SATURDAY'S SCORES
#21 Eastern Illinois 40, @San Diego State 19
Jacksonville State 24, @Alabama State 22
@Missouri 58,
Murray State 14
@Tennessee 45,
Austin Peay 0
EASTERN ILLINOIS 40, SAN DIEGO STATE 19
SAN DIEGO, Calif. - The last time Eastern Illinois played San Diego State in Qualcomm Stadium, the Panthers lost as the Aztecs beat a Tony Romo led Panthers team 40-7. With senior Jimmy Garoppolo at the helm on Saturday night the Panthers scored 40 points during a 40-19 victory.
The win was the fifth by the Panthers over an FBS school and the first since beating Eastern Michigan in 2004.
EIU’s defense did its job limiting San Diego State to only 122 yards rushing and four field goals by Wes Feer.
The Panther football team accumulated 533 yards of total of offense with Garoppolo passing for 361 yards and three touchdowns. Garoppolo was 31-of-46.
With the game tied at 19 with 10:57 left in the third quarter, the Panthers scored 21 unanswered points to secure the victory. EIU’s defense held the Aztecs to only a Feer 38-yard field goal in the second half.
EIU picked off four Adam Dingwell passes with Alex McNulty coming up with two. Dingwell passed for 318 yards on 27-of-63 passes. The Panthers had four sacks.
Keiondre Gober put EIU up 19-13 with 3:22 left in the first half as he hauled in a 62-yard pass from Garoppolo. Gober finished with six catches for 140 yards. EIU missed the extra point, one of two missed on the night. SDSU trailed 19-16 at the half as Feer knocked home a 22-yard field goal with 16 seconds left to cut the Panthers margin to three.
Taylor Duncan rushed for 92 yards with two second half touchdowns as the Panthers ground game finished with 172 yards. Duncan scored on a two-yard run at the 7:36 left in the third quarter to break the 19-19 tie. Duncan iced the game with a 45-yard touchdown with 4:30 left in the game.
Sheperd Little scored to open the fourth quarter on a 60-yard punt return. Erik Lora caught two first half touchdowns for EIU finishing with ten catches for 87 yards.
The solid defensive effort was spearheaded by Jourdan Wickliffe and Adam Gristick with ten tackles each. EIU has 11 pass break-ups with DJ Bland knocked down five and intercepting another pass. EIU’s rebuilt front four finished with 11 tackles for loss.
JACKSONVILLE STATE 24, ALABAMA STATE 22
MONTGOMERY, Ala. - The third quarter proved to be a big one for the Jacksonville State football team in head coach Bill Clark's debut on Saturday, when the Gamecocks scored all 24 points and then held on for a 24-22 win over Alabama State.
After gaining just 151 yards in a scoreless first half that saw the Hornets (0-1) take a 6-0 lead into the locker room, the Gamecocks (1-0) gained 183 in the third quarter, outscoring ASU 24-3 in the process.
The Hornets mounted a little rally in the fourth quarter, scoring twice in a four-minute stretch. The Gamecock defense held on a two-point try with 7:33 to play and then ended any hope for the Hornets when Brenton Tolson picked off Daniel Duhon with 48 seconds to play.
In Clark's debut as a collegiate head coach, he became just the fourth JSU head coach to win his debut and the first since Jim Fuller in 1977. More importantly, he got the new era of Gamecock football off to a fast start.
Redshirt freshman Eli Jenkins earned the starting nod at quarterback for the Gamecocks after a neck-and-neck battle with junior Max Shortell and sophomore Kyle West, but it would be Shortell that put the JSU offense on his back during that decisive third quarter.
The transfer entered the game early in the second quarter and ended up throwing for 216 yards and two touchdowns on 13-for-23 passing. He also ran for 22 of JSU's 108 yards on the ground.
Eight Gamecock receivers caught at least one pass, four of which caught their first career passes during the game. Sophomore Telvin Brown caught a career-best five passes for 76 yards and a touchdown to lead that receiving corps.
Defensively, sophomore Brandon Bender racked up 14 tackles, 10 more than his previous career high, and sophomore Jermaine Hough added nine. Five different players put sacks in their stat column.
Preseason All-American Isaiah Crowell ran for 93 of the Hornets' 201 rushing yards, while Daniel Duhart completed 18 of his 36 passes for a score and 204 yards. His top target DeMario Bell caught five of those passes for 115 yards.
Sophomore Hamish MacInnes kept the Gamecocks in the game early, booming big punt after big punt. He ended the night with a 46.4-yard average on eight kicks, pinning two inside of the 20 and one on the ASU one.
Bobby Wenzig was the Hornets' big scorer, connecting on all three of his field goal tries and his only PAT try.
Defense was the story early on. Both teams combined for just 114 total yards and five first downs in the first quarter, a period that also saw a combined seven punts.
Special teams set up the game's first score early in the second quarter. Cyrus Malcolm's 49-yard punt return set the Hornets up at the Gamecocks 29 and, after a stop by the JSU defense, the Hornets' Wenzig connected on a 42-yard field goal that put ASU up 3-0 with 11:17 left in the half.
Wenzig tacked three more points on just over six minutes later after a stalled ASU drive led to a 35-yard kick that stretched the score to 6-0 in ASU's favor.
The Gamecocks mounted a threat late in the second half with a drive that started at their own 28 with 4:53 to play. Shortell went to work, connecting on long gains to Troymaine Pope, Josh Barge and Brown and put the Gamecocks on the one-yard line. As the clock ticked toward the half, DaMarcus James was stopped to allow the Hornets to take their 6-0 lead into the half.
The Gamecocks went to work to start the 2nd half, taking the opening kick 68 yards in just eight plays. Shortell orchestrated the scoring drive and used a 20-yard pass to Spencer Goffigan to set JSU up on the Hornets' two. Pope punched it in on the next play, capping the drive that took just 2:29 off of the clock. Griffin Thomas' extra point gave the Gamecocks their first lead at 7-6 and snapped a six-quarter scoreless streak for the Gamecock offense.
Alabama State answered on the ensuing drive, taking the ball 42 yards on 11 plays before stalling and having to turn to Wenzig again. He was true from 35 yards this time and put his team in front 9-6 with 9:25 left in the third quarter.
The scoring continued on JSU's ensuing possession, one that took nine plays to go 75 yards for another score. Shortell found freshman Anthony Johnson for a 13-yard pass early in the drive, the first reception of the Maplesville, Ala., native's career. His second came six plays later and resulted in a 23-yard JSU touchdown.
There was an answer on the next drive but it was the Gamecock defense that came up with it. Rob Gray stripped the ball from quarterback Daniel Duhart and Jamill Lot fell on it, setting up the Gamecocks on the ASU 45.
Shortell wasted no time, finding Telvin Brown over the top for another touchdown, JSU's second in 66 seconds, to stretch the lead to 21-9 with just under six minutes left in the third quarter.
Another defensive stop saw JSU take the ball and drive back into the ASU red zone, but the Gamecocks had to settle for a 22-yard field goal from Thomas that gave them a 24-9 lead late in the third quarter.
Alabama State got its first turnover early in the fourth quarter, and it led to the Hornets' first touchdown of the game. Shortell's pass over the middle was icked off by Maurice Tate, who returned it 16 yards to the Gamecock six. Jahaad Coleman ran it in on the first play of the drive and cut JSU's lead to 24-16 with 11:29 to play.
Another special teams play set up the next score, and it wasn't in JSU's favor. Wenzig's 51-yard punt was muffed by Brown, and the Hornets' Marquis Lovett recovered at the Gamecock nine. Two plays later, Duhart found Chris Gilzeane fo an eight-yard touchdown, but the Hornets' two-point attempt failed with JSU clinging to a 24-22 lead with just under eight minutes remaining.
MISSOURI 58, MURRAY STATE 14
COLUMBIA, Mo. - Murray State had an explosive start to the 2013 season as they stormed out to a first-quarter lead before the depth of Missouri wore down the Racers in the second half in a 58-14 victory.
The Tigers (1-0) were driving on their first possession, but a fumble recovery by Darrian Skinner set up the Racer offense near midfield. Maikhail Miller used his legs to rush for 23 yards and a big first down, and then hit Walter Powell over the middle for 17-yard touchdown.
MU came back and scored on back-to-back possessions, but Zach Dean blocked the second extra point to keep the deficit at 13-7.
The Racers (0-1) were able to regain the lead late in the first quarter as they put together a 14-play drive that covered 83 yards and took 4:41 off the clock. After MSU picked up a first down, the Tigers looked return an interception deep into Racers territory before a defensive holding call negated the play.
MSU took advantage and Duane Brady broke off a 17-yard run around the right side. Facing a 4th-and-2 in the red zone, the Racers decided to leave the offense on the field and Miller rushed for four yards and the first down. The Racers then went into their bag of tricks as Miller threw the ball back to Jeremy Harness, who returned the ball to Miller on the left side. Miller made a spin move to make the defender miss and scamper in for the five-yard touchdown.
The Tigers began the second quarter by James Franklin hitting Jimmie Hunt for a 21-yard touchdown to put MU ahead 20-14. MU added to the lead midway through the quarter on a Marcus Murphy four-yard touchdown run.
The second half gave the Racers an opportunity to get a lot of players some game action. Redshirt freshman Marcus Holliday carried the ball seven times for 11 yards in the fourth quarter, while also hauling in a pair of passes. Quarterback Parks Frazier was impressive in his first action as a Racer by going 6-for-6 for 24 yards.
Miller made an impression in his Racer debut as he went 16-for-32 for 145 yards and a touchdown. He also led the team with 73 yards on 11 carries. He was not done yet as he hauled in a five-yard touchdown pass.
Paul Rice led the receivers with five catches for 63 yards. Powell added four catches for 35 yards, while Nevar Griffin had four grabs for 24 yards.
The defense was led by five seniors as Corey Addison, Darian Yahyavi, Darrell Smith, Brandon Wicks and Sam Small each recorded seven tackles. Jeremy Brackett recorded the only sack for the Racers, while Travis Taylor forced a fumble that was recovered by Darrian Skinner.
TENNESSEE 45, AUSTIN PEAY 0
CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. - The Kirby Cannon era got underway with Austin Peay State University’s football visiting Rocky Top, Saturday, and suffering a season-opening 45-0 loss to Football Subdivision foe Tennessee.
It’s the third consecutive season-opening loss for the Govs (0-1), dating back to the 2010 campaign. Tennessee (1-0) won its first game under new head coach Butch Jones – its 800th victory all-time – and improved to 7-0 all-time against Ohio Valley Conference foes.
The Volunteers got out to a host start and never looked back. Tennessee set the tone early, scoring on each of its six first-half drives. Austin Peay surrendering scoring drives of 64, 25, 61, 49, 80 and 68 yards as Tennessee took a commanding 42-0 lead into halftime.
Austin Peay junior quarterback Andrew Spivey suffered through feast or famine in the early going. He missed on his first three pass attempts, including his first career interception, before completing eight consecutive passes on the Govs first extended drive – a 10-play, 65-yard push that opened the second quarter. However, he missed on his final five attempts of the first half.
Austin Peay’s second quarter 65-yard drive was highlight by a pair of receptions by junior Darryl Clack, including a 35-yarder that put Austin Peay into Tennessee territory for the first time. The Govs drive stalled inside the Volunteer red zone and junior Walter Spears pushed his 31-yard field goal attempt wide to the right denying Austin Peay a score.
Tennessee got a Michael Palardy field goal to open the second half, but Austin Peay forced the Volunteers to punt for the first time at the seven-minute mark of the third quarter.
A 33-yard Clack reception was part of the Govs second extended drive – a 14-play, 72-yard effort that put the Govs in Tennessee territory for the second time, this time with Jacob Sexton under center. A Tim Phillips rush that was ruled a fumble on the field was overturned, giving the Govs a break deep in Volunteer territory.
Phillips broke a run to the two yard-line on the very next play, but a holding penalty wiped out the majority of ground gained and put the Govs back at the 24-yard line. Three Sexton runs, including a gutsy fourth-and-one keeper, gave Austin Peay a red-zone first down to start the fourth-quarter. However, Sexton’s pass to Clack was intercepted by Malik Foreman at the six yard line to snuff out a fantastic chance for the Govs.
After being outgained by a 317-99 margin in the first half, Austin Peay recovered and narrowed the yardage deficit to 447-211. Austin Peay matched Tennessee through the air, each team amassing 132 passing yards, but Tennessee dominated the ground with 315 rushing yards.
Clack led Austin Peay’s offense with three receptions for a career-high 80 yards. Phillips was the Govs ground leader with eight carries for 37 net yards. Junior punter Ben Campbell averaged 45 yards on six punts.
Tennessee senior tailback Rajion Neal rolled to 142 yards and a touchdown on 16 carries – all in the first half. Junior Deanthonie Summerhill took over in the second half and added 67 yards on nine carries.