SATURDAY'S SCORES
Eastern Illinois 24, @Eastern Kentucky 0
@#2 Jacksonville State 33, UT Martin 7
Tennessee State 32, @Southeast Missouri 31
@Tennessee Tech 55, Murray State 19
@Kentucky,
Austin Peay
EASTERN ILLINOIS 24, EASTERN KENTUCKY 0
RICHMOND, Ky. - Eastern Illinois defense held Eastern Kentucky to 19 yards of total offense and no first downs in the second half as the Panthers ended the 2016 season on a high note Saturday afternoon with a 24-0 win at Roy Kidd Stadium.
The Panthers end the season at 6-5 overall, 4-4 in the OVC. It was the first shutout by the Panthers since Sept. 12, 2009 when EIU beat Indiana State, 31-0. The Sycamores will be the Panthers season opening opponent next year. EIU’s last shutout against an OVC opponent was a 21-0 win over Southeast Missouri on Oct. 7, 2006.
EKU was held to 152 yards for the game and never entered the red zone on the day as the Colonels finished the season at 3-8 overall, 2-6 in the OVC. In the third quarter alone EIU held Eastern Kentucky to negative one yard as the Colonels had 12 offensive plays. Ethan Thomas had 80 of the 152 yards with 33 of those coming on a single run in the first half.
EIU’s offense pounded out 304 yards on the ground and 431 yards for the day. Devin Church went over the 1,000 yard mark for the season as he finished with 177 yards on 25 carries with one touchdown.
Eastern Illinois avoided the turnover bug in the first half as the Panthers built a 7-0 halftime lead forcing three Eastern Kentucky turnovers.
The Panthers were unable to muster any offense on the first two turnovers set up by a Nick Horne forced fumble and Tray Mitchell interception. The final first half EKU turnover was a muffed punt that was recovered by a host of EIU players falling on the loose ball.
EIU took advantage of that turnover as Jared Pilson hit Church on a swing pass that Church took down to the three yard line on a 30-yard reception. Pilson would score two plays later on a 3-yard run with 4:15 left to play in the first half. Pilson made the start at quarterback going 8-of-11 with 127 yards passing. He added 41 yards on the ground.
A second long pass by Pilson set up the Panthers second touchdown of the game. Pilson hit Anthony Taylor with a 40-yard pass to put the ball inside the 10-yard line. Church scored on an eight yard touchdown putting EIU up 14-0 with 4:32 to play in the third quarter.
Nick Bruno tacked on a field goal early in the fourth quarter that gave the Panthers a 17-0 lead before Darshon McCullough added a four-yard plunge into the end zone with 3:59 remaining in the game. McCullough’s short touchdown was set up by a 69-yard run by Church that put the Panthers in business in the red zone.
EIU’s defense was led by Horne with eight tackles, four tackles for loss, two sacks and a forced fumble.
Mack Weaver added six tackles. EKU was led by Jeffery Canady with 15 tackles.
#2 JACKSONVILLE STATE 33, UT MARTIN 7
JACKSONVILLE, Ala. - No. 3 Jacksonville State intercepted UT Martin quarterback Troy Cook four times in the first half and cruised to a 33-7 blowout victory at Burgess-Snow Field on Saturday to claim their third consecutive OVC championship and the league's automatic berth in the FCS playoffs.
JSU became the first program since Eastern Kentucky (1982-84) to earn three straight outright titles with its 24th consecutive OVC record, two shy of the all-time record.
Jacksonville State will carry a 10-1 record into the FCS playoffs. The Gamecocks are expected to have a first-round bye and host a second-round game at Burgess-Snow Field on Saturday, Nov. 26.
The NCAA Selection Show airs on ESPNU Sunday at 10 a.m.
Quarterback Eli Jenkins ran for a career-high four touchdowns on Senior Day in his last regular-season game at The Snow. The senior from Birmingham now has 3,607 rushing yards, the 10th-highest total for a quarterback in FCS history.
As the time-honored strains of Queen's "We Are the Champions" and Kool & the Gang's "Celebration" resonated throughout Burgess-Snow Field, Jacksonville State's players and coaches accepted the OVC championship trophy and then turned their attention to postseason play.
JSU's top-ranked defense served notice to any potential playoff opponents by totally shutting down the No. 1 scoring offense in the OVC at 34.5 points per game.
Cook was intercepted by Jaylen Hill (twice), Marlon Bridges and Darius Jackson as the Gamecocks built a 19-0 lead by intermission. Hill's second interception was the 13th of his career, moving him into first place in JSU's Division I history.
UT Martin's only points came on a 20-yard touchdown pass from Cook to Greg McKillion with 1:08 remaining in the third quarter that cut JSU's lead to 26-7.
The Skyhawks (7-5, 6-2) had their five-game win streak and faint NCAA playoff hopes end.
Jacksonville State's offense was efficient all afternoon and capitalized on the turnovers forced by the defense.
Hill's first interception on the game's opening series led to the first of Jenkins' four touchdowns, a one-yard quarterback sneak with 12:20 left in the first quarter.
UT Martin's passing woes continued on the ensuing series when Jackson picked off another Cook pass and returned it 20 yards to the 11. Jacksonville State settled for Cade Stinnett's 28-yard field goal for a 9-0 lead with just over five minutes off the clock.
Bridges' first-quarter interception - his ninth takeaway of the season - gave the Gamecocks possession at UTM's 32 late in the first. Stinnett converted on a 41-yard field goal when the drive stalled to stretch JSU's lead to 12-0.
Hill's electrifying 77-yard interception return after the Skyhawks had driven deep into JSU territory set up Jenkins' second touchdown, a nine-yard run with 6:05 to go in the second quarter.
Jenkins added touchdown runs of 32 and 10 yards in the second half. He finished with 54 yards on 12 carries, plus 104 passing yards.
Senior receiver Josh Barge caught three passes to extend his FCS record of games with at least one reception to 49 in a row. Barge is current tied with Cooper Kupp of No. 2 Eastern Washington, who left his team's game with an injury in the third quarter Friday night.
Bridges and Quan Stoudemire had a game-high 10 tackles apiece to lead Jacksonville State defensively.
TENNESSEE STATE 32, SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 31
CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. - Ronald Butler found Patrick Smith for a 14-yard touchdown pass with 16 seconds remaining in regulation to give Tennessee State a 32-31 come from behind victory at Southeast Missouri State on Saturday afternoon. With the win the Tigers close out the regular season at 7-4 overall, 4-3 in Ohio Valley Conference play, while Southeast Missouri falls to 3-8, 3-5 in the OVC.
SEMO used a 26 yard field goal from Ryan McCrum to extend its lead to 31-25 with 2:48 left on the clock. The Redhawks then received a big tackle on the ensuing kickoff, pinning the Tigers at the 12 yard line.
Butler opened the drive with a 23 yard strike to Smith for some breathing room as the junior receiver stepped out of bounds at the 35. Two plays later the duo teamed up again, this time for 28 yards moving TSU to the SEMO 32. After a pair of running plays, Butler found Steven Newbold for 13 yards on a third-and-five, which put TSU at the 14 yard line. Two plays later Butler connected with Smith to even the score at 31-31. Lane Clark added the extra point giving TSU the one point advantage.
The Redhawks tried a long pass play on the final play of the game, but senior Ezra Robinson pulled down his fifth interception of the season to secure the win. The Tigers had gone four games without a pick, after collecting 12 in the first six games of the season.
Smith finished the game with a career high 11 catches as he went for 166 yards and two touchdowns.
Butler closed out his career completing 18-of-34 passes for 279 yards and four touchdowns. Butler cemented himself in the TSU record books finishing seventh in passing attempts (678), eighth in completions (385) and seventh in touchdown passes (43).
SEMO jumped out to a quick 7-0 lead with a score on the opening drive of the game. The Tigers needed to wait a couple series before pulling even when Butler found Mahlon Medley from a yard out.
The Tigers earned their first lead of the game as Clark converted on a 46 yard field goal for a 10-7 lead just before the end of the first quarter.
SEMO used the first of three field goals from McCrum to knot things up at 10-10, 3:11 before half time.
The Tigers moved quickly down the field, keyed by a 20 yard pass from Butler to Newbold, giving the offense a chance to put more points on the board. The drive would stall setting up a Clark 49 yard attempt into the wind. The Hays, Kan. native drilled a low kick over the cross bar with room to spare as TSU jumped in front 13-10.
The kick capped off a terrific junior campaign, as it entered the record books as the eighth longest in school history. The mark goes along with four others on the season including the top three (57, 55, 54) to go along with the fifth longest at TSU (52).
Clark’s eight points on the day gives him 89 on the season, trailing only Jamin Godfrey (97) from 2013 for most points for a kicker in a single season. The kicker’s 17 made field goals in 2016 fell one short of Godfrey’s 18 in 2013.
After a McCrum field goal, the Tigers regained its lead in the third quarter as Butler once again found Medley in the middle of the field for a 38 yard scoring play. The touchdown was the second on the day for Medley and third of the season. The sophomore tight end caught three balls for 58 yards. The point after was blocked, leaving the score at 19-13.
The Redhawks stormed back to take a 20-19 advantage heading into the final stanza. TSU needed just over a minute in the final quarter to move back on top as Butler and Smith got together for a one yard touchdown pass in the back corner of the end zone. The two-point attempt failed leaving the Tigers ahead, 25-20.
The score tipped off an electric fourth quarter for the 3,117 in attendance which sat in temperatures in the 40’s. The Redhawks took advantage of a bad snap by the TSU special teams to move down and score, as well as converting on the two-point play to take a 28-25 lead.
SEMO would then use another miscue as a punt went off a TSU defender giving them the ball deep in Tigers territory, setting up the final field goal by McCrum.
Defensively, the Tigers were led by Chris Collins who finished with 10 tackles and assisted on a pair of tackles for loss. David Kamara added nine tackles, three for loss.
TSU received a big rushing performance from freshman Earl Harrison. The running back recorded career highs with 23 attempts and 168 yards. The Memphis, Tenn. native busted through the middle for an apparent 68 yard scoring run, but was negated by a penalty which was assessed at the two yard line. The 66 yard run is the longest for any TSU running back this season.
Freshman Chris Rowland amassed 93 yards in kickoff returns giving him 965 for the season, setting a new TSU single season record. Rowland surpassed Avion Black’s 958 yards in 1999.
Rowland came up just short of the combined return yard mark of 1,090 for 2016. Rowland will finish the regular season second in the nation with 1,076 yards in kickoff and punt returns.
TENNESSEE TECH 55, MURRAY STATE 19
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. - Tennessee Tech (5-6, 5-3 OVC) closed out the first year of the Marcus Satterfield era with a third-place finish in the conference, routing Murray State 55-19 on Saturday afternoon at Tucker Stadium.
The Golden Eagles, who have scored 99 points in the last two games, compiled 523 yards of offense, including 210 rushing yards and 313 yards through the air.
Dontez Byrd had a record-setting day as his 14-catch, 198-yard effort broke both the Tech single-season receptions and receiving yardage records. Byrd ended the campaign with 933 yards on 74 catches.
Senior quarterback Michael Birdsong threw for 278 yards and three touchdowns. He had a 43-yard strike to Byrd in the first quarter, a 29-yard score to Byrd in the second, then a 42-yard touchdown pass to Austin Hicks in the third.
Colby Brown also got into the touchdown pass game, throwing a 20-yard scoring pass to Jordan Smith with 5:11 remaining in the contest.
Tech also had two rushing touchdowns as Yeedee Thaenrat scored on a five-yard run, then Maleek Hall had a five-yard scoring run in the fourth quarter.
Thaenrat, for the second straight week, rushed over 100 yards, picking up 118 yards on 15 carries, averaging 7.5 yards per tote.
It wasn't just the offense scoring as Deven Sullivan picked off a pass from K.D. Humphries, returning it 37 yards for a touchdown in the second quarter. Hall also picked off a pass from the Murray QB.
Nick Madonia didn't have a 57-yard field goal this time, but he kicked a 37- and a 46-yard field goal in the first quarter, then added seven extra points for 13 points in the contest, one shy of the 14 he scored last week at Tennessee State.
Connor Mitchell kicked a pair of field goals – 33 and 38 yards – in the second quarter to score Murray State's first six points, then the Racers scored 13 points in the fourth quarter as Mareio McGraw scored on a one-yard run, then Humphries threw a 14-yard touchdown pass to Malik Golson.
KENTUCKY 49, AUSTIN PEAY 13
LEXINGTON, Ky. - Freshman running back Kentel Williams nabbed his second straight 200 plus all-purpose yard game and his fourth out of the last five games with a rushing touchdown – his score Saturday sparked a 13-0 lead for the Govs – in Austin Peay State’s 49-13 loss on the road at Southeastern Conference opponent Kentucky Saturday in Commonwealth Stadium.
Williams, the reigning STATS Inc. FCS Freshman of the Week, picked accounted for 124 rushing yards and 116 kick return yards to secure his 241 all-purpose yards. His 17-yard touchdown gave the Govs a 7-0 lead with 1:04 left in the first quarter.
The Govs 13-0 lead on UK, following a Gunnar Scholato interception return for a touchdown with 14:51 left in the second quarter, marked the second time this season APSU has led an FBS opponent. The Govs led Troy 14-13 early in the second quarter of the season opener.
Williams, 1,091 all-purpose yards, joined teammate Kyran Moore as one of two Govs to surpass 1,000 all-purpose yards on the season. Moore’s 1,244 all-purpose yards is the highest all-purpose total since Ryan White accounted for 1,279 yards in 2011. White was one of two players the last time the Govs had two players over 1,000 all-purpose yards back in 2009. Terrence Holt accounted for 2,373 yards while White added 1,167 yards.
As a team, the Govs finished with 5,382 all-purpose yards setting a new APSU team single-season record surpassing the old record of 5,354 yards previously held by the 2002 squad. The 2016 team also set the all-purpose yards per game record averaging 489.3 all-purpose yards per game.
Jeremiah Mitchell led the Govs with nine tackles including eight solo stops. He was also one of three Govs with a tackle for loss in the contest.