, that the defense were the last Gamecocks on the field in overtime, keeping the Golden Eagles from getting close to a first down on their possession. JSU quarterback Matt Hardin led the offensive wake-up. The Star says the junior twice scrambled from the pocket on third down to move the chains, something not reflected in his minus-10-yards rushing for the game. Hardin finished 13-od-22 for 164 yards, a touchdown and no interceptions.

Quarterback Antonio Heffner laft the game with a shoulder injury after a fourth-quarter sack Saturday, but is expected to play this week for Tennessee State, according to The (Nashville) Tennessean. Heffner ran three touchdowns in in TSU's 29-7 win over Samford. The paper also says the Tigers's defense has surpassed its 2005 interception total with three games left to play. Nikkieda Rutland grabbed a Dante Williams pass in the second quarter for TSU's twelfth pick of the season.

The Jackson (Tenn.) Sun finally catches onto the story in Martin, though they didn't send their own reporter to cover #12 UT-Martin's 15-9 victory over #14 Eastern Illinois Saturday. In a story written by a "special to The Jackson Sun" writer, the paper says they key play was the Skyhawks D's stop of EIU on fourth down at midfield with 1:39 to play. UTM ran out the clock for the win.

Fit to be tied

It's official: there's a new power in the Ohio Valley Conference. Now if only we knew who it was.

#12 UT-Martin continued its dream season today, knocking off the #14 defending OVC champions, Eastern Illinois in a tight 15-9 contest. The Skyhawks now are 6-1, 4-0 in the OVC.

Meanwhile, Tennessee State had little trouble with Samford, pounding the Bulldogs 29-7. The Tigers are 5-3, with their own 4-0 conference record.

And unfortunatelybecause of TSU's special deal with the league to play four HBCU classic games each year, these two conference leaders won't meet this season. I don't know what the conference's tiebreaker procedures are for this particular situation, but if both teams manage to win out they'll be needed.

Looking at the box score over at ESPN.com, it looks like the Martin-EIU game was a contest of two powerful running attacks going against stout defenses, with the Skyhawks managing just enough of an edge to pull out the victory. The game saw just 400 total yards of offense between both teams, with most of that coming on the ground. EIU running back Vincent Webb managed 106 yards, but Martin's Donald Chapman had a touchdown to go with his 94 yards, and Greg Preston added another. Chapman also tagged on a two-point conversion on the final touchdown for insurance.

No box score available yet for the TSU-Samford game.

Gameday update & Blogger issues

Sorry if you've been looking for the news here all day. I posted this morning, but couldn't get Blogger to publish it until now. I'm starting to change my opinion of this once-fine blog hosting service after having so much trouble lately.

As for the games, here's what's happened so far today:

Jacksonville State survived a close on in Cookeville, beating Tennessee Tech in overtime, 17-10.

Southeast Missouri State has beaten Murray State, 24-17.

#12 UT-Martin has pulled ahead of #14 Eastern Illinois 7-3 late in the third quarter in what appears to have been a very, very tight game so far. EIU had a 3-0 lead at the half.

Saturday gameday news

There are four league matchups set for today, plus a home game at Austin Peay State. Chief among them has got to be the 1 p.m. showdown between #14 Eastern Illinois and #12 UT-Martin. Here's the day's full schedule:

Jacksonville State at Tennessee Tech, 1 p.m.
Southeast Missouri State at Murray State, 1 p.m.
Eastern Illinois at UT-Martin, 1 p.m.
Samford at Tennessee State, 6 p.m., live on CSS
(D-II) Charleston (W. Va.) at Austin Peay State, 6 p.m.

And now, the news:

Matt Westrick, according to the (Charleston, Ill.) Journal Gazette/Times-Courier, is one EIU Panther who doesn't know anything about the old UT-Martin, the one that went six seasons without winning a conference game. As far as the linebacker, a JC transfer, knows, The 6-1 Skyhawks are the class of the OVC as his team takes the field in Martin today.

The Jackson (Tenn.) Sun, unfortunately, rates the EIU-UTM game slightly behind an NAIA matchup, in this gameday roundup from today's paper. Labels aside, it's a shame the Sun doesn't know a good story when it sees one (a team that's been a doormat in every league it's played in carries a #12 ranking into a home game against the defending conference champs, ranked #14, with the league title and a first-ever trip to the playoffs potentially on the line ... yawn).

Samford is clinging to hops of a winning season as the Bulldogs visit Tennessee State, according to the Birmingham (Ala.) News. The Tigers may help sink those hopes though, as they're surprising everyone by contending for the league title.

The (Nashville) Tennseean says TSU coach James Webster is among the surprised. He expected his team to improve, but the 3-0 mark in OVC play isn't what he was expecting.

Murray State and Southeast Missouri State, meanwhile, both are clinging to hopes they'll finish above last place in the conference, according to the Murray (Ky.) Ledger & Times. The 3-4 Redhawks visit 1-7 Murray State with an advantage in the race for the cellar stairs: they've already got conference win, over Samford.

At least one Alabaman is hoping for a Jacksonville State loss in the Volunteer State today, according to the (Cookeville, Tenn.) Herald-Citizen. Anthony Ash, a senior running back for Tennessee Tech, hails from Gadsden, just a stone's throw from JSU. "I'm not that far from Jacksonville when I'm at home," Ash tells the paper. "When I go back I have to hear that chatter. It would be good to let them know that we beat them in my last game." Here's a link to the HC sports section.

Friday news

Here's what's online here at the end of the week in the OVC:

Tomorrow will see the OVC two best running attacks pitted against eachother, but don't call either Eastern Illinois or UT-Martin "one-dimensional," urges the (Chareleston, Ill.) Journal Gazette/Times-Courier.

While Tennessee State's offense has received plenty of attention as of late, The (Nashville) Tennessean says the Tigers' defense has been shining quietly. As of last Saturday, the Tigers had matched the number of interceptions (11) they managed in all of last season. Pressure from cornerbacks Aaron Strong and Dominiquw Rodgers have allowed the rest of the squad to choke off opponents' running games, the paper says.

The Nashville City Paper says coach James Webster is seeing the results he expected from his TSU team, just a little ahead of schedule. Last year the Tigers won just one OVC game. This year, they've won three already, including last week's victory against Jacksonville State, which Webster points to as a signal the Tigers are for real.

Jacksonville State coach Jack Crowe tells The (Cookeville, Tenn.) Herald-Citizen that OVC teams have improved greatly since his team cruised to league titles in 2003 & '04. Why? "There are teams playing better defense in this league, and I saw it coming with Eastern Illinois last year. People are getting better." Here's a link to the HC sports section.

Thursday news

Here's what's online this morning:

The Lexington (Ky.) Herald Leader lists Eastern Kentucky and Murray State among three Kentucky I-AAs (the other is Morehead State) that have fallen short of expectations this season. About the Colonels, now 3-5, 2-w in OVC play, the paper says "No one seems to have the answers."

The Anniston (Ala.) Star (sorry, subscribers only) profiles Jacksonville State receiver James Wilkerson, second on the team with 13 catches for 195 yards. He caught a 70-yarder for his first college touchdown last week against Tennessee State. Wilkerson has fought through tougher times than the Gamecocks' current season. As a high-schooler and Air Force brat in Crestview, Fla., Wilkerson's best friend and teammate died in what police call an apparent murder suicide, as the one wielding the weapon.

And that's all, safe for a brief mention of UT-Martin's recent exploits in the Jackson (Tenn.) Sun.

Wednesday news

Here's what's online today around the league:

Tennessee State will be rooting for the defending champions Eastern Illinois this Saturday, coach James Webster told the (Charleston, Ill.) Journal Gazette/Times-Courier. The Tigers want EIU to beat UT-Martin, to make TSU's matchup with the Panthers next week a battle of the last two unbeaten OVC teams. Of course, Big Blue has to handle Samford first.

Josh Greco could start at quarterback for Eastern Kentucky next week against Murray State, if the index finger on his throwing hand is healthy, the Richmond (Ky.) Register says (The Colonels are off this weekend). After struggling in the first half against Southeast Missouri State, Allan Holland came into the game for Greco and sparked the Colonels to a 27-21 victory.

The Anniston (Ala.) Star (soryy, subscribers only) points to one possible reason for Jacksonville State's offensive slide over the last two games: fullback Raynodd Zeine's absence. Zeine missed the Mississippi State and Tennessee State games with a foot sprain. The Star says that put more pressure on running back Clay Green and took a level of protection away from quarterback Matt Hardin. It's unclear yet if Zeine will play against Tennessee Tech this weekend.

Murray State coach Matt Griffin promises the Racers will rise to prominience again, it just won't happen overnight. He tells the Murry (Ky.) Ledger & Times, “We all know where we're going, and we're going to get there. We've got the right type of kids who've got character. We've got good young players, and we'll go recruit a bunch of good young ones in a couple of months. That's how you overcome those things." The Racers' best chance for a league win may come this week, as they take on another team in rebuilding mode, Southeast Missouri State.

The Southeast Missourian expresses a little amazement that while Eastern Illinois is in the hunt for a title, as expected, EKU and Jax State, picked to finish first and third respectively, have yielding their contenders' roles to UT-Martin and Tennessee State.

The (Cookeville, Tenn.) Herald-Citizen says Tennessee Tech Doug Malone would rather be coming off a winning week than a bye week after a loss. But either way, the Golden Eagles' next four games, including matches against Jax State and EKU, will be tough. Here's a link to the HC sports section; click on the headline from there to read the story.

PsOTW & Tuesday news

NOTE: I hope this posts correctly. Blogger won't let me sign in on the Web, so I'm trying this with the e-mail posting tool. Sorry, folks.

Players of the week have been announced. As we noted yesterday, Eastern Illinois running back Norris Smith, a sophomore, gets the offensive nod after gaining 154 yards on 22 carries and two scores against Murray State. UT-Martin linebacker Markeseo Jackson, a senior, picks up the honor on defense, with eight tackles, seven solo tackles, a fumble recovery and a broken-up pass against Samford. Southeast Missouri State punter, David Simonhoff, also a senior, is the specialist of the week; he booted six for an average of 50.7 yards, with a long punt of 69 yards. And Tennessee State quarterback Antonio Heffner, a sophomore transfer from South Carolina, is the newcomer of the week, after throwing for 260 yards and two touchdowns against Jax State.

And now, Tuesday's news:

For the second day in a row, The Anniston (Ala.) Star (sorry, subscribers only) asks what Jacksonville State will do now that it's not playing for an OVC championship. Again, the answer is pretty much this: Keep playing football. Another item says cornerback and return man Craig Agee will undergo surgery on a broken finger this week. It's not expected to keep him out of Saturday's game against Tennessee Tech. Also, JSU athletic director Jim Fuller says he still is negotiating with coach Jack Crowe about a new contract.

The Gadsden (Ala) Times also examines the Gamecocks' road forward. Crowe tells the paper: "I think in our best interest, if we are going to talk about a championship, we need to talk about the one next year, in 2007."

For Southeast Missouri State, the goal is to finish above .500, according to the Southeast Missourian. Coach Tony Samuel says the Redhawks will need a better effort in the second half of games from here on out to accomplish that.

Pulling ahead

The weekly top 25 polls are out, and the I-AA world appears to be jumping on a blue-and-orange bandwagon. The UT-Martin Skyhawks have pulled ahead of the defending league champion Eastern Illinois Panthers in all three polls we follow here at the OVC Football Blog. Both teams improved their standing from last week, with Martin even getting alittle seperation in two polls.

After a 10-6 win at Samford, the 6-1 Skyhawks are ranked #12, up four spots from #16, by the media in The Sports Network poll, the official poll recognized by the NCAA. They're also 12th in the College Sporting News' poll of coaches, climbing all the way from #17. (the poll's not listed on the page at I-AA.org just yet, but it is online in a thread at AnyGivenSaturday.com). The fan poll at AGS has Martin at #14, up from #17.

After beating Murray State 20-10, Eastern Illinois is at #14 in both the TSN and CSN polls. The fans at AGS have them at #15.

Two other league teams attracted attention from pollsters in the "others receiving votes" categories. Tennessee State picked up nine points in the TSN poll, for an effective #40 ranking, thanks to a 38-31 win at Jacksonville State. Eastern Kentucky was effectively #37 in the CSN coach poll, with six points, follwing a 27-21 victory at Southeast Missouri State. With the loss to TSU, Jax State has fallen off the radar screen in all three polls.

Still no further word on OVC players of the week.

Monday news

Here's the news this morning from around the Ohio Valley Conferernce. Stay tuned today for the release of the I-AA polls and the OVC players of the week (TSU says Tigers QB Antonio Heffner is the newcomer of the week - no other releases out yet). For now, here are the papers:

EDIT (9:33 a.m.): EIU says running back Norris Smith is the league's offensive POTW.

The (Clarksville, Tenn.) Leaf Chronicle points to one decision that may have helped cost Austin Peay State their game against Cumberlands Saturday. Early in the fourth quarter with a 20-10 lead, the Govs were facing fourth-and-one from its own 28 yard line. Coach Carroll McCray decided to punt rather than risk giving the Patriots good field position. Cumberlands managed a 53-yard touchdown drive anyway to make it 20-17. An APSU dirve stalled at the Patriots' 10 yard line, and was followed by a UC field goal and the ensuing overtime loss for the home team.

An extra-long halftime tirade (it was homecoming, afterall) from the Eastern Illinois coaching staff helped the Panthers overcome a 10-0 Murray State lead, according to the (Charles, Ill.) Journal Gazette/Times-Courier. The paper also looks ahead to this week's showdown between EIU and the UT-Martin Skyhawks, a game that could decide who represents the OVC in the I-AA playoffs. EIU's "Thunder and Lightning" running game (a nickname for the twin punch of running backs Vincent Webb and Norris Smith) will face a Martin defense that is allowing just 88.14 yards per game, the fifth-best ranking in all of I-AA.

With the hope of an OVC championship now dead, Jacksonville State is turning its attention to finishing the season with more wins than losses, The Anniston (Ala.) Star says (sorry, subscribers only).

Turning to the superstitious, The (Nashville) Tennessean columnist Mike Organ wonders if Tennessee State quarterback Antonio Heffner's new hairstyle (described as a "tight mohawk") had anything to do with the Tigers' 38-31 victory over Jax State Saturday. Unfortunately, we are given no "before" description to compare to the "after."

Sunday papers

Here's what the papers have on yesterday's OVC action:

Austin Peay State continues to find new ways to lose games. They dropped a 27-26 game Saturday to the University of the Cumberlands, an NAIA sqaud. The (Clarksville, Tenn.) Leaf Chronicle says the Govs had a 17-3 lead at halftime, but found themselves in overtime, and missed the extra point on a touchdown that would have kept the game going. APSU is now 1-6.

The Richmond (Ky.) Register says it was a nagging hand injury that's been with him for several weeks that got Josh Greco pulled from Eastern Kentucky's game against Southeast Missouri State Saturday. Whether it was that, the lack of production or a combination of the two, Wake Forest transfer Allan Holland managed to get things going for the Colonels, pulling out a 27-21 win.

The Anniston (Ala.) Star (sorry, subscribers only) says much of the credit for Tennessee State's 38-31 win over Jacksonville State goes to TSU quarterback Antonio Heffner. Heffner was slipping out of the hands of JSU defenders all day, and threw five passes longer than 25 yards, two of them for touchdowns. The paper reports that JSU coach Jack Crowe thinks plenty of the blame belongs to the JSU offense, which dispite the close and relatively high score, appeared to be missing something. The running game for which the team is known managed only 132 yards Saturday.

The Birmingham (Ala.) News also cites Heffner's big-play passes as a primary reason for the TSU victory. Crowe apparently didn't think such a thing was possible against his team's secondary.

The News, reporting on Samford's loss to UT-Martin, says the Bulldog D stiffened in the second half, allowing just 72 yards of offense by the Skyhawks. But Samford managed no more than a pair of field goals on offense, and that wasn't enough to counter the scores Martin made on its first two possesions: a Donald Chapman touchdown and a Shannon Fleming field goal.

The Southeast Missourian says everything would have been different Saturday, if not for the third quarter of the EKU-SEMO game. As it was, though, Allan Holland did direct the Colonels to those 27 points in the third, and the Redhawks wound up losing their homecoming game.

The (Nashville) Tennessean says TSU coach James Webster noticed that nobody had scored on JSU in the first quarter this season. He told his team "Score in the first quarter and you've got it. " Actually, coach, both UT-Martin and Mississippi State had scored in the first quarter, and JSU lost those games. But your point still stands. The paper also notes that TSU wide receiver Mike Mason didn't start Saturday's game, but he did play for the first time since injuring his knee aganst Jackson State more than a month ago. Also, after complaining that the refs were abusing his team, James Webster must feel good about the guys in stripes today. TSU finished with seven flags, its lowest total in an OVC game this year. JSU, meanwhile, was penalized six times. The paper says that's the most for a TSU opponent this season. That's true of conference games, but all of the Tigers' non-conference opponents (in games called by OVC refs, mind you) had more flags than that.

Saturday gameday recap

(NOTE: I tried like heck to post this last night, but Blogger was having some serious issues. You'd think with Google running the show things wouldn't be so clunky around here. Sorry again.)

What a day in the OVC. One giant falls and a new contender is born, while the other two leaders of the pack both had their status threatened, but came out OK in the end. Here's a quick look at what happened today:

Eastern Kentucky 27, Southeast Missouri State 21 - Colonels QB Josh Greco was benched in favor of Allan Holland in the second half, and that proved to be the spark EKU needed. The Colonels came back from a 7-0 deficit to score 24 points in the third quarter, then fought off a SEMO comeback. Holland went 16 of 22 for 197 yards and two scores. Greco threw 2-of-12 for 19 yards and one interception. SEMO quarterback Kevin Ballatore was 17-of-32 for 155 yards and a TD, and running back Tim Holloman managed 99 yards.

Eastern Illinois 20, Murray State 10 - The Racers took a 10-0 lead to the locker room at halftime, but EIU stormed back to take the win at home. The Panthers had great production from two backs, with Vincent Webb's 182 yards and Norris Smith's 154 yards and a touchdown. The Racers' Charlie Jordan rushed for 90 yards and a touchdown, and had another 58 through the air.

UT-Martin 10, Samford 6 - The Skyhawks scored early and held on to win on the road, beating Samford for the first time since 1988 and just the second time ever. Martin running back Donald Chapman was held under 100 yards but scored the game's lone touchdown. Jefferson Adcock and Alex Mortenson split duties under center for Samford. Acdock was 6-of-17 for68 yards; Mortenson was 6-of-16 for 73 yards. Each threw an interception.

Tennessee State 38, Jacksonville State 31 - Here's your firsthand report from Paul Snow Stadium, on a perfect afternoon for football. Unfortunately for the Gamecocks, it turned out to be a bad day for homecoming, as an inconsistent offense and solid play by TSU gave the Big Blue the win. The Tigers scored early thanks to a blocked punt they picked up at the JSU 19, with Javarris WIlliams running it in three plays later. The Gamecocks managed to hold Williams to 76 yards, and the Tigers kept Payton Award nominee Clay Green at 86. JSU was driving to score in the final minutes of the game, but quarterback Matt Hardin threw his third interception of the day, with 26 seconds left on the clock, turning the ball over at the TSU 13 yard line. The Gamecocks now appear to be out of the OVC title race, and the Tigers appear legitimately to be in the hunt.

Your league leader still is Eastern Illinois, at 4-0 in the OVC, followed closely by Martin and Tenn. State, both at 3-0. That sets up two crucial games over the next two weeks, as EIU visits Martin next week and then hosts TSU. The Tigers' special deal with the conference, skipping one league game each year to play an HBCU "classic" game, factors big in the race, as Martin is the game they skip.

Saturday gameday news

Here's today's slate:

Eastern Kentucky at Southeast Missouri State, 1 p.m.
Murray State at #17 Eastern Illinois, 1:30 p.m., live on WEIU
#16 UT-Martin at Samford, 2 p.m.
Tennessee State at Jacksonville State, 2:30 p.m., live on CSS
and ...
Univ. of the Cumberlands at Austin Peay State, 6 p.m.

And now, the news:

The (Clarksville, Tenn.) Leaf Chronicle says two underclassmen will serve as game captains today for Austin Peay State. Freshman linebacker Daniel Becker and sophomore center Travis Dumke will get the honor, alongside junior running back Chris Fletcher and senior defensive lineman Drew Wilson.

The (Charleston, Ill.) Journal Gazette/Times-Courier says Eastern Illinois running back Vincent Webb will have another important game after today's matchup against Murray State. The die-hard Cardinals fan will be glued to the television for the start of the World Series. The paper also talks to three offensive lineman about their post-college plans - all intend to lose some weight once they're no longer bocking.

Oh, how the tables have turned. The Birmingham (Ala.) News notes that Samford is used to being favored against UT-Martin. They're 15-1-1 in the series, dating back to 1958. Now, The Skyhawks visit Homewood ranked 16th in I-AA, and are looking to earn their third league win with a powerful rushing attack.

The Murray (Ky.) Ledger & Times says Murray State's game against EIU today will rank among its toughest tasks of the season. EIU acting head coach Mark Hutson, meanwhile, worked as an assistant at Murray under Houston Nutt.

If Tony Samuels smells blood, he's not tlaking about it. The SEMO coach tells the Southeast Missourian that despite Eastern Kentucky's 2-5 record, the Colonels still are loaded and will be tough to beat today.

Friday news

Here's what's online this morning:

The (Clarksville, Tenn.) Leaf Chronicle says Austin Peay State will have to find a way to deal with the triple option attack favored by the Unviersity of the Cumberlands (of the NAIA), the Govs' opponents this weekend.

The (Charleston, Ill.) Journal Gazette/Times-Courier says alumni pulling into town this week for Eatern Illinois' homecoming might need a primer on all the changes with the team this season: the veteran head coach isn't on the sidelines, there's a new starting quarterback under center, and the defensive star has been replaced by a rising star. One thing hasn't changed from last season, though: the Panthers still are leading the league.

The (Nashville) Tennessean says Tennessee State Coach James Webster compared running back Javarris Williams to NFL legend Jim Brown. With 1,679 career yards, Williams, a sophomore, is nearly halfway to the school's rushing record of 3,318 yards, held by Charles Anthony. His goal this season is 1,500 yards; so far he's got 807. Williams and the Tigers will get a test tomorrow against Jacksonville State, which already has held Furman fullback Jerome Felton under 100 yards this season.

The Nashville City Paper says Webster is looking forward to the Jax State game because the Gamecocks have become a measuring stick since joining the league in 2003 and reeling off two consecutive OVC titles (and three victories over the Tigers). “I’m really, really excited,” Webster tells the paper. “Because you know one thing, they’re going to hit you in the mouth. So I want to see how our players respond.”

Thursday news

Here's what's online today:

The (Clarksville, Tenn.) Leaf Chronicle says Austin Peay State has relied heavily on drawing defenders out for a long pass, then giving the ball to running back Chris Fletcher and watching him pile up the yards.

The (Charleston, Ill.) Journal Gazette/Times-Courier says Eastern Illinois is running out of room on the bench for injured defenders. They're turning to at least one redshirt freshman to fill the hole left by sidelined players including linebacker Lucius Seymour, who was the conference's defensive player of the week two weeks in a row.

The Anniston (Ala.) Star (sorry, subscribers only) says Jacksonville State players will wear a black decal on their helmets bearing the initials of former teammate Darren Williams. Williams was killed in Atlanta Monday in an apparent robbery attempt. Williams, a defensive back, played one season for the Gamecocks, after transferring from Mississippi State. There's also a story on kicker Gavin Halford, who in high school split his time between football practice and band practice. Instead of speeches at halftime, he changed uniforms and headed back out on the field at Alabama's Central-Phenix City Central.

The Birmingham (Ala.) News looks at Freddy Young, one of Samford's leading receivers. His 115 cathces over four years with the Bulldogs ranks him eighth on the school's all-time receptions list.

The (Nashville) Tennessean says the OVC office has reprimanded Tennessee State coach James Webster for his comments about officals earlier this week. Webster said the refs are giving the Tigers' opponents a free pass, and calling everything they can against TSU. The OVC said is investigating his allegations.

Wednesday news

Here's the OVC news papers around the league this morning:

The (Clarksville, Tenn.) Leaf Chronicle says Austin Peay State's 1-5 record hasn't got the players down. Emmanuel Yancey, a senior wide receiver for the Govs, has been reinstated to the team, the paper says. Yancey sat out the UM-Rolla game after an Oct. 1 arrest for DUI. The paper also carries a feature on APSU's team managers and videographers, who handle what are crucial duties for any football team.

The (Charleston, Ill.) Journal Gazette/Times-Courier says Eastern Illinois is trying hard not to look past historic OVC power Murray State, its opponent this week, to the next game against historic league doormat UT-Martin. How's that for a change? Tennessee State coach James Webster apaprently let loose on OVC game officials in Tuesday's coaches' teleconference. Webster believes his Tigers are being penalized frequently while their opponents are getting free passes. No action yet from the conference office, which historically has not looked kindly on coaches criticizing the refs.

The Richmond (Ky.) Register says EKU coach Danny Hope is concerned about one stat that's led to the Colonels' 2-5 record: the -11 turnover ratio. They gave the ball up three times to EIU last week, and paid for it with two Panthers touchdowns.

The Anniston (Ala.) Star (sorry, subscribers only) says Jacksonville State coach Jack Crowe is getting concerned about his offense, after a disappointing performance at Mississippi State. Star running back Clay Green was held under 100 yards for the second time this season.

The Murray (Ky.) Ledger & Times says Murray State coach is weighing carefully whether to play some freshmen who've been redshirted until now. Getting new blood on the field might help turn around the Racers' fortunes, but Griffin says he doesn't want to sacrifice the future, either.

The Southeast Missourian takes note of EIU's early lead in the conference, and especially its win over pre-season favorite Eastern Kentucky.

The (Nashville) Tennessean goes a little deeper on James Webster's beef with the refs. "It's one thing to not call penalties when there is an off-sides; it's another thing not to call a penalty when your players are being grabbed and slung around and then being blocked illegally and hit in the head," The TSU coach tells the paper.

Tuesday news

Here's the OVC stuff from today's papers:

The Anniston (Ala.) Star (sorry, subscribers only) says Jacksonville State coach Jack Crowe can take comfort in at least one part of the Gamecocks' loss to Mississippi State (besides the check): it didn't count as an OVC game. Now JSU can get back to trying to make the playoffs. The story runs through scenarios that could complicate the league title picture, and raises the spectre again of a three-way tie and a blind draw.

The Murray (Ky.) Ledger & Times says Murray State coach Matt Griffin is getting frustrated with the effort shown by some of his veteran players, especially in Saturday's 33-7 homecoming loss to Samford. “The thing I stressed to (the team) after the game is that they need to look in the mirror. If you can lie to the man in the mirror, then we're in a hole. It's time to see what we've got character-wise. And we're going to find that out this next week,” he tells the paper.

The Southeast Missourian says SEMO was able to get many true freshman on the field against Arkansas late in the 63-7 loss. Coach Tony Samuel was pleased with their efforts. More importantly, the Redhawks escaped the game injury-free, and may field their healthiest squad of the season when EKU visits on Saturday for homecoming.

The Nashville City Paper says Tennessee State coach James Webster expects a stiff test when his Tigers visit Jacksonville State this week. He tells the paper that Javarris Williams is the team's "horese," and they plan to keep riding him.

The (Cookeville, Tenn.) Herald-Citizen says Tennessee Tech's players have lacked motivation at the start of their recent games against Tennessee State (they were outscored 27-0 to start) and UT-Martin (they went down 14-3, and wound up losing 35-16). Here's a link to the HC sports section.

Holding steady & weekly awards

The OVC held its ground in the top 25 polls this week, with just one interesting change. Idle UT-Martin passed Eastern Illinois in the Sports Network poll, despite the Panthers' win over pre-season conference favorite Eastern Kentucky. The teams switched places, with Martin at #16 and EIU at #17. EIU remained at #16 in the CSN coaches' poll (according to a threard at AGS, the poll page at I-AA.org hasn't been updated yet) and the AnyGivenSaturday.com fan poll.

Jacksonville State was the only other team to receive votes in the polls. The Gamcocks had 27 points in the TSN poll for 34th place, 7 points for 31st place in the AGS poll. JSU got no votes in the coaches' poll. The loss to Mississippi State appears have cost the Gamecocks some respect among voters.

Conference players of the week have been announced at individual team Web sites, though the OVC site hasn't got a release up about them yet. This week's honoree on offense is Tennessee State running back Javarris Williams, a sophomore, who tallied 195 yards and two touchdowns for the Tigers against Tennessee Tech. On defense, Eastern Illinois senior linebacker Lucius Seymour gets the nod for the second week in a row; he was in on 11 tackles, four of them solo and one for a loss in the Panthers' victory over EKU. Samford punter Chris Hicks, a senior, is the specialist of the week after averaging 40.2 yards on five punts, with a long shot of 44 yards. Lee Sweeney, a redshirt freshman quarterback for Tennessee Tech, gets the conference's newcomer award for the second time in three weeks. In saturday's loss to Tennesse State, the transfer from Louisville set a school record for pass completions, at 28.

Monday news

Here's what's up this morning:

The (Clarksville, Tenn.) Leaf Chronicle says Austin Peay State's Chris Fletcher had an average game on Saturday: another day, another 100-plus yards. Fletcher had 147 on Saturday in the 21-14 loss to Missouri-Rolla. It was the running back's fourth game with more than 100 yards.

The (Charleston, Ill.) Journal Gazette/Times-Courier says the Eastern Illinois staff was preparing a two-minute offense to answer a potential tying touchdown from Eastern Kentucky when Lucius Seyour intercepted a Josh Greco pass with less than two minutes left to kill the Colonels' 21-point rally. Eastern Illinois' fourth and deciding touchdown came off a pass from wide receiver Justin Duhai, accoring to a column from Brian Nielsen. Duhai found an open Vincent Webb downfield after taking the handoff from quarterback Cole Stinson. Webb ran it it for the score to put the panthers up 28-0 in the first.

The Anniston (Ala.) Star (sorry, subscribers only) says Jacksonville State identified at least three concerns in the 35-3 loss to Mississippi State Saturday. First, depth is an issue (fullback Raynodd Zeine and cornerback Montae Pitts both were out, and it showed). Second, the Gamecocks must limit the big-play pass (they were burned five times for more than 20 yards, three times for scores). Third, they've got to give quarterback Matt Hardin time to make plays (Hardin was sacked three times and threw an interception for an enemy touchdown on the first play of the game after the MSU d-line broke through).

Mike Organ's column in The (Nashville) Tennessean says Tennessee State coach James Webster keeps raising the bar for running back Javarris Williams. After rolling up 195 yards in Saturday's 30-20 win over Tennessee Tech, Webster shouted past reporters to Williams, “A hundred and ninety-five yards, what’s up with that? Why didn’t you get 200?’’

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.

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.

Saturday gameday news

There are five games being played in the OVC today. We've got three league matchups (including what readers here tabbed as the OVC Game of the Year) and two non-conference tilts with SEC teams. Plus, our friends at Austin Peay State take on a D-II squad.

Austin Peay State at Missouri-Rolla, 1 p.m.
Jacksonville State at Mississippi State, 1:30 p.m., CSS tape-dealyed
#16 Eastern Illinois at Eastern Kentucky, 2 p.m.
Samford at Murray State, 3 p.m., MSU-TV 11 tape dealyed
Southeast Missouri Satte at Arkansas, 3 p.m.
Tennessee Tech at Tennessee State, 6 p.m., CSS live

And now, the news:

The (Clarksville, Tenn.) Leaf Chronicle says coach Carroll McCray believes his APSU team can compete with its opponents, if the players can overcome mental blocks in the fourth quarter.

The (Charleston, Ill.) Journal Gazette/Times-Courier says EIU quarterback Cole Stinson won't have the advantages of surprise or a big home crowd, as he makes his second start for the Panthers. This time, everybody knows he's coming, and he'll be on the field at Roy Kidd Stadium in front of an EKU homecoming crowd hungry for Ws. The paper also profiles EIU linebacker Lucius Seymour, who's turned a rough upbringing into a solid college football career.

The Lexington (Ky.) Herald-Leader says EKU coach Danny Hope knows his Colonels have a tough task in playing EIU today. He describes the #16 Panthers' offense as "scary."

The Birmingham (Ala.) News says the game between Samford and Murray State will be a battle for the cellar stairs. Both are hoping to notch their first OVC victory, and climb up from the darkness of an 0-3 start in the league.

Murray State coach Matt Griffin says a win today in front of the homecoming crowd is essential in keeping fan support up for the rest of the season, according to the Murray (Ky.) Ledger & Times.

The (Nashville) Tennessean says Tennessee State coach James Webster wants his players to understand that today's contest against TTU means much more than the tilts against "traditional" opponents in far-flung cities before giant crowds. "Classics" are fine, Webster says, but it's a conference title and a trip to the playoffs that really matter.

Tech coach Doug Malone tells the (Cookeville, Tenn.) Herald-Citizen that beating TSU would be a big deal for his team. "They are going to make a lot of noise in the run for the conference. It will be a tough ball game for us to go on the road and compete with them," he says. (Click here for the HC sports section.)

Friday news

Here's what's onnline this morning:

The (Clarksville, Tenn.) Leaf Chronicle spotlights two seniors who have been leaders for Austin Peay State this season: defensive tackle Drew Wilson and defensive end Steven Young. They'll lead the Govs' defense at D-II UM-Rolla Saturday.

Some very bad news for Jacksonville State. The Anniston (Ala.) Star (sorry, subscribers only) says two senior starters won't be on the field for the Gamecocks Saturday at Mississippi State: linebacker Montae Pitts and fullback Raynodd Zeine. Pitts is nursing a bruised thigh and Zeine has a foot sprain.

The (Nashville) Tennessean says Tennessee State's passing attack is sidelined along with wide receiver Mike Mason. Mason has been out nearly a month with a knee injury, and the Tigers haven't been able to move the ball effectively through the air without him. He's not expeced to be back for the game against Tennessee Tech Saturday. Tech's Lee Sweeney, a quarterback who transferred from Louisville this summer, says he has no regrets about leaving the Cardinals.

TSU may get more bad news soon. According to the Nashville City Paper, the NCAA still is weighing whether to allow Vanderbilt transfer Lama Divens' request for an eligibility waiver. If the folks in Indianapolis say no, the OVC might force the Tigers to forfeit the two wins earned with Divens playing defensive tackle, the paper says. Victories over Jackson State and Murray State would be erased. With the Murray win gone, the Tigers would lose their 1-0 standing in the league.

NOTE: OVC Football Blog Headquarters is going mobile today. We're heading for Mississippi's Golden Triangle region, where JSU will take on Mississippi State in Starkville on Saturday. I should be able to post from the hotel, and I'll provide updates from the game via text message, as neccessary.

Thursday news (finally)

Sorry, loyal readers. I was ready to go this morning but Blogger wasn't for some reason. I hate to be delivering the papers late two days in a row. Anyway, here goes:

The (Charleston, Ill.) Journal Gazette/Times-Courier says Eastern Illinois isn't taking Eastern Kentucky lightly, though the Panthers are the league-leading defending champs and the Colonels are still just fighting to hang on after a disappointing 2-4 start. The game's in Richmond, after all, and it's homecoming. Oh, and EIU offensive coordinator Mark Hutson adds, "Did I forget to say they’re good? They are.”

The Anniston (Ala.) Star (sorry, subscribers only) says a number of Jacksonville State players are looking forward to their chance to play on an SEC stage Saturday at Mississippi State. Some of them belive they could have been playing on a stage like that every week, and they want to prove it.

The Southeast Missourian continues the league-wide jaw-dropping at UT-Martin's 5-1 start and #17 ranking. Don't count first-year Martin coach Jason Simpson among the surprised, though. "Combined with we are a hungry football team," he tells the paper "There were some challenges, but no, I'm not going to say we're surprised where we are."

Tech problems with Blogger this

Tech problems with Blogger this morning. Posting this from my phone. More later.

First cut

The first revisions to the Payton and Buchannan awards lists are out today, and the news is good and bad for the OVC. There's an announcement about the revisions up at The Sports Network. The official Payton Page is here, and the Buchannan page is here.

First, the good: Jacksonville State running back Clay Green still is on the Payton list, and UT-Martin linebacker Markeseo Jackson has been added to the Buchannan list. Green, a senior, has 519 yards and nine touchdowns through five games for the Gamecocks. Jackson, also a senior, has been in on 41 tackles and four sacks for the Skyhawks, and has forced three fumbles, recovering one.

And the bad news: Eastern Kentucky quarterback Josh Greco and Eastern Illinois linebacker Clint Sellers have been dropped from the lists. Greco, a senior and the preseason OVC offensive player of the year, has struggled along with the rest of the Colonels in a 2-4 start. Sellers' season ended on the kickoff of the first game, at Illinois, when he injured a shoulder.

The lists will undergo two more revisions, one Nov. 1, and another just before ballots are mailed ot voters Nov. 20. The awards will be announced Thursday, Nov. 14 in Chattanooga, at a banquet the night before the NCAA I-AA National Championship.

In other player list news, the latest OVC player of the week awards are out. Greco, ironically, is the offensive player of the week. Eastern Illinois linebacker Lucius Seymour is the defensive player of the week. JSU punter Zach Walden was the special teams honoree, and Eastern Illinois quarterback Cole Stinson got the nod as newcomer of the week.

Wednesday news (finally)

Here's what's up:

The (Clarksville, Tenn.) Leaf Chronicle says Austin Peay State quarterback Mark Cunningham enjoys being in a deer stand as much as he enjoys standing under center for the Govs. Meanwhile, starting wide receiver Emmanuel Yancey may be standing trial, after an Oct. 1 arrest for driving under the influence, the paper says. Yancey's statuts with the team for the rest of the year is uncertain, but he won't be traveling with the team for a Saturday game at Missouri-Rolla.

The (Charleston, Ill.) Journal Gazette/Times-Courier says none of the lustre has gone out of the matchup between Eastern Kentucky and Eastern Illinois this Saturday, even after the Colonels' 1-2 start in the league.

The Richmond (Ky.) Register says EKU relied on big plays in its win over Samford last week, something that had been missing from the Colonels' play in their game up to that point. EKU had five plays for more than 30 yards against the Bulldogs, compared to six such plays through the first five games of the season.

The Anniston (Ala.) Star (sorry, subscribers only) says Jacksonville State and Mississippi State have faced similar letdowns through the first half of the season, in that young players have made costly mistakes that led their teams to fall short of expectations. Meanwhile, The Star gives three reasons we shouldn't be surprised if JSU upsets the Bulldogs: MSU's defense has been up and down, while the offense has been pretty much awful, they're likely to see their sixth quarterback this season under center in the game Saturday, and Maine's 9-7 win a couple of years ago proves it's not impossible.

The (Nashville) Tennessean says Tennessee State wide reciever might not be back for the Tennessee Tech game this weekend after all. A knee injury from the Jackson State game still hasn't healed completely, or so it appeared after the Tigers' Monday practice. The paper also has a Q&A with TSU athletic director Teresa Phillips. Among the stunning revelations: she likes country music.

Wednesday news later

Sorry folks, outta time this morning. I'll catch up tonight.

Meanwhile, here's a topic to discuss: Is the Eastern Illinois vs. Eastern Kentucky game still the OVC Game of the Year?

Tuesday news

Here's what's in the papers on the OVC this morning:

The (Charleston, Ill.) Journal Gazette/Times-Courier says the EIU coaching may have barely noticed that their Panthers moved up to #16 in the I-AA polls this week, focused as they are on Eastern Kentucky, their opponents Saturday. Heck, I'd be focused too if I were going up against a quarterback who passed for 3,232 yards in a single game, as the JGTC says EKU's Josh Greco did against Samford (nobody panic, it was really just 323).

The Anniston (Ala) Star (sorry, subscribers only) carries more talk from Jacksonville State players and coaches about their confidence going into the game against Mississippi State. JSU lost to the Bulldogs 51-13 in 2002, but coach Jack Crowe says the Gamecocks have more speed and more size now. And then there's MSU's 1-4 season so far ... still, Crowe says winning would be a big feat. “You take the running plays that Auburn ran against them, you take the running plays LSU ran against them — and those are two big, ol’ physical, powerful football teams — and they’re less than 4 yards a carry; LSU less than 3 yards," he tells the paper.

The Gadsden (Ala.) Times also says Crowe is expecting a good game in Starkville, better than the typical I-A/I-AA matchup. And he says he wants his team to experience the same success at Scott Field that JSU's Marching Southerners did back in 2002: "I'd like for the football team to have as good a standing in Starkville as does our band."

The Birmingham (Ala.) News' Mike Perrin lays into the Ohio Valley Conference for what he says was a blown call in Samford's game at Southeast Missouri State two weeks ago. Samford lost by five points, and Perrin says the Bulldogs would have added another six late in the game if the back judge and field judge had made the right call on a Jonathan Lowery catch made as he fell out of the end zone. Perrin suggests the league has disciplined the back judge, but that the OVC office refuses to comment on the matter. He says the discipline should be made public. What do you think?

The Southeast Missourian says SEMO coach Tony Samuel isn't nearly as confident as Jack Crowe about his team's visit to SEC-land this week. The Redhawks are headed to Arkansas. "I'd rather not play them, to be quite honest. It's a total mismatch. They've got more scholarships, more money, better facilities, they're in a better league, more TV money .... other than that, we've got a chance."

Movin' on up

The OVC's ranked teams improved their standing in two polls this week, but the league's Top 25 Club didn't gain any new members.

Eastern Illinois improved to #16 in both the official Sports Network poll and the fan poll at AnyGivenSaturday.com. UT-Martin climbed to #17 in both polls. It was the first time this season these two polls have agreed on the standings for OVC teams. Last week, EIU was ranked 20th in the Sports Network poll, #19 in the AGS poll. Martin was #22 according to the Sports Network, #23 according to the fans at AGS.

Jacksonville State was the only other league team to receive votes in either poll. The Gamecocks were an effective #28 in both polls, with 121 points from the Sports Network, and 22 points from AGS.

A note on polls: I've seen mention of a coaches' poll sponsored by the College Sports Network several times this season, but I've been unable to find an official link to the poll anywhere on the Web, so I haven't reported standings anywhere. I found something semi-official looking today at I-AA.org. It hasn't been updated yet, but previous polls there indicate results are normally released on Monday. I'll add this to my list in the future.

EDIT (Oct. 10, 12:21 a.m.): Well, it's unanimous. EIU and UT-Martin are #16 and #17, respectively, in the CSN coaches' poll. The Skyhawks, by the way, climbed to that lofty height after being unranked by the coaches the week prior. Jax State was an effective #32, with 15 points.

Monday news

Here's what's online this morning:

The (Charleston, Ill.) Journal Gazette/Times-Courier says Eastern Illinois was more than satisfied with the results of quarterback Cole Stinson's first start. Stinson, a transfer from Ball State, was 16 of 22 for 208 yards Saturday against Southeast Missouri State. His favorite target: former high school teammate Micah Rucker, who transferred in from Minnesota. Rucker caught 10 of those passes, three of them for touchdowns in the Panthers' 21-o victory. In a column, Brian Nielsen says that while most people note the absence of pre-season all-American linebacker Clint Sellers when talking about the Panthers' defense, SEMO may not have noticed the difference, held as they were to 101 yards of offense.

The Anniston (Ala.) Star (sorry, subscribers only) says Jacksonville State isn't exactly predicting an upset Saturday at struggling Mississippi State (1-5, 0-3 SEC), but they're not conceding anything either. "“We're not a mismatch for Mississippi State,” JSU coach Jack Crowe told the paper. “An underdog, but not a mismatch.”

The Southeast Missourian notes that SEMO lost more than the game Saturday at EIU. The Redhawks also lost the distinction of being the only Division I team (props to writer Marty Mishow for getting the division labels 100 percent right here) that hadn't turned the ball over this season. The first-quarter fumble by SEMO was their first turnover in five games.

The (Nashville) Tennessean's Mike Organ notes in a column that Tennessee Tech quarterback Lee Sweeney would have played at LP Field in Nashville this month whether he'd transferred from Louisville or not. If he'd stayed, it would have been with the Cardinals against Middle Tennessee last Friday. Since he's a Golden Eagle, it will be against Tennessee State on Saturday.

Sunday papers

Here's what the press has to say after Saturday's OVC action:

The Richmond (Ky.) Register says Eastern Kentucky set a number of season bests in its win over Samford: total yards (481), passing yards (323), first downs (22), points (31), and, unfortunately, penalties.

The Birmingham (Ala.) News says EKU's resurgence came at the worst posisble time for Samford. The Bulldogs now are 2-4 overall, 0-3 in OVC play.

The Southeast Missourian says SEMO coach Tony is starting to wonder about this league after being shut out by Eastern Illinois, 21-0, three weeks after Jacksonville State beat them 38-7. "I hope everybody's defenses aren't this good. Because those are two great defenses," Samuel told the paper. I don't think it's everybody, Tony, but get ready for your Nov. 4 visit from UT-Martin.

A bit late, but relevant nonetheless: The (Cookeville, Tenn.) Herald-Citizen files three pieces on Tennessee Tech's loss to UT-Martin Thursday. One calls the 36-16 loss "ugly." Another cites "breakdowns" by the Golden Eagles that turned the game to the Skyhawks. And the third looks for some positives in the loss (hey, the kicking game was good). Here's a link to the HC sports section. Scroll down for the Tech stories.

A short item in The (Clarksville, Tenn.) Leaf Chronicle says Austin Peay State is 1-4, but is showing progress over its non-scholarship days. The point spreads in their losses have shrunk so far this year over last, and the team has been in most games for the first half, it's the second half that's killing them (something that doubling their depth with 30-or-so more scholarships next year should help, I think).

Saturday papers & gameday results

Sorry, loyal readers, for not getting a morning news post up. I was on the road without Internet access, on an unforseen trip. I'm now back at OVC Football Blog Headquarters, checking in on the day's results. Here's what happened, followed by links to the (now stale) stories from the morning papers.

Eastern Kentucky 31, Samford 12 - The Colonels get back on track, winning their second game of the season and their first conference victory after a surprising 0-2 start in the OVC. EKU quarterback Josh Greco managed 323 yards passing, 18-28 with two long touchdowns and -here's a key stat - no interceptions. Samford played three different quarterbacks in the game, who went a combined 13-29 for 146 yards.

Eastern Illinois 21, Southeast Missouri 0 - The defending champion Panthers shut out a Southeast Missouri State team that had been second in the league in scoring at 27 points per game. The Redhawks hadn't turned the ball over at all this season, but EIU forced a fumble and picked off two passes. SEMO was hald to just 101 yards of total offense.

EIU now shares the league lead, at two wins, with UT-Martin. Both of those teams have a chance to rise in the polls on Monday, following important OVC victories. UT-Martin has the week off before visiting Samford Oct. 21. EIU visits Eastern Kentucky, visits Murray State, and then the Panthers and Skyhawks meet Oct. 28 in Martin. depending on what happens between now and then, that could turn out to be the game in the OVC this season.

And now, this morning's news:

First, something that makes football seem inconsequential at best. UT-Martin radio announcer Tom Britt was in the hospital during UT-Martin's game at Tennessee Tech Thursday night. He'd been involved in a hit-and-run accident early that morning. He was in stable condition Friday, according to the Jackson (Tenn.) Sun, but his wife Martha was killed in the wreck. My prayers go out to Tom Britt and his family in this difficult time. And here's hoping the authorities track down the coward who hit them and then sped away.

The (Charleston, Ill.) Journal Gazette/Times-Courier says EIU's Zach Yates planned to pit his rugby-style punts against the league-leading, skyscraping longbombs of SEMO's David Simonhoff. He hadn't set a goal of outdoing Simonhoff, the paper says (he wound up with an average of 30.7 on three punts to Simonhoff's 38.7 on seven punts). Another story reports on Vincent Webb's rise from unheralded walk-on to the man with the third-best rushing total in I-AA so far this year.

The Richmond (Ky.) Register says EKU hoped to use its opponent today as it has for the last three years: as a springboard to improved performance. Each of the last three seasons, the paper says, the Colonels have used victories against Samford to turn around dissappointing starts (and whaddya know, another year, another EKU win, as it turns out).

The Birmingham (Ala.) News says Samford was was hoping to play two good halves of ball after posting strong second halves in two losses over the last two weeks. (As it turned out, the Bulldogs had just another good half - if you add the first quarter to the fourth.)

The Southeast Missourian says SEMO was hoping to turn in a much better performance against EIU than it did against another conference heavyweight, JSU, back in the third week of the season. (That didn't turn out well, it seems.)

Friday papers

Here's what's in the news today. First, reports from (one of) last night's games:

The Anniston (Ala.) Star (sorry, subscribers only) says Jacksonville State's offense dominated in the 49-17 win over Murray State, helped along by good field position all night. A game-plan analysis story says JSU's early passing in the game and the use of fullback Raynodd Zeine took the pressure off running back Clay Green. The Racers got pulled out of their plan to stop Green, and as a result, the Gamecocks did pretty much whatever they wanted.

The Birmingham (Ala.) News has a succinct report on the JSU-Murray game. Gamecocks coach Jack Crowe apparently was pleased with his team's effort. He is quoted as saying "There was nothing out there that I saw that bothered me."

The Southeast Missourian reports on Adam Casper, who came to Southeast Missouri State expecting to pile up yardage for the Redhawks at fullback. Instead he's trying to deny yards to the opposing team as an inside linebacker, where he's established himself as the leading tackler so far this season.

In The (Nashville) Tennessean, columnist Mike Organ says Tennessee State coach James Webster isn't counting on the return of injured wide receiver Mike Mason. While the coach would love to have the North Carolina transfer back on the field after a knee injury in the third game of the season, Webster doesn't want to be let down if Mason doesn't heal quickly. Mason has said he expects to be back for the Tigers contest against Tennessee State next week.

The (Clarksville, Tenn.) Leaf Chronicle reports on the ways Austin Peay State's players will spend their week off. Many of them will use the weekend to enjoy- surprise - football.

Thursday gamenight update

I'm just in from Paul Snow Stadium, where Jacksonville State won big again, posting a 49-17 victory over Murray State. Some early miscues by the Racers, including a dropped snap on their first punt and another fumble deep in their own territory helped the Gamecocks get up early. The game was never in doubt.

Murray State did get plenty of yards against a JSU defense that had been stingy against the pass. Zach Barnard was 24 of 46 for 252 yards, the most an opponent has passed against the Gamecocks so far this season. JSU's Clay Green had 105 yards on 14 carries, followed by three other backs who had between 66 and 44 yards each. Full box score is available at ESPN.com.

According to the ESPN.com scoreboard, the third quarter is underway in Cookeville, with UT-Martin up 14-9 on Tennessee Tech.

EDIT (9:09 p.m.): I-AA fans following the game at AnyGivenSaturday.com say Martin has scored again to make it 21-9 Skyhawks with 8:14 left in the 3rd quarter. Thanks for the updates, Ralph!

EDIT (9:11 p.m.) Golden Eagles scored while I was writing. Make that 21-16 Martin, 4:26 left in the third.

EDIT (9:42 p.m.): 28-16 Martin with 8 minutes left to play.

EDIT (9:42 p.m.): 35-16 UTM with 3:21 to play.

EDIT (10:01): 35-16 Martin, final. Tech loses that brief league lead, and Martin starts to look like a seious contender for the OVC title.

Thursday gameday news

Two games on this week's slate are being played tonight.

Murray State at Jacksonville State, 5 p.m. CT, CSS
#22 UT-Martin at Tennessee Tech, 7 p.m. CT

And now, the news:

The (Clarksville, Tenn.) Leaf Chronicle looks at how the Austin Peay State staff use the 17 hours of practice time each week allowed by the NCAA.

Eastern Illinois linebacker Clint Sellers will not return this season, according to the (Charleston, Ill.) Journal Gazette/Times-Courier. The pre-season all-American and Buchannan Award nominee injured his shoulder in a kickoff during the Panthers' opening game against Illinois, and he has not healed as quickly as had been hoped. EIU coach Bob Spoo also has missed the 4-6 week deadline for returning to the team that had been predicted when he underwent surgery just before the season. The paper also previews EIU's game Saturday with Southeast Missouri State.

The Richmond (Ky.) Register says Eatern Kentucky still believes it it can win the OVC after an 0-2 start in league play. Coach Danny Hope tells the paper, “There is a lot of football left to be played and I don’t have the time or the mathematical skills to assess the probabilities of us being at the top of the conference,” Eastern Kentucky University coach Danny Hope said. “You just have to take care of the people you have left to play and take care of yourself.”

The Colonels likely will continue to matchup against their traditional rivals, Western Kentucky, even if the Hilltoppers move up to I-A, according to the Louisville (Ky.) Courier-Journal. The WKU board of trustees votes on the move Nov. 2. WKU athletic director Wood Selig says he envisions a 10-year home-and-home series.

The Gadsden (Ala.) Times examines Jacksonville State's staunch defense in one story. In another, the paper examines JSU's chances of finishing atop the conference standings.

The Murray (Ky.) Ledger & Times says the Gamecocks will present the biggest challenge yet for Murray State's Racers.

The (Nashville) Tennessean says Tennessee State wide receiver Mike Mason will return to the field for next week's game against Tennessee Tech. He suffered a knee injury two weeks ago in the game against Jackson State.

Tennessee Tech's Golden Eagles have surprised many with a 2-0 start in OVC play. The team is determined to keep turning heads, according to the (Cookeville, Tenn.) Herald-Citizen.