Ohio Valley Conference

EIU's J.R. Taylor

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OVC Players of the Week (For Week of Nov. 16)

OFFENSIVE: J.R. TAYLOR - SR., TB - 6'1, 221 - DECATUR, IL (EASTERN ILLINOIS)
Rushed for an OVC-record 308 yards and scored four touchdowns in EIU's win over Florida Atlantic. Taylor became the first OVC player since 1996-97 to run for 1,000 yards in consecutive seasons.

DEFENSIVE: BOBBY SANDERS - JR., LB - 6'0, 205 - BENTON, KY (MURRAY STATE)
Had ten tackles and a key interception in Murray State's win over UT Martin.

SPECIAL TEAMS: NOT SELECTED

NEWCOMER: JACK TOMCO - JR., QB - 6'5, 240 - ANCHORAGE, AK (SOUTHEAST MISSOURI)
Completed 20-of-28 passes for 368 yards and three TD’s in Southeast's win over Samford. His 29 TD passes in a season are second only to EIU’s Tony Romo's current mark of 31 on the OVC single-season list. Tomco also set a new school record of 3,132 yards passing in a season.


Notes From Around the OVC Gridiron

EASTERN ILLINOIS - Eastern Illinois won its eighth game in a row, thrashing I-AA independent Florida Atlantic, 47-6, on Saturday... The win gives the Panthers, who have already clinched at least a share of their second straight OVC crown, an 8-2 overall record... Senior tailback J.R. Taylor ran for an EIU single-game record 308 yards and scored four touchdowns. He went over 1,000 yards for the year in the game, and he became the first player since 1996-97 to gain 1,000 yards rushing in back-to-back seasons. He also set an EIU career touchdown record with his 50th TD... The EIU defense held FAU to minus-one yard of offense and no first downs in the first half... The Panthers have scored 200 points in their last four games, averaging 50.0 points per contest in that span... Tony Romo increased his OVC single-season record for TD passes to 31 in the game... Andre Raymond had 129 all-purpose yards against FAU... EIU will face Murray State in a game that will decide the OVC's automatic qualifier for the upcoming I-AA playoffs. If the Panthers win, they will win the league outright, but if they lose, Murray State will win the automatic bid in the head-to-head tiebreaker.

EASTERN KENTUCKY - EKU had a week off after opening the season wth 11 straight games... The open date came on the heels of a bitter 35-21 upset loss to Southeast Missouri, which dropped Eastern out of contention in the OVC race and put the team's playoff bid in serious jeopardy... EKU's offense was bottled up all night, with the running game managing only 90 total yards and no points... C.J. Hudson had only 32 yards on 11 carries, while Terry Ennis had 18 yards on seven carries... Hudson needs only 10 yards to reach the 1,000-yard plateau for the second straight year, while Ennis needs 180. If Hudson and Ennis reach the milestone, it will mark the first time two players on the same team in the OVC have reached that mark in the same season since EKU's Leon Brown and Mike Penman did it in 1993... EKU winds up its season at TSU on Thursday.

MURRAY STATE - Murray State set up a showdown next week for the Ohio Valley Conference’s automatic bid to the Division I-AA playoffs and ended a seven-game road losing streak with a 42-3 conference win over Tennessee-Martin on Saturday… The Racers got 293 yards rushing and 419 total yards from the offense, led by senior tailback Billy Blanchard’s 158 yards on 22 carries… Murray State’s defense held UTM to just 52 yards rushing on 24 carries and 248 total yards of offense… Quarterback Stewart Childress was 10-of-14 for two TD’s, no interceptions and 114 yards in the win. He has not thrown an INT during MSU’s current four-game winning streak… MSU’s defense picked off three passes in the win… The Racers host Eastern Illinois in the biggest game of the OVC season on Saturday. A win would give MSU a share of the league title and would advance them to the I-AA playoffs by virtue of its head-to-head victory over EIU.

SOUTHEAST MISSOURI - Southeast established a school record for single game total yardage by rolling up 645 yards in a 48-24 win over future OVC member Samford... The win gave Southeast its first eight win season since 1969, as the Indians complete their regular season campaign at 8-4... Willie Ponder made a lasting impression in his final game, hauling in 11 passes for 195 yards and a TD. Ponder set school and conference single-season records with 1,453 receiving yards and 15 TD catches this season... Quarterback Jack Tomco completed 20-of-28 passes for 368 yards and three TD’s. His 29 TD passes in a season are second only to EIU’s Tony Romo's current mark of 31 on the OVC single-season list. Tomco also set a new school record of 3,132 yards passing in a season. His 3,070 yards in total offense is fourth all-time in the OVC... Southeast set a new OVC team total offense record with 5,369 yards in 2002.

TENNESSEE-MARTIN - The Skyhawks lost their eighth consecutive game of the season as Murray State posted a 42-3 victory over UTM on Saturday... Freshman quarterback Brady Wahlberg was picked off three times and the Skyhawk offense fumbled once. Wahlberg took all the snaps for the Skyhawks against Murray State and completed 20-of-32 attempts for 196 yards… UTM ran the ball for a dismal 52 yards. Junior Damien Harris had the bulk of those yards with his one carry for 22 yards… Freshman receiver Orentheus Taylor caught seven passes for 64 yards…The Skyhawks will close out their 2002 season Thursday at Tennessee Tech where they will try to snap a 41-game OVC losing streak. The last time the Skyhawks won an OVC game was 1996 against Southeast Missouri State.

TENNESSEE STATE - Tennessee State’s late rally attempt came up short as Tennessee Tech held on to defeat the Tigers, 20-14, on Saturday… The loss is the Tigers’ third in a row and it drops them to 1-4 in the OVC and 2-9 overall… Tech had 453 yards to TSU’s total of 351 yards. The Tigers were limited to 90 yards of offense in the opening half… Kenny Irby started the game at quarterback, but left the game with an injury. Dwayne Buchanan was 11-of-20 with three interceptions, one TD and 170 yards. Irby completed 6-of-10 for 52 yards before leaving the contest... Receiver C.J. Johnson had seven catches for 104 yards in the contest… The Tigers close the season Thursday night against Eastern Kentucky in the Coliseum.

TENNESSEE TECH - Tennessee Tech got its first OVC win of the year in a 20-14 win over Tennessee State in Nashville on Saturday… The win was TTU’s second in a row and it lifts the Golden Eagles’ overall record to 4-7 and their OVC mark to 1-4… The win was mostly due to a dominant defensive performance in which they recorded seven quarterback sacks, one short of a school record, and held TSU to 93 rushing yards. Three freshmen had interceptions in the fourth quarter as well… The Golden Eagle offense, meanwhile, had 453 yards of total offense on a season-high 82 plays, held the ball for 36 minutes, and rushed for a season-best 258 yards… Starting quarterback Robert Craft was 15-for-28 for 125 yards, while Lewis Kuffuor was five-for-10 for 70 yards… Jason Ballard ran for 118 yards and a 61-yard TD in the win… Tech closes out its season with a home game against UT Martin on Saturday.

OVC CHAMPIONSHIP GAME: The Ohio Valley Conference does not have an official conference championship football game, but Saturday's contest between Murray State and Eastern Illinois might as well be. The winner of the game to be played in Murray, Ky., at 1:30 p.m. on Saturday will advance to the I-AA playoffs as the league's automatic qualifier. Eastern Illinois (5-0 in the OVC) has already claimed at least a share of its second consecutive OVC title. However, if Murray State, which is 4-1 in conference competition, defeats EIU, then the championship would be shared, with the Racers receiving the automatic bid based on the head-to-head result. The loser still has a chance at an at-large berth to the playoffs.

END OF THE LINE: Legendary Eastern Kentucky football coach Roy Kidd will retire at the end of the season after 39 years and more than 300 victories. The coach, who has won 314 games, announced the decision a few weeks ago. Kidd is 314-122-8, trailing Penn State’s Joe Paterno (330 victories) and Florida State’s Bobby Bowden (328) among active coaches. Kidd’s teams reached the Division I-AA national championship game four straight years from 1979-82, winning the title in 1979 and 1982. A win in Kidd's final regular season game on Thursday would push him past Amos Alonzo Stagg on the all-time coaching victories list.

A LOOK AT THE POLLS: Eastern Illinois moved to third in both polls last week. The Panthers, who are now 8-2 on the year, are in contention for a top-four seed in the upcoming I-AA playoffs. Eastern Kentucky, which fell to 7-4 after a loss to Southeast Missouri last week, fell to 24th in the ESPN/USA Today rankings last week and to 25th in the Sports Network poll. Southeast Missouri received votes in both rankings last week. The OVC has had at least one team ranked in the top 25 for 287 straight weeks. During that stretch, the league has had two teams ranked 236 times, three teams ranked 66 times and four teams ranked six times.

ROMO IS NUMERO UNO: EIU quarterback Tony Romo owns the EIU and OVC records for career TD passes and now has 82 scoring tosses in his career. He also holds the conference's single-season record for TD tosses with 31 in 2002. Romo is considered by most to be the leading candidate for the Payton Award, given to the top offensive player in I-AA. He was AP Third Team All-American last year and is a two-time Ohio Valley Conference Player of the Year. Romo was named preseason I-AA Player of the Year by Lindy's. He led I-AA in passing efficiency in 2001, and he is the third-leading passer in OVC history. He has thrown for 2,648 yards and 31 TD's in his first ten games. His 52 attempts and 30 completions in the season-opener at Hawaii were more than any player in the OVC had in a game in all of 2001.

QUEST FOR 1,000: EIU's J.R. Taylor and SEMO's Corey Kinsey became the first two OVC players to reach 1,000 yards in rushing this season. Altogether, six players from the league have either reached or have a chance to reach the plateau by the end of the season. Taylor leads the pack with 1,260 yards and a game to go, while Kinsey finished his year with 1,067. EKU's C.J. Hudson has 990 yards and one game to go, MSU's Billy Blanchard had 946 with a game to play, TSU's Charles Anthony has 842 with one game remaining and EKU's Terry Ennis has 820 with a game left. The most OVC players to go over 1,000 yards in a season was five in 1993. Taylor became the first OVC player to gain 1,000 yards in back-to-back seasons since Murray State's Anthony Downs did it in 1996 and '97.

PONDER THIS: Southeast wide receiver Willie Ponder set the league record for receiving yards in a season and ended his year with 1,453 yards, breaking the old record of 1,129. Ponder caught 87 passes this year, ranking him third on the league's single-season receptions list. His total of 1,453 yards is currently the most in the nation. He averaged 121.1 yards per game, ranking him third in the country, and his 15 TD receptions set the OVC single-season record. His average of 7.25 receptions per game places him seventh among all I-AA receivers in that category. He caught 11 passes for 195 yards and a TD last week against Samford. Ponder led the league in receiving in 2001 and 2002.

AWARD CANDIDATES: Three OVC players are included on the updated watch list for the Walter Payton and Buck Buchanan Awards, given annually to the top offensive and defensive players in I-AA football, respectively. Two players are on the short list of consideration for the Payton Award, given to the top offensive player. Southeast Missouri receiver Willie Ponder and Eastern Illinois quarterback Tony Romo are both in consideration. Defensively, EIU linebacker Nick Ricks is on the watch list for the Buchanan Award.