Teleconference Audio
Below is embedded audio from this week's OVC Football Coaches media teleconference. For a listing of this week's games and previews scroll down below the audio links.
This Week’s Schedule
Saturday, November 15
*Murray State at #18 Eastern Kentucky, 12:00 p.m. (OVC Digital Network)
*Austin Peay at Southeast Missouri, 1:00 p.m. (OVC Digital Network)
#9 Chattanooga
at Tennessee Tech, 1:30 p.m. (OVC Digital Network)
*Eastern Illinois at #3 Jacksonville State, 3:00 p.m. (ESPN3)
Murray State Racers (3-7, 1-5 OVC)
at #18 Eastern Kentucky Colonels (8-2, 5-2 OVC)
Saturday, Nov. 15 • 12:00 p.m. CT
Roy Kidd Stadium (20,000) • Richmond, Ky.
TV:................................................... OVC Digital Network
Live Stats:.........
http://www.sidearmstats.com/eku/football
Series Record:................. Eastern Kentucky leads 43-26-4
Last Meeting:....... Murray State won 34-27 in OT (11/23/13)
Chris Hatcher at Murray State:....................... 27-28 (5 yrs.)
Chris Hatcher Overall:............................... 121-55 (15 yrs.)
Dean Hood at Eastern Kentucky:................. 48-31 (7 yrs.)
Dean Hood Overall:................................................. same
Murray State Last Week:............ L, 48-26 at Eastern Illinois
Eastern Kentucky Last Week: L, 20-6 vs. #4 Jacksonville State
GAME NOTES: The Battle of the Bluegrass will be renewed for the 74th time on Saturday when Murray State travels to nationally-ranked Eastern Kentucky. The game features the No. 14 and No. 23 scoring offenses nationally. The Colonels had won eight meetings in a row until the Racers tripped up EKU in overtime a season ago; that left Eastern 6-6 on the season and marked just its second non-winning season in the last 36 years. In that game EKU led 20-14 at halftime and then tied the game at 27 with 46 seconds to play on a Thomas Owens one-yard touchdown run. Murray State got the ball first in overtime and needed only three plays to score when Maikhail Miller connected with Jesse Blackburn for a 26-yard touchdown pass. EKU moved down to the MSU two-yard line but quarterback Jared McClain was stopped at the one-yard line on fourth down to end the game.
SCOUTING MURRAY STATE: Despite gaining 483 yards of total offense, the Racers ran into a hot Eastern Illinois team on Saturday, falling 48-26 in Charleston. Junior Pokey Harris returned a kickoff 100 yards for a touchdown in the contest, becoming just the 11th player in OVC history to achieve that feat (and second this season). Harris finished the game with 149 yards on kick returns, 47 rushing yards and eight receiving yards to total 204 all-purpose yards; that marked his second 200-plus all-purpose game of the season and he now ranks first in the OVC and 15th nationally in all-purpose yards (149.2/game). Quarterback KD Humphries completed 29-of-38 passes for 306 yards and two touchdowns, his league-leading sixth multiple-touchdown game of the season. Humphries now ranks ninth in OVC single-season history in passing completions (243) and is closing in on the Top 10 lists for passing yards and passing touchdowns. Janawski Davis caught four passes for 108 yards and a touchdown; it marked his 10th receiving touchdown of the season, which ranks ninth nationally. Defensively Jonathan Jackson had 17 tackles and now leads the OVC and ranks seventh nationally in tackles/game (11.3).
SCOUTING EASTERN KENTUCKY: Despite its loss to nationally-ranked Jacksonville State, Eastern Kentucky remains ranked in the Top 20, coming in at No. 18 in the Sports Network poll and No. 20 in the FCS Coaches poll. The 20-6 loss to the Gamecocks on Saturday cost the team its shot at the OVC automatic bid to the playoffs but a win over MSU would give the team nine Division I wins (including a FBS victory) heading into its regular season finale with FBS Florida. Against JSU the Colonels, who entered the game tied for first nationally in forced turnovers, forced only one against the Gamecocks. The Colonels struggled on third down on the day, converting only 1-of-14 attempts (7.1%). The team did get field goals out of Andrew Lloyd in both the second and third quarters but failed to score a touchdown for the first time since the 2010 season opener. Dy’Shawn Mobley, who was added to the Walter Payton Award Watch List last week, led the way with 87 yards on the ground while also catching two passes. Mobley ranks 10th nationally in both rushing touchdowns (14) and total rushing yards (1,148) while coming in at 23rd in scoring (8.4 points/game); he has reached the 100-yard mark in six of his last eight games overall. As a team EKU now ranks second nationally in turnovers gained (28), blocked kicks (7) and blocked punts (3), third in fumbles recovered (14), seventh in kickoff returns (24.72 yards/return), eighth in passes intercepted (14) and 10th in red zone defense (68.4%). One more victory for the Colonels would give the team its most wins under seventh-year head coach Dean Hood.
Austin Peay Governors (1-9, 1-5 OVC)
at Southeast Missouri State Redhawks (4-6, 2-4 OVC)
Saturday, Nov. 15 • 1:00 p.m. CT
Houck Stadium (10,000) • Cape Girardeau, Mo.
TV:................................................... OVC Digital Network
Live Stats:
http://stats.statbroadcast.com/broadcast/?id=61677
Series Record:................... Southeast Missouri leads 12-6
Last Meeting:...... Southeast Missouri won 36-34 (11/16/13)
Kirby Cannon at Austin Peay:........................ 1-21 (2 yrs.)
Kirby Cannon Overall:............................... 36-107 (13 yrs.)
Tom Matukewicz at Southeast Missouri:............. 4-6 (1 yr.)
Tom Matukewicz Overall:......................................... same
Austin Peay Last Week:........ L, 31-27 vs. Tennessee State
Southeast Missouri Last Week: L, 27-26 at Tennessee Tech
GAME NOTES: Southeast Missouri and Austin Peay will both be looking to snap losing streaks when they play Saturday in Cape Girardeau. Saturday’s game marks the 19th all-time meeting between the schools; Southeast Missouri has won four in a row and 11 of the past 13 against Austin Peay. Last season the teams played an exciting game that saw the lead change hands three times in the fourth quarter. The Govs went ahead 31-30 on a 99-yard kickoff return by EnRiques Perry but four minutes later Ron Coleman capped a seven-play drive with a one-yard score to give Southeast the lead for good. DeMichael Jackson had 140 rushing yards for Southeast in the victory while Rashaan Coleman had 109 yards and three scores and Omar Williams added 108 rushing yards for the Govs.
SCOUTING AUSTIN PEAY: Wearing special camouflage uniforms to honor the military for Veterans Day, Austin Peay nearly topped rival Tennessee State as the team took a 20-9 lead into the fourth quarter before eventually losing 31-27. Austin Peay got rushing touchdowns from Otis Gerron and Trey Thomas as the team combined to rush for 155 yards; the two rushing scores in one game was a season-high for the Govs. Quarterback Trey Thomas passed for 104 yards and a touchdown while Darrien Boone completed 6-of-7 passes for 85 yards. After not attempting a field goal for the first 10 games of the season, Dakota Vincil attempted and made two field goals in the game; he connected from 30 yards at the halftime horn and added a 22-yard field goal in the third quarter. Ben Campbell punted just four times in the game and now has 83 punts on the season, the second-straight season he has punted 80 or more times. He is just 10 punts shy of tying the OVC single-season punts record set in 1982. Defensively Antonio Turner led the way with 14 tackles, including 1.5 tackles-for-loss, while Adam Noble added 12 stops.
SCOUTING SOUTHEAST MISSOURI: Southeast Missouri led most of the way at Tennessee Tech, including 26-20 with 6:15 to play before seeing the Golden Eagles score with 4:16 to play to pull off the one-point victory. It marked the fourth-straight loss for the team since being 4-2 and nationally-ranked after its Oct. 4 win over No. 20 Tennessee State. DeMichael Jackson led the way with 172 rushing yards (7.8 ypc), marking his second 100-yard game of the season. Overall the Redhawks had 348 rushing yards on the day as quarterback Kyle Snyder had 64 rushing yards and a score to go along with 132 passing yards. Snyder now has 2,043 passing yards this season, which ranks third in the OVC. Snyder completed seven passes to Paul McRoberts who made his return from injury after being hurt in Sept. 20’s win over nationally-ranked Southeastern Louisiana. Kicker Ryan McCrum connected on field goals from 43, 32, 40 and 19 yards before seeing a desperation field goal of 62 yards blocked at the end of the game. McCrum, the only FCS kicker to make four field goals of 50 yards or longer this season, is 17-of-21 on the season (81.0%) with nine makes from 40 yards or longer (all of his misses have been from 43 or longer). McCrum currently ranks third nationally in field goals made/game (1.70).
#9 Chattanooga Mocs (7-3, 6-0 Southern)
at Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles (4-6, 3-4 OVC)
Saturday, Nov. 15 • 1:30 p.m. CT
Tucker Stadium (16,500) • Cookeville, Tenn.
TV:................................................... OVC Digital Network
Live Stats:.........................................
http://bit.ly/1tnXT3U
Series Record:........................... Chattanooga leads 28-10
Last Meeting:................... Chattanooga won 31-7 (8/31/06)
Russ Huesman at Chattanooga:.................... 38-28 (6 yrs.)
Russ Huesman Overall:............................................ same
Watson Brown at Tennessee Tech:................ 37-52 (8 yrs.)
Watson Brown Overall:......................... 131-203-1 (30 yrs.)
Chattanooga Last Week:.................. W, 31-13 vs. Wofford
Tennessee Tech Last Week: W, 27-26 vs. Southeast Missouri
GAME NOTES: In-state rivals Chattanooga and Tennessee Tech are playing for the first time since the 2006 season on Saturday. Overall it marks the 39th all-time meeting in the series. The two teams opened the 2006 campaign with the Mocs winning 31-7 in Cookeville. The game was tied at 7-7 following the first quarter before Eldra Buckley scored two of his three touchdowns in the second quarter to help push the Mocs to the victory; Buckley finished the game with 204 yards (11.3 yards/carry) while Erroll Wynn averaged 12.2 yards/carry on five carries. Lee Sweeney passed for 106 yards for TTU while Derek White led the rushing attack with 54 yards. Overall Chattanooga has won the last two meetings in the series; those two wins were preceded by three-straight wins by TTU (2002-04).
SCOUTING CHATTANOOGA: Chattanooga became the second FCS team to lockup a berth in the FCS Playoffs when it earned the Southern Conference’s automatic bid with a 31-13 win over Wofford on Saturday. The Mocs, ranked No. 9 in both of the latest national Top 25 polls, are now 6-0 in SoCon play with only a game with Furman left on their conference slate. It will mark the first playoff berth for the program since 1984 (and just second trip overall) and is the third outright SoCon title for the program (1979, 1984, 2014); UTC shared the league crown last year but missed out on the playoffs due to a tiebreaker. The Mocs played a challenging non-conference schedule and its only losses this season are to FBS foes Central Michigan and Tennessee and OVC foe Jacksonville State. Against Wofford junior quarterback Jacob Huesman completed 26-of-33 passes for 250 yards and a touchdown while Keon Williams rushed for 91 yards and three touchdowns. Huesman moved into eighth place in school history in total offense (7,382) and sixth place in career rushing yards (2,369) after running for 36 yards on 13 carries. On the season he has completed 66.2 percent of his passes while passing for 15 touchdowns and rushing for seven scores. Williams leads the team with 718 rushing yards and 11 touchdowns. All-American Davis Tull has 16.5 tackles-for-loss and 10.0 sacks for the Chattanooga defense; he has 36.5 career sacks which is now tied for the SoCon all-time record.
SCOUTING TENNESSEE TECH: Tech won its third OVC game of the season (its most Conference wins since winning the OVC Championship in 2011) by coming-from-behind to defeat Southeast Missouri 27-26. The Golden Eagles fell behind 13-0 and trailed for most of the fourth quarter until backup quarterback Jared Davis directed the team on a 76-yard scoring drive which was capped by a 32-yard touchdown run by Willie Davis. Davis finished the day with 216 passing yards and a touchdown while also rushing for 51 yards and a score. Davis had a team-high 75 yards on nine carries (8.3 ypc). Freshman Brock McCoin had seven catches for 120 yards, marking his second 100-yard receiving game of the season. Senior Austin Tallant was named OVC Co-Defensive Player of the Week after registering 12 tackles and an interception in the win. He had a key stop on at the one-yard line on third down on Southeast’s final scoring drive of the day, causing the Redhawks to go for a field goal instead of a touchdown; Tallant also forced a incomplete pass on Southeast’s next-to-last play of the day, which resulted in a long field goal on the next play (which was blocked). As a team Tech ranks second nationally in fumbles recovered (16) and 10th in turnovers gained (23).
Eastern Illinois Panthers (5-5, 5-1 OVC)
at #3 Jacksonville State Gamecocks (8-1, 6-0 OVC)
Saturday, Nov. 15 • 3:00 p.m. CT
Burgess-Snow Field at JSU Stadium (24,000) • Jacksonville, Ala.
TV:...................................................................... ESPN3
Live Stats:
http://stats.statbroadcast.com/broadcast/?id=62622
Series Record:............................ Eastern Illinois leads 6-5
Last Meeting:............. Eastern Illinois won 52-14 (11/16/13)
Kim Dameron at Eastern Illinois:......................... 5-5 (1 yr.)
Kim Dameron Overall:.............................................. same
John Grass at Jacksonville State:...................... 8-1 (1 yr.)
John Grass Overall:................................................. same
Eastern Illinois Last Week:......... W, 48-26 vs. Murray State
Jacksonville State Last Week: W, 20-6 at #15 Eastern Kentucky
GAME NOTES: The OVC Championship will be on the line on Saturday in Jacksonville by teams coached by first-year head coaches. A victory by the Gamecocks will give the team its fourth OVC crown and the league’s automatic bid to the FCS Playoffs while a Panthers victory and win next week over UT Martin will give them at least a share of its third-straight title (and eighth overall) and the automatic bid to the playoffs. The two teams have played 11 times since JSU joined the OVC in 2003, with Eastern Illinois holding a 6-5 margin after winning the last two matchups. In eight of the 11 meetings the team that has won the game has gone on to win the OVC Championship. Last season the No. 22 ranked Gamecocks traveled to No. 2 Eastern Illinois only to see the Panthers score 35 first quarter points on its way to a 52-14 victory. EIU outgained JSU 595 to 293 in total yards as running back Shepard Little ran for two touchdowns, passed for a touchdown and caught a touchdown all in the first quarter on his way to National Player of the Week honors. Eli Jenkins led JSU with 97 rushing yards while DaMarcus James added 80 yards on the ground. This year’s game features two of the top eight ranked offensive ranked teams in the FCS.
SCOUTING EASTERN ILLINOIS: Eastern Illinois won its fourth-straight game on Saturday, knocking off Murray State 48-26. The Panthers have now scored 40-plus points in three of its last four games and rank eighth nationally in total offense (498.4 yards/game). Jalen Whitlow earned his sixth OVC Newcomer of the Week honor of the season after throwing for 312 yards and three touchdowns and rushing for another score; Whitlow now ranks 13th nationally in points responsible for (15.8/game) and 21st in total offense (265.2 yards/game). Senior Adam Drake hauled in 11 of those passes for 176 yards and two touchdowns; he now ranks ninth in OVC history for career receiving yards (2,811) and 10th in career receptions (186) while his 1,153 receiving yards this year are now eighth in OVC single-season history. Taylor Duncan carried the ball 30 times for a career-high 171 yards and two scores in the win over MSU. Overall EIU had 654 yards of total offense in the win (the eighth-most in school history) while running 104 total plays (third-most in school history). Defensively Adam Gristick had 10 tackles and half a sack to go along with an interception at the goal line.
SCOUTING JACKSONVILLE STATE: Since its season-opening loss to nationally-ranked FBS foe Michigan State, Jacksonville State has reeled off eight-straight wins (the third-longest streak nationally) while averaging 39.1 points/game and 538.2 yards of total offense/game. The team is also 6-0 in OVC play for the first time in its history. JSU went to nationally-ranked EKU last week and limited the Colonels to 1-of-14 on third down in winning 20-6. The JSU defense, which now ranks second nationally in third down defense (23.3%), has now gone 13-straight quarters without allowing a touchdown and has outscored its last three opponents 125-9. The Gamecocks now rank fourth nationally in rushing offense (292.3 yards/game) and moved up to No. 3 in the Top 25 poll, picking up first-place votes for the first time since 2010. All-American DaMarcus James rushed for 170 yards and a touchdown to pass the Gamecocks and earn OVC Offensive Player of the Week honors; in the process he moved into second place on the JSU career rushing yardage list. Folo Johnson was named OVC Co-Defensive Player of the Week after tallying 14 tackles against the Colonels; junior safety DeBarriaus Miller added two interceptions and six tackles in the win. Freshman kicker Connor Rouleau connected on a 22 and career-long 48-yard field goal in the victory; the 48-yarder came with 8:35 to play in the game and gave the Gamecocks a seven-point lead.