SATURDAY'S SCORES
@Murray State 45, Tennessee State 21
@Southeast Missouri 31, Austin Peay 27
Eastern Kentucky 35, @UT Martin 34
@#7 Jacksonville State 49, Eastern Illinois 22
MURRAY STATE 45, TENNESSEE STATE 21
MURRAY, Ky. - The Murray State football team reeled off 35 unanswered points as the Racers defeated Tennessee State, 45-21, Saturday at Roy Stewart Stadium in Murray to improve to 3-0 in OVC play for the first time since 1997.
Tennessee State came out firing on all cylinders in the first quarter, scoring two touchdowns on 144 yards, while limiting the Racers to 81 yards including forcing quarterback Drew Anderson to throw his only interception of the game.
However, beginning in the second quarter, it was all Racers for the rest of the game. Starting with a one-yard touchdown pass from Anderson to LaMartez Brooks early in the second stanza, Murray State scored 35 unanswered points and finished the game on 42-7 run.
Drew Anderson completed 33 of 51 passes Saturday for 348 yards and a career-high five touchdowns and just one interception. In addition, he led the Racer rushing attack with 63 yards and added another touchdown on a 19-yard keeper. The transfer quarterback completed passes to 11 different receivers in the contest and engineered four touchdown drives of 70 yards or longer. With his five touchdowns, he becomes just the eighth quarterback in MSU history to throw at least five touchdown passes in a single game joining Casey Brockman, Jeff Ehrhardt, Justin Fuente, KD Humphries, Maikhail Miller, Michael Proctor and Larry Tillman.
Fourteen different Racers caught passes in Saturday night's win with Corey Newble leading the way with 70 yards on six catches. By leading the Racers against TSU, Newble is now the fifth different Racer through six games to lead the MSU receiving efforts. In addition, Brooks was the only Racer receiver to have multiple touchdowns in the game, as he had two to go along with 25 yards on three receptions.
Chris Rowland led Tennessee State on the afternoon with 128 yards and a touchdown on 13 catches, accounting for almost half of the Tigers' 307 passing yards in the game. Michael Hughes was 30-of-45 passing the game with two touchdowns and two interceptions, while Te'kendrick Roberson had a team-high 51 yards on the ground. Defensively, Vincent Sellers and Dajour Nesbeth posted a game-high eight tackles and a pass breakup each, while John Robinson had seven tackles, 0.5 tackles for loss, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery,
SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 31, AUSTIN PEAY 27
CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. - Preseason All-American tailback Marquis Terry scored the game-winning touchdown on a 2-yard plunge with 15 seconds left, Daniel Santacaterina threw for 344 yards and three touchdowns and Jerrick Orr had 163 receiving yards to lead Southeast Missouri (4-2, 2-1) to a thrilling 31-27 come-from-behind win over Austin Peay (3-4, 1-3) Saturday.
SEMO scored 21 points in the final 15 minutes and used a huge fourth-down conversion to set up its decisive score.
On fourth-and-15 at the APSU 40-yard line, Santacaterina heaved the ball downfield. Orr jumped over a Governors defender and made a spectacular catch to keep the Redhawks drive alive with less than 30 seconds left. Two plays later, Terry crossed the goal line for his team-high seventh rushing touchdown.
The Redhawks trailed, 13-10, entering the exciting fourth quarter which saw a combined 35 points scored. Santacaterina completed 10 of his final 14 passes of the game after going 9-of-23. All three of his passing touchdowns came in the last period.
Santacaterina threw a 19-yard pass to Austin Crump to grab SEMO's first lead of the game at 17-13 with 13:55 left to play. Crump's third touchdown on four receptions this season capped an 8-play, 96-yard march.
Tre Nation found the end zone from six yards out to regain a 20-17 edge for APSU as the see-saw fourth quarter continued.
SEMO, however, countered when Santacaterina threw a 30-yard touchdown pass to Zack Smith. Smith slipped a tackle and raced to the end zone putting the Redhawks ahead, 24-20, at the 7:30 mark.
The Governors faced a fourth-and-4 at the SEMO 17-yard line on their ensuing drive when Jeremiah Oatsvall hooked up with DeAngelo Wilson for a 17-yard touchdown to put APSU back on top, 27-24, with 3:41 remaining.
APSU led 13-3 at halftime following a 13-yard run by Kentel Williams in the first quarter and 23-yard touchdown pass from Oatsvall to Wilson just before the intermission.
Santacaterina completed passes of 15, 22 and 37 yards to move SEMO to the APSU 3 before Terry's touchdown polished off the clutch 9-play, 73-yard strike.
Santacaterina threw for over 300 yards in his second-straight start, completing 14-of-37 passes on the day. He also went without being sacked.
Orr's career-high 163 yards were most by a Redhawk receiver since Paul McRoberts had 169 vs. Murray State on Oct. 3, 2015.
SEMO finished with 497 yards of total offense.
Defensively, the Redhawks held APSU to 3-of-11 on third down. Zach Hall was one of three double-digit tacklers for SEMO, paving the way with a game-high 14 stops. Hall added three tackles for loss and a sack. He is now 12thall -time in career tackles for loss with 23.5.
Justin Swift and Bydarrius Knighten followed with 12 and 10 tackles, respectively.
EASTERN KENTUCKY 35, UT MARTIN 34
MARTIN, Tenn. - A kick recovered by Matthew Jackson late in the third quarter allowed the Eastern Kentucky University football team to complete a 13-point comeback to defeat the University of Tennessee at Martin, 35-34, on Saturday in Martin, Tennessee.
Trailing 34-21, Daryl McCleskey Jr. found his way into the end zone with 11 seconds left in the third quarter to get the Colonels (3-3, 2-1 OVC) within one score. On the ensuing kickoff, Jackson raced down field on a traditional kickoff by Samuel Hayworth and recovered the ball at the UTM 23 yard line before any Skyhawk could field the kick.
The excellent field position set up the go-ahead touchdown. On 3rd-and-9, McCleskey took it to the house from 12 yards out to tie the game, 34-34. Hayworth's extra-point put the visitors in front by one with 13:01 left in the game.
The Colonels' defense forced a turnover on downs on the following UT Martin drive. On 4th-and-7, Terry Williams was stopped short of the sticks on a 6-yard reception. The Skyhawks were then forced to punt on their next possession to keep the score 35-34.
Eastern Kentucky's offense remained on the field for the final 5:47 of the game to seal its second win in Ohio Valley Conference play. Facing a 3rd-and-11 situation with the ball still in UTM territory, Alphonso Howard rolled to the left and fired a bullet to Neiko Creamer on the sideline for 12 yards and a first down.
McCleskey finished with 74 yards and two touchdowns while L.J. Scott rumbled for 106 yards of his own, his first 100-yard rushing game of the season. Howard threw for 88 yards, had one touchdown toss and one rushing score.
Cornelius Floyd had a stellar performance, recovering a fumble early in the first quarter and later intercepting Skyhawk quarterback Dresser Winn.
After UT Martin scored on its opening drive, Eastern's offense came to life two possessions later. Howard found a wide-open Creamer for 30 yards to put the Colonels on UTM's 11 yard line. Howard took matters into his own hands, rolling out of the pocket and grabbing an 11-yard rushing touchdown.
EKU only needed two plays on its next drive to find the end zone, as Howard threaded the needle to Alex Cabrera to take the lead.
Tre Turner forced Jaimiee Bowe to fumble on the Skyhawks' next possession, allowing Gavin Bryant to scoop up the ball and return it 43 yards to give Eastern a 21-7 advantage.
UT Martin rattled off 24 unanswered points in the second quarter to swing the 14-point deficit to a 31-21 Skyhawk advantage at halftime.
Bryant finished with 11 tackles and a sack to go along with his fumble return for a touchdown. Creamer caught three passes for 69 yards.
Winn finished the day 17-for-27 for 200 yards. He had two touchdown passes and two interceptions.
JACKSONVILLE STATE 49, EASTERN ILLINOIS 22
JACKSONVILLE, Ala. - Jacksonville State junior wideout Josh Pearson closed the gap between he and Eastern Illinois' Alexander Hollins for most touchdown catches in the FCS while continuing to rewrite the Gamecocks' record book on Saturday.
Pearson caught three touchdown passes as No. 7/8 Jacksonville State (5-1, 4-0 OVC) cruised past Eastern Illinois 49-22 at Burgess-Snow Field. Zerrick Cooper threw three touchdowns for the second time as a Gamecock and ran for another.
The Gamecocks' 36th consecutive OVC victory moves them within three of tying the mark of 39 conference wins in a row by Duquesne in the MAAC from 1999-2006. JSU's is the longest current active streak in NCAA Division I.
Pearson became the first Jacksonville State player since Josh Barge in 2015 (vs. UT Martin) to snag three touchdowns in a game.
Pearson also tied Barge atop the single-season touchdown receptions list with his 11th of 2018. He has five regular-season games remaining to eclipse the record.
Hollins had one touchdown against JSU's top-ranked defense but was held to 57 yards below his season average of 138.3 per game. EIU (1-6, 1-3) recorded 365 scrimmage yards with just 15 on the ground on 19 carries.
It was the second straight week the defense has limited an opponent to less than one yard per carry.
The JSU offense, meanwhile, has now scored at least 48 points in all its conference wins. The Gamecocks piled up 579 scrimmage yards against the Panthers.
Pearson's touchdowns went for 35 and 31 yards from Cooper and 23 yards from Zion Webb. He finished with eight catches for 137 yards and now has 604 yards for the season.
Jacksonville State was more than happy to swap touchdowns for Eastern Illinois field goals during the first half and built a 21-9 lead at intermission.
The Gamecocks' first two possessions resulted in touchdowns and neither drive took more than two minutes.
JSU first went 72 yards in only five plays with Trae Barry hauling in a 44-yard touchdown from Cooper. The TD reception was the first of the season for the sophomore from Summerdale.
The lead increased to 14-0 following another Panthers' punt. Cooper connected with Jamari Hester for 36 yards to the EIU 11 and two plays later Jaelen Greene ran 11 yards to the end zone with 8:44 left in the first.
Eastern Illinois' best weapon in the first half was kicker Nick Bruno, who made field goals of 27, 40 and 36 yards to keep his team within striking distance.
Cooper directed a five-play, 75-yard drive midway through the second quarter and finished it off with a four-yard run. Cade Stinnett's third PAT extended the Gamecocks' lead to 21-6 with 6:56 to go in the second.
Webb had a short touchdown run late in the game and now has a team-high five.
Cornerback Yul Gowdy was JSU's defensive leader with nine stops and one pass breakup. Marlon Bridges and Malik Feaster contributed six tackles each.