SATURDAY'S SCORES
@#24 Tennessee State 23,
#16 Eastern Kentucky 20
@UT Martin 51, Eastern Illinois 37
Murray State 52, @Austin Peay 14
Jacksonville State 37, @Tennessee Tech 28
#24 TENNESSEE STATE 23, #16 EASTERN KENTUCKY 20
NASHVILLE - A one-yard quarterback sneak by Michael German with eight seconds left gave Tennessee State a 23-20 victory over No. 16 ranked Eastern Kentucky at Hale Stadium Saturday afternoon.
The Tigers found themselves down 20-10 early in the fourth quarter as EKU (4-2, 2-1) kicker Luke Pray hit a 30-yard field goal, his second of the game, with 13:49 left.
Tennessee State (6-0, 2-0 OVC) responded on its next possession as Trabis Ward found the end zone from three yards out to cap a 12 play, 72-yard touchdown drive with 8:49 remaining. EKU blocked the extra point as its lead shrunk to 20-16.
Ward finished with 113 yards on 24 carries and a touchdown. He is now fourth on the all-time TSU rushing list with 1,816 yards, passing Eugene Bowens and Dante Thomas
The Tigers' defense stepped up and turned Eastern Kentucky over on downs as the Colonels failed to convert a fourth and nine on the TSU 32. TSU had 68 yards to go with 2:32 left to keep their perfect season alive.
The TSU offense converted a pair of third downs to sustain the drive as well as a fourth and one play from the EKU three-yard line. German's number was called as he picked up two yards to give the Tigers the ball at the one with 12 seconds remaining and no timeouts to set up his game winning touchdown on the next play.
The first drive of the game for TSU stalled in Colonel territory, but Jamin Godfrey pinned EKU inside their own 10-yard line. The 16th ranked Colonels would put together a 13 play, 91-yard drive that took nearly seven minutes to go up 7-0 on a one-yard run by quarterback T.J. Pryor.
TSU took advantage of a fumbled punt by Justin Bell at the EKU 24-yard line. Freshman Andrew Dale recovered the ball at the 20 to give TSU great field position.
TSU got on the scoreboard with 7:15 left in the half when German found A.C. Leonard in the end zone for an 11-yard score to tie the game at seven.
German was 17-of-27 for 228 yards with a touchdown and an interception. He also rushed for 18 yards. Leonard led all receivers with five receptions.
Just like last week, TSU would go into the locker room after a Godfrey field goal, this one from 46 yards out as time expired to give the Tigers a 10-7 halftime edge.
Eastern Kentucky started the second half off just like they did the first, with a lengthy touchdown drive. Matt Denham ran in from four yards out to put EKU back up 14-10. Denham had 33 carries for 114 yards and a touchdown.
The Colonels had their third 70-plus yard scoring drive of the game as Pray hit a 21-yard field goal to put EKU up seven.
Defensivley, linebacker Nick Thrasher had a game-high 12 tackles, including his first sack of the season. Redshirt sophomore defensive back Harold Watson also had the first interception of his career on the final play of the game as EKU threw a hail mary that was caught by Watson at the TSU 30 yard line
UT MARTIN 51, EASTERN ILLINOIS 37
MARTIN, Tenn. - Senior quarterback Derek Carr completed 29-of-38 passes and threw four touchdown passes to lead The University of Tennessee at Martin to a 51-37 Ohio Valley Conference victory over Eastern Illinois Saturday afternoon at Hardy M. Graham Stadium.
With the win the Skyhawks are 4-2 overall and 2-1 in the OVC. Eastern Illinois is 3-3 on the season and 2-1 in the league.
Carr threw for 312 yards, all but 69 yards of the Skyhawks’ total offense.
Junior college transfer Jeremy Butler caught six passes for 98 yards and two touchdowns, including an 18-yard pass for a first quarter touchdown. Senior wide receiver Quentin Sims caught nine passes for 101 yards and one touchdown.
The Skyhawks scored a total of four touchdowns via the air and one touchdown from the rushing attack.
It was Kevin Barfield’s 93-yard kickoff return to open the game that started the scoring spree for the Skyhawks.
Eastern Illinois, who has been averaging 47 points per game, didn’t lie down. The visiting Panthers fought back from a 21-6 deficit in the first quarter to make it a 30-19 game at the half.
EIU quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo completed 36-of-55 passes for 428 yards. EIU piled up 616 yards of total offense and trailed 44-22 going into the fourth quarter.
The Panthers outscored the Skyhawks 15-7 in the fourth quarter.
MURRAY STATE 52, AUSTIN PEAY 14
CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. - The Murray State Racers improved to 3-3 on the year and 2-1 in the OVC with a 52-14 win over Austin Peay (0-6, 0-4 OVC) on Saturday night at Governors Stadium in Clarksville, Tenn.
Senior Casey Brockman notched his third 400-yard plus game of the season and seventh of his career by going 38-for-43 for 455 yards and five touchdowns. Junior Walter Powell led the Racers' receiving corps on the night by making nine catches for 172 yards and two touchdowns. Senior Dontel Watkins (Nashville, Tenn.) also had two scores on the night with six catches for 70 yards.
Brockman entered the game needing just two touchdowns to tie former Racer Michael Proctor (1986-89) for the most touchdown passes in school history. Brockman tied the record in the first quarter with his second score of the night, a 38-yard pass to junior Duane Brady, to give him 52 for his career.
With just 21 seconds left in the first half, Brockman broke the record on a 12-yard pass to senior Ja-Vonta Trotter to give the Racers a 24-14 halftime lead. Murray State's last drive of the half lasted just 34 seconds and went five plays for 45 yards.
With his third pass in the second half, a 16-yarder to freshman Jeremy Harness, Brockman passed former Eastern Illinois and current Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo for third on OVC all-time passing list. Romo ended his four-year career with the Panthers with 8,212 passing yards.
Next up for Brockman on both the OVC and Murray State passing yard leaderboard is Proctor who had 8,682 passing yards in his four years with the Racers. Passing Proctor will not only allow Brockman to become second on the all-time OVC list and first on the all-time Murray State list, it will also allow him to officially top all four major career categories for a Murray State quarterback, including passing yards, attempts, completions and touchdowns.
Those weren't the only records Brockman broke on the night as he also became the OVC's all-time leader in completions with 793. He took the record from Morehead State's Chris Swartz who ended his career with the Eagles with 774. Brockman also passed Swartz on the OVC total offense list, as he now has 8,856 yards of total offense for his career.
In the second half, the Racers poured on the offense with four touchdowns and 279 total yards. Brockman combined with freshman K.D. Humphries in the frame for 233 passing yards on 18 completions. Murray State ended the game with 35 straight unanswered points.
Humphries closed out the game with a nine-yard pass to Watkins with just over six minutes to play for his first collegiate touchdown. Freshman Marc Wynstra got a first of his own on the play, by kicking his first collegiate extra point.
Defensively, the Racers were led by freshman T-Ray Malone who had 11 total tackles on the night, including four solo and one for a loss. Junior Corey Addison led the team in solo tackles in the game with five to finish the night with six total.
JACKSONVILLE STATE 37, TENNESSEE TECH 28
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. - It took a full quarter for Jacksonville State's offense to get cranked up against Tennessee Tech Saturday night. Once it did, the host Golden Eagles couldn't stop the Gamecocks.
Marques Ivory passed for 268 yards and Griffin Thomas kicked a career-high three field goals as Jacksonville State dug itself out of an early 14-point hole to defeat Tennessee Tech 37-28 before a crowd of 7,141 at Tucker Stadium.
The Gamecocks, who trailed 14-13 at halftime, rolled up a season-best 566 yards of total offense to improve to 3-2 overall and 2-1 in the Ohio Valley Conference. It was the most yards gained by JSU's offense on an opponent's field since 2009.
Jacksonville State's defense, meanwhile, limited Tennessee Tech to just 266 yards – or two yards fewer than Ivory recorded with his arm.
Jacksonville State scored twice in a span of 2:42 late in the third quarter to seize control.
After Doug Page scored to give the Golden Eagles a 28-16 lead with 4:07 left in the third, JSU answered with a quick strike of its own to regain momentum.
Freshman Telvin Brown returned a kickoff 72 yards to the TTU 27. Backup quarterback Coty Blanchard on first down ran into the end zone and Thomas tacked on the extra point to make it 28-23 at the 3:48 mark. It was Jax State's first one-play scoring drive since 2010.
A 55-yard Tennessee Tech punt pinned the Gamecocks at the 3 on their next possession. On the drive's fourth play, Ivory hit Brown in stride in front of the Golden Eagles' bench and the freshman outran the defenders to complete the 86-yard touchdown pass.
Thomas tacked on the extra point to give the Gamecocks their first lead, 30-28, with 1:06 remaining in the third quarter.
The teams combined for 321 yards and 31 points during the frenetic third quarter.
The Gamecocks dominated the second quarter – piling up 170 yards to Tennessee Tech's 33 ¬– and came away with points on all three of their drives to pull with a point (14-13) at halftime.
Thomas kicked field goals of 34 and 32 yards and DaMarcus James scored on a 4-yard run. James finished with a game-high 130 yards on 28 carries.
The Golden Eagles struck first, piecing together a 69-yard, five-play drive on their second possession. Tre Lamb connected with Cody Matthews for 34 yards and to Stephen Bush for 17 more as Tennessee Tech drove into the red zone.
Bud Golden followed with runs of nine and eight yards and Lamb finished off the drive with a 1-yard run at the 9:59 mark for a 7-0 TTU lead.
JSU responded with a lengthy 13-play drive that eventually stalled at the TTU 6. Thomas came on to attempt a 24-yard field goal, but his kick sailed wide right.
Tennessee Tech stretched its lead to 14-0 on JSU's next possession when TTU's Caleb Matthews intercepted a Coty
Blanchard pass and returned the pick-six 49 yards. Zach Sharp tacked on the extra point to stretch the Golden Eagles' lead to 14-0 with 2:16 to play in the opening quarter.
Next up for Jacksonville State is a trip to Eastern Illinois (3-3, 2-1 OVC) next Saturday.