• OVC Football Report – August 28 (PDF)
This Week’s Schedule
Thursday, August 31
Eastern Illinois at Indiana State, 6:00 p.m. (ESPN3)
Kentucky Wesleyan
at Murray State, 6:00 p.m. (OVC Digital Network)
Tennessee State at Georgia State, 6:00 p.m. (ESPN3)
Clarion
at UT Martin, 6:00 p.m. (OVC Digital Network)
Austin Peay at Cincinnati, 6:00 p.m. (ESPN3)
#25 Western Illinois
at Tennessee Tech, 6:00 p.m. (OVC Digital Network)
Saturday, September 2
Eastern Kentucky at Western Kentucky, 6:00 p.m. (FloFootball.com)
Southeast Missouri at Kansas, 6:00 p.m. (ESPN3)
This Week’s OVC Highlights/Storylines
The 70th season of football in the Ohio Valley Conference officially got underway last Saturday when Jacksonville State knocked off No. 12 ranked Chattanooga 27-13 in the Guardian Credit Union FCS Kickoff in Montgomery, Alabama...The game was part of Week Zero and saw the Gamecocks run its winning streak against non-FBS opponents in the regular season to 32 games...Senior running back Roc Thomas rushed for 122 yards (including a 76-yard touchdown) and caught three passes for 68 yards in the victory...JSU has this week off but the rest of the OVC will get into the swing of things with six games on Thursday night and two games on Saturday...Four of this week’s games will be played against Football Bowl Subdivision opponents; OVC teams are 34-216-1 all-time against FBS foes and have won at least one game against a FBS team in five of the past seven seasons...Two of the games are FCS vs. FCS contests as Tennessee Tech welcomes No. 25 Western Illinois while Eastern Illinois makes the short trip to Indiana State for the first meeting between the teams since 2009...Three OVC players begin the season on the Buck Buchanan Award Watch List for the National Defensive Player of the Year; the three are Jacksonville State’s Marlon Bridges and Darius Jackson and Tennessee State’s Ebenezer Ogundeko...Two OVC kickers, TSU’s Lane Clark and TTU’s Nick Madonia, were named to the Fred Mitchell Award Watch List...Five OVC players have been named to the Reece’s Senior Bowl Watch List including JSU’s Roc Thomas, Darius Jackson and Reggie Hall and TSU’s Ebenezer Ogundeko and Patrick Smith...The OVC is using instant replay for football for the first time in 2017.
Notes From Around the Gridiron
Let’s Get It Started: The 70th season of Ohio Valley Conference football got underway earlier than usual this season as Jacksonville State played in the Guardian Credit Union FCS Kickoff in Week Zero on Saturday, August 26. Six other OVC teams will play on Thursday, August 31 while the final two teams will play on Saturday, September 2. The OVC is made up of nine football-playing schools in 2016. Since its beginning, 15 of the 18 total schools that have played football in the league have claimed at least one championship.
Week Zero Games: Jacksonville State became the first OVC team to compete in “Week Zero” this season when they opened the season with a 27-13 win over No. 12 ranked Chattanooga on Aug. 26 at the Guardian Credit Union FCS Kickoff at the Cramton Bowl in Montgomery, Alabama. The FCS Kickoff began in 2014 and allows teams to play a game a week ahead of the start of the season if the game is broadcast on national television. It was one of three FCS games (and five FBS games) to be played in Week Zero. JSU will also play in the second annual Guardian Kickoff Classic on Aug. 25, 2018, against an opponent yet to be announced.
OVC Teams Against FBS Opponents: OVC teams will play four games against Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) opponents during Week 1 of the 2017 season. OVC teams are a combined 34-216-1 all-time against FBS team, including wins over FBS teams in five of the past seven seasons.
Jacksonville State Ranked 5/6 in National FCS Polls: To begin the 2017 season Jacksonville State is ranked No. 5 in the FCS Coaches Top 25 and No. 6 in the STATS Top 25 poll. Although JSU was the only team ranked in the Top 25, several other OVC teams were among others receiving votes including Tennessee State, UT Martin, Eastern Illinois and Eastern Kentucky.
Conference Winning Streaks: Jacksonville State has won 24 consecutive Conference games (dating back to the end of the 2013 season) which is the longest active streak nationally. Below is a list of active Conference winning streaks in the FCS. The all-time OVC record for consecutive Conference wins is 26 by Eastern Kentucky from 1992-95.
24 - Jacksonville State
15 - North Carolina Central
13 - San Diego
12 - Sam Houston State
11 - North Dakota
10 - James Madison
OVC Game of the Week on ESPN3: For the fifth-straight year the OVC is producing a “Game of the Week” package that will air on ESPN3 this fall. The eight-game schedule is once again in conjunction with Tupelo Raycom (formerly WebStream Sports), an Indianapolis-based company which is a proven leader in video production, streaming video and content creation Kevin Ingram, host of “The Wake Up Zone” on 104.5 The Zone in Nashville, will handle play-by-play duties while Bob Belvin, on-air talent and contributor at 104.1 FM/AM 540 (ESPN Clarksville), will provide analysis. The duo has worked together each of the past five years in the league’s TV package. Four of the eight contests are “Wildcard Selections” which will be announced 12 days before the game, guaranteeing the top matchups will be broadcast.
Sept. 23 - Tennessee State at UT Martin, 4 p.m.
Sept. 30 - Eastern Illinois at Tennessee State, 6 p.m.
Oct. 14 - Eastern Kentucky at Jacksonville State, 3 p.m.
Oct. 21 - Jacksonville State at Eastern Illinois, 2 p.m.
Oct. 28 - Wildcard Selection
Nov. 4 - Wildcard Selection
Nov. 11 - Wildcard Selection
Nov. 18 - Wildcard Selection
Three OVC Players on Buck Buchanan Award Watch List: Three OVC players begin the 2017 season on the Buck Buchanan Award Watch List. The award, sponsored by STATS, is given to the FCS Defensive Player of the Year. A national panel of over 150 sports information and media relations directors, broadcasters, writers and other dignitaries will vote on the winner following the regular season. The three OVC players are Jacksonville State senior defensive lineman
Darius Jackson (who finished fourth in balloting last year, tying the highest-ever finish by an OVC player) and sophomore defensive back
Marlon Bridges as well as Tennessee State senior defensive lineman
Ebenezer Ogundeko. The three selections were the second-most of any FCS conference.
UTM’s Cook Named to CFPA Performer of the Year Watch List: UT Martin senior quarterback
Troy Cook was the lone OVC player (and one of 42 nationally) on the preseason FCS National Performer of the Year Trophy Watch List by the College Football Performance Awards (CFPA). The goal of the CFPA is to provide the most scientifically rigorous conferments in college football. Recipients are selected exclusively based upon objective scientific rankings of the extent to which individual players increase the overall effectiveness of their teams. The 2017 FCS National Performer of the Year Trophy is a 22-inch K-9 optic crystal trophy with 8-inch crystal football on top. All FCS players are eligible for the award. The award winner will be announced January 10, 2018.
Two OVC Kickers Named to Fred Mitchell Award Watch List: Tennessee State senior
Lane Clark and Tennessee Tech junior
Nick Madonia have been named to the 2017 Fred Mitchell Award Watch List. The Fred Mitchell Award is given to the nation’s top collegiate place-kicker and takes into consideration excellence on the field and in the community. Overall 35 kickers were named to the initial watch list, including just six from the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS). The winner will be announced in December.
Five OVC Players Named to Reece’s Senior Bowl Watch List: Five OVC football student-athletes have been named to the 2017-18 Reese’s Senior Bowl Watch List. The selections included Jacksonville State running back
Roc Thomas, defensive end
Darius Jackson and defensive back
Reggie Hall and Tennessee State wide receiver
Patrick Smith and defensive end
Ebenezer Ogundeko. The five are among 31 FCS players on the watch list which includes over 400 total players form nearly every level of college football. These players are looking to fill the 110 roster spots that form the North and South squads for the nation’s premier all-star game. The game will be played on Saturday, Jan. 28, 2017, inside Ladd-Peebles Stadium in Mobile, Ala. and will be televised on the NFL Network.
Sgt. York Trophy Presented by Delta Dental of Tennessee Enters 11th Season: This year marks the 11th of the Sgt. York Trophy presented by Delta Dental of Tennessee. The trophy (founded in 2007 by the Nashville Sports Council and OVC) goes to the winner of the quadrangular season football series between the four OVC football-playing schools located in the state of Tennessee (Austin Peay, Tennessee State, Tennessee Tech and UT Martin). The award is only the second traveling trophy that involves more than two teams in college sports; the other is the Commander in Chief’s Trophy which has been contested between Air Force, Army and Navy annually since 1972. The award is named in honor of Alvin C. York, the most noted Soldier of World War I. As a corporal in the 2nd battalion, 328th Infantry, in the Battle of the Meuse River-Argonne (Oct. 8, 1918), York and seven other soldiers captured 132 prisoners, was promoted to sergeant and received the Distinguished Service Cross, the French Croix de Guerre, the French Legion of Honor, the Croce di Guerra of Italy and the War Medal of Montenegro. Upon his return to the United States in 1919, he was bestowed the Congressional Medal of Honor. The trophy goes to the team with the best record against the other schools (in case of a tie there will be co-champions and the actual trophy will be retained by the defending champion if they are involved in the tie or if the defending champion is not involved in the tie it will go to the institution that has gone the most seasons without winning the trophy).
NCAA Division I Playoff Information: This season marks the fifth of an expanded 24-team field for the NCAA Division I Football Championship; in 2010 the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) playoff field expanded to 20 teams, up from 16 previously, and in 2013 the field increased to 24 for the first time. The expansion in 2010 to 20 teams was the first since the field grew from 12 to 16 teams in 1997. The 24-team field is comprised of 10 automatic bids and 14 at-large berths. There are eight first round matchups (16 total teams), while eight (8) teams receive a bye into the second round. For the eighth time in 2017, the championship game will be played in Frisco, Texas at Toyota Stadium, a 20,500-seat multi-purpose stadium. The Southland Conference will serve as the host of the championship, which will be held on Saturday, January 6.
Academic Success: During the past academic year (2016-17) there were 114 OVC football student-athletes who were named to the Commissioner’s Honor Roll for having a 3.25 grade point average or higher. In addition, 10 student-athletes were awarded the OVC Academic Medal of Honor for achieving perfect 4.0 GPAs. The OVC also awards a Team Academic Award for the football program with the highest percentage of players with a 3.25 grade point average or higher; that award went to Eastern Illinois for 2016-17.
A Look at the Coaches: For the first time since 2011, all nine OVC head football coaches returned this season. Two OVC coaches, Jacksonville State’s
John Grass and Tennessee State’s
Rod Reed, are currently coaching at their alma mater. The longest tenured coach in the league is UT Martin’s
Jason Simpson who enters his 12th season with the Skyhawks in 2017. Simpson now has 72 overall victories in his career, eighth-most in OVC history (one out of seventh place).
Preseason Forecasts: For the fourth-straight year and sixth time in the past eight years, Jacksonville State has been picked the preseason football favorite in the OVC in a vote of league head coaches and sports information directors. The Gamecocks, who have won three-straight OVC Championships and 24-straight Conference games, received 16 of a possible 18 first-place votes in a poll of league head coaches and sports information directors. The Gamecocks totaled 128 total points to out-distance UT Martin, who picked up the other two first-place votes and was tabbed second (107 points). Tennessee State was picked third (96) and followed by Eastern Illinois (81), who was the last league team to beat Jacksonville State (at the end of the 2013 season). Eastern Kentucky was picked fifth (68) and followed by Tennessee Tech (64), Southeast Missouri (42), Murray State (41) and Austin Peay (21).
TSU’s Smith and JSU’s Jackson Headline Preseason All-OVC Team: Tennessee State senior wide receiver
Patrick Smith and Jacksonville State senior defensive lineman
Darius Jackson were named the 2017 OVC Preseason Offensive and Defensive Players of the Year in a vote of by the league’s head football coaches and sports information directors. Jacksonville State led the way with nine total preseason selections. UT Martin had six picks, followed by five picks from Tennessee State, two picks apiece from Eastern Kentucky, Murray State and Southeast Missouri and one apiece from Eastern Illinois and Tennessee Tech. Returning players who were first-team All-OVC selections last year (17 in total) were automatic selections to the preseason team this year. The squad also included five players who were second-team picks in 2016. Of the 28 total selections, 19 were seniors, six were juniors and three were sophomores.
Instant Replay: Beginning this season the OVC will have instant replay for all non-conference and conference home football contests. The league has partnered with DVSport to implement replay which is defined by Rule 12 of the NCAA Football Rule Book.
I-AA No More: Although some people may still refer to it as I-AA football, the term that represents the level of Division I football in which the Ohio Valley Conference competes has been long retired. Beginning with the 2006 National Championship game, the term Football Championship Subdivision (or FCS) is to be used. Teams who play at the FCS level can offer a maximum of 63 scholarships (Football Bowl Subdivision teams can offer 85) and compete in a 24-team playoff at the end of the season to determine the national champion.
OVC Digital Network: The OVC launched the OVC Digital Network (OVCDN) in August 2012. The OVCDN is the exclusive home for live web streamed athletic contests involving OVC schools. Overall 2017-18 marks the 12th year the OVC has streamed live events. Starting with the re-branding of the streaming in 2012-13, events were offered free of charge and in an HD format and featured improved quality thanks to an investment in new equipment conference-wide. Fans also find it easier to log onto OVCDigitalNetwork.com and access the streams and can do so without any registration. The events are available on any computer, tablet or smart phone without needing any special downloads or apps; the league has also launched a Roku channel so fans can watch even more easily on their televisions. The games are also available on-demand immediately following the end of the contest. Approximately 36 OVC football games will be available on the OVCDN this season.