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Saturday marks the fourth game of a six-game OVC football package of the American Sports Network (ASN). The contest features Eastern Illinois at Tennessee State and will kick off at 6:00 p.m. CT.
The American Sports Network is an initiative of the Sinclair Networks Group, LLC, owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group, Inc., which owns and operates programs and provides sales services to 164 television stations in 79 markets, reaching approximately 43 percent of U.S. television households. It includes FOX, ABC, CBS, MyTV, CW, NBC, Univision and Azteca affiliates.
The exact stations the game airs on varies by market; a complete listing of channels can be found in the PDF document at the top of the page.
A feed of the ASN broadcast will also be streamed online through the
OVC Digital Network.
GAME PREVIEW
Eastern Illinois Panthers (2-3, 2-0 OVC)
at Tennessee State Tigers (3-2, 0-2 OVC)
Saturday, Oct. 17 • 6:00 p.m. CT
Nissan Stadium (69,143) • Nashville, Tenn.
TV:........................................... American Sports Network
Live Stats:
http://stats.statbroadcast.com/statmonitr/?id=101135
Series Record:.......................... Eastern Illinois leads 11-7
Last Meeting:............... Eastern Illinois won 28-3 (10/25/14)
Kim Dameron at Eastern Illinois:..................... 7-10 (2 yrs.)
Kim Dameron Overall:.............................................. same
Rod Reed at Tennessee State:...................... 35-29 (6 yrs.)
Rod Reed Overall:................................................... same
Eastern Illinois Last Week: W, 33-28 vs. Southeast Missouri
Tennessee State Last Week:.............. L, 28-14 at UT Martin
GAME NOTES: Tennessee State hosts Eastern Illinois on Saturday for its annual Homecoming contest at Nissan Stadium. Saturday’s game marks the 19th all-time meeting between the schools. Eastern Illinois has won the last three in the series which includes a 28-3 victory at home a season ago. In that game only seven total points were scored in the first half and EIU led 14-3 after three quarters before scoring two touchdowns on long runs in the fourth quarter to put the game away. Shepard Little rushed for a game-high 130 yards and a touchdown while quarterback Jalen Whitlow added 91 rushing yards and a score on the ground to go along with 76 passing yards and a touchdown through the air. Darion Hall led TSU with 63 rushing yards while Michael German completed 16-of-25 passes for 149 yards. Anthony Goodman had an interception return for a touchdown for the Panthers.
SCOUTING EASTERN ILLINOIS: After entering OVC play winless (0-3), Eastern Illinois has rebounded to begin OVC play with a 2-0 record after its home victory over Southeast Missouri on Saturday. The Panthers jumped out to a 27-7 advantage before holding off a furious Redhawk rally that saw the final margin trimmed to 33-28. The Panthers tallied 455 yards of total offense and have nearly 1,000 yards of total offense over the past two weeks. Quarterback Jalen Whitlow passed for 282 yards and three touchdowns and rushed for a game-high 78 yards in the contest; he has five passing touchdowns over the past two games. Devin Church rushed for 75 yards and a score, caught three passes for 21 yards and a touchdown and had 55 yards on kickoff returns; Church now ranks seventh nationally in all-purpose yards (167.6/game). Freshman punter Mike Bernier earned OVC Specialist of the Week honors after averaging 40.6 yards on five punts; his biggest play of the game was a 54-yard punt with 34 seconds remaining that pinned Southeast on its own 5-yard line and prevented the Redhawks from completing the comeback. Senior linebacker Kamu Grugier-Hill had eight tackles in the game, four of which went for a loss (for a combined 14 yards). Grugier-Hill now ranks 17th nationally in tackles-for-loss (1.5/game). Jourdan Wickliffe added 11 tackles. Eastern Illinois is first in blocked kicks (4), sixth in tackles-for-loss/game (8.8), ninth in pass defense (160.6 yards/game) and 10th in punt returns (18.0 yards/return).
SCOUTING TENNESSEE STATE: After an open date Tennessee State returned to action at UT Martin last Saturday. The Tigers scored 14 first quarter points of the game but would be shut out the remainder of the game in falling 28-14. The game marked the return of redshirt freshman quarterback O’Shay Ackerman-Carter who had missed nearly two games with an injury. Ackerman-Carter completed 14-of-24 passes for 186 yards and a touchdown. The touchdown went to sophomore Patrick Smith on a 33-yard completion in the first quarter. Smith now has six receiving touchdowns on the season which ranks him seventh nationally; Smith has at least one touchdown in all five games this season. Telvin Hooks and backup quarterback Ronald Butler each had 36 rushing yards for the Tigers while Tom Smith added 34 yards and a rushing touchdown. Sophomore Chris Collins had a game-high 12 tackles and intercepted a pass in the loss; through five games he leads the team with 44 stops. Vantavious Williams added 10 tackles.