Ohio Valley Conference

EKU's Josh Greco

UTM's Jason Coleman

JSU's Taurean Rhetta

EIU's Adam Kesler

OFFENSIVE
JOSH GRECO • QB, SO., 6-2, 200 • NAPLES, FL • EASTERN KENTUCKY
Greco threw for career-highs in yards (323) and touchdowns (four) in Eastern Kentucky's 52-3 win over Tennessee Tech. His four touchdown passes tied a school single-game record. The sophomore quarterback from Naples, Fla., completed 21-of-30 passes against the Golden Eagles (70 percent) and led EKU to touchdowns on first three drives of the game.

DEFENSIVE
JASON COLEMAN • CB, SR., 5-11, 175 • FAIRBURN, GA • UT MARTIN
Coleman tied for the team lead with 11 total tackles (nine solos) in UT Martin’s 31-28 victory at Gardner-Webb. A senior cornerback from Fairburn, Ga., Coleman also had two forced fumbles, a fumble recovery and an interception against Division I-AA’s No. 1 scoring offense, helping to shut out GWU in the second half and snap the Bulldogs’ 14-quarter scoring streak.

SPECIALIST
TAUREAN RHETTA • WR, SO., 6-1, 180 • BIRMINGHAM, AL • JACKSONVILLE STATE
Rhetta blocked two Southeast Missouri punts, the first of which was returned 20 yards to give Jacksonville State a 7-0 lead en route to the Gamecocks’ 24-10 win over Southeast Missouri. The Birmingham, Ala., native’s second block of the night came with 3:31 left in the game and helped seal the win for JSU. A sophomore wide receiver, Rhetta also had two catches for a team-high 38 yards on offense.

NEWCOMER
ADAM KESLER • WR, FR., 5-10, 170 • DEWEY, IL • EASTERN ILLINOIS
Kesler accounted for 134 all-purpose yards in Eastern Illionis' 43-14 win over Samford. The freshman wide receiver from Dewey, Ill., caught a team-high five pass receptions for 38 yards, ran once for 13 yards, returned three punts for 23 yards with a long of 15 and returned one kickoff for 57 yards.

NOTES FROM THE OVC GRIDIRON
EASTERN ILLINOIS (2-2 overall, 1-0 OVC): Sophomore QB Mike Donato threw for 229 yards and two touchdowns while junior TB Vincent Webb ran for two more scores as Eastern Illinois defeated Samford, 43-14, in its OVC opener...Donato threw to 11 different receivers, completing 22-of-28 passes with no interceptions...Freshman WR Adam Kesler accounted for 138 all-purpose yards in the contest, catching five passes (38 yds.), rushing once (13 yds.) and returning three punts (23 yds.) and one kickoff (57 yds.)...EIU had no turnovers while racking up 440 yards of offense, recording 81 plays and controlling the ball for 38 of the 60 minutes...The Panthers converted 13-of-20 first down attempts...Webb ran 20 times for 94 yards...Senior CB Terrance Sanders had a 30-yard fumble recovery for a touchdown to go with three tackles and a pass breakup...Senior Tom Schofield punted five times (42.0 ypp) with a long of 69 and one inside the 20...EIU takes the week off before visiting Southeast Missouri on Oct. 8.

EASTERN KENTUCKY (1-3 overall, 1-0 OVC): Eastern Kentucky snapped a three-game slide and kicked off the OVC portion of its schedule in convincing fashion, rolling to a 52-3 win over Tennessee Tech in front of a Homecoming Day crowd at Roy Kidd Stadium...EKU’s 49-point margin of victory is the largest of coach Danny Hope’s tenure and the most since a 59-3 win over UT Martin 59-3 on Oct. 4, 2002... Sophomore QB Josh Greco posted a completion rate of 70 percent (21-of-30) to finish with career-bests in both yards (323) and touchdowns. His four TD passes tied a school single-game record...Backup quarterbacks Zach Denton and Steven Sizemore each threw their first career TD strikes to give the Colonels six overall for the contest, equaling a school record...Senior WR Andre Ralston made four catches for a game-high 147 yards and three touchdowns, his first TDs since Oct. 16, 2004...Sophomore WR Kyle Barber’s nine receptions and 87 yards receiving are both career-highs...Junior MLB Brandon Rosser led all defenders with a career-high 16 tackles...Freshman Taylor Long’s 35-yard field goal in the second quarter was a season-long...The Colonels are back in action next Saturday, Oct. 1, at Jacksonville State.

JACKSONVILLE STATE (1-3 overall, 1-0 OVC): Junior TB Clay Green rushed for 126 yards on 22 carries and sophomore Taurean Rhetta blocked two punts to lead Jacksonville State to a 24-10 win over Southeast Missouri in its OVC opener...The win snapped a four-game losing skid for JSU that dated back to last season...The Gamecock defense finished the game with three interceptions, one fumble recovery and two blocked punts...Rhetta became the first player in JSU’s Division I history to block two punts in a game...Senior CB Skylar Mansfield returned one punt 20 yards for a touchdown...Senior LB Derrick Sistrunk returned his first career pickoff 46 yards for a touchdown, marking the Gamecocks' sixth-longest interception return in its Division I history and first for a TD since Oct. 12, 2002...JSU's 1-3 start is its first since 1999... Freshman Jarvis Smith recovered a fumble and recorded his first career interception to go with five tackles and a pass breakup...Jax State puts its four-game OVC win streak on the line Saturday, Oct. 1, when the Gamecocks return home to host Eastern Kentucky.

MURRAY STATE (1-2 overall, 0-0 OVC): Murray State's final game before beginning OVC play was a 42-0 loss to the Illinois State Redbirds...The Racer offense never got on track and and was held to 135 total yards in the game...Sophomore Ryne Salyer made his second career start in place of junior QB Ken Topps, who was still suffering the effects of two bruised shoulders he received the previous week against Indiana State...Topps did see action in the game, finishing as the Racers' leading rusher with 22 yards on nine carries while also completing 6-of-9 passes for 45 yards...Salyer went 5-of-13 passing for 27 yards...The tailback tandem of Chad Cook and Nick Turner was held to 22 combined yards on 22 carries as the Racers only managed 63 yards on the ground...The loss marked the first time MSU had been shut out since a 14-0 loss to Western Kentucky in 1991, a span of 159 games... Murray State enters OVC play with a losing record for the third straight season, traveling to Tennessee Tech on Oct. 1.

SAMFORD (1-3 overall, 0-1 OVC): Samford saw its losing streak stretch to three with a 43-14 loss at Eastern Illinois in its OVC opener...Sophomore QB Jefferson Adcock was 25-of-49 for a game-high 293 yards and two touchdowns with no interceptions...Sophomore WR Jeff Moore led the Bulldogs' receiving corps with seven catches for 102 yards and a touchdown...Samford ran for just 61 yards in the contest, led by junior RB Justin Ray with 11 carries for 36 yards...Sophomore LB Bobby Sherman led the team with 10 tackles...Junior Chris Hicks punted four times for an average of 43.8 yards with a long of 52...Freshman DE Mark Brown had the Bulldogs' lone sack of the contest and finished with four tackles, all solo...Following a tough three-game road stretch, the Bulldogs return home for a Sept. 29 game against Southeast Missouri, which will be televised live on ESPNU.

SOUTHEAST MISSOURI (0-4 overall, 0-1 OVC): Southeast Missouri put up impressive numbers on both sides of the ball in its OVC opener against Jacksonville State, but still came out on the short end of a 24-10 decision...Junior QB Kevin Ballatore made his first start at quarterback and responded with 22-of-37 passing for 195 yards and no interceptions before leaving the game midway in the third quarter with a foot injury...Backup QB Mike Haley entered to finish 14-of-26 for 160 yards, but tossed three interceptions...Senior DB Mike Miller recorded a game-high 11 tackles, including nine solo stops and a tackle-for-loss...The Redhawks rolled up 403 yards in total offense while holding Jacksonville State to just 253 yards...Southeast hits the road for Thursday night’s ESPNU-televised contest at Samford.

UT MARTIN (3-1 overall, 1-0 OVC): UT Martin sophomore TB Don Chapman scored three third-quarter touchdowns and the Skyhawk defense shut down the nation's top I-AA scoring offense to claim a 31-28 victory over host Gardner-Webb...The win gives head coach Matt Griffin more victories in one season than any other Skyhawk coach since 1995...Senior QB Brady Wahlberg completed 21-of-34 passes for 271 yards...Junior WR Taurean Stephens grabbed six catches for 105 yards. ...Senior kicker Taylor Brown converted just one of three field goal attempts, but hit four extra points to extend his perfect streak to 16 on the season...The UT Martin offensive line allowed the Skyhawks to rack up 459 yards of offense, while the defensive unit forced six turnovers and put an end to GWU’s streak of 14 consecutive scoring quarters with the second-half shutout...Senior CB Jason Coleman tied for a team-high with 11 tackles, including nine solo stops, while also recording two forced fumbles, a fumble recovery and an interception...The Skyhawks, 3-1 for the first time since 1995, take the week off before returning to action Oct. 8 at home against Tennessee Tech.

TENNESSEE STATE (1-3 overall, 0-1 OVC): Tennessee State's comeback attempt in the final seconds ended in heartbreak as Florida A&M stopped the Tigers on a fourth-and-goal situation to win the 2005 Atlanta Football Classic, 12-7...The Tigers' attempt for victory ended when junior QB Richard Hartman's pass was intercepted by FAMU’s Steve St. Felix at the one-yard line with 11 seconds left...TSU scored on its first possession as Hartman connected with Richard Gayle on a 62-yard scoring play to give the Tigers a 7-0 lead...TSU had 264 yards to FAMU's 261, but turnovers plagued the Tigers once again as they had five takeaways to FAMU's one...Hartman finished the game 17-of-33 for 238 yards and one touchdown while throwing three interceptions... Senior WR Fred Burnette had six catches for 96 yards...Senior LB Wesley Holmes had a team-high 10 tackles...Senior DL Frantzy Dorelan accounted for two of the Tigers' seven quarterback sacks in the contest... TSU closes out its non-conference schedule Oct. 1 against North Carolina A&T at the Circle City Classic in Indianapolis.

TENNESSEE TECH (1-3 overall, 0-1 OVC): Tennessee Tech suffered its largest margin of defeat in three years with a 52-3 loss at Eastern Kentucky in its OVC opener on Saturday...The loss was Tech’s largest since losing a 57-6 decision to Iowa State in the second game of the 2002 season...The contest marked the first time since 1988 (51-0 vs. Middle Tennessee) an OVC opponent had scored 50 or more points against the Golden Eagles...For the second straight week, a Josh Foster field goal kept Tech from getting shut out as he kicked a 22-yarder in the third quarter..Defensive backs Chris Grimes and Brian Davis made their first interceptions of the season, giving the Golden Eagle secondary a pickoff in every game this season...Wide receivers Brent McNeal (2 rec., 10 yds.) and Larry Shipp (5 rec., 30 yds.) extended their streaks of consecutive games with a catch to 14 and 13, respectively...Tech returns home to host Murray State on Saturday, Oct. 1.