SATURDAY'S SCORES
@Austin Peay 52, #11 Jacksonville State 33
Tennessee Tech 40, @Eastern Illinois 29
@Eastern Kentucky 42, Tennessee State 16
@UT Martin 40, Murray State 7
AUSTIN PEAY 52, #11 JACKSONVILLE STATE 33
CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - JaVaughn Craig accounted for five touchdowns and Austin Peay stunned Jacksonville State 52-33 in the Ohio Valley Conference opener for both teams on Saturday.
The Governors (3-2), who ended a 12-game losing streak to Jacksonville State, led 45-7 early in the third quarter after scoring 35 straight points. The Gamecocks (3-2), who entered the game ranked 11th in the STATS FCS Top 25, answered with 20 straight points but got the deficit no closer than 45-27.
Craig was 15 of 21 for 220 yards and two touchdowns and ran for 30 yards and three more scores. Kentel Williams ran 24 times for 173 yards and two TDs.
DeAngelo Wilson had a 72-yard TD reception to give Austin Peay a 10-0 lead in the first quarter.
Kordell Jacksonintercepted two passes for the Governors. Austin Peay forced four turnovers while committing none.
Zerrick Cooper passed for 301 yards, three touchdowns and three interceptions for the Gamecocks. Josh Pearson caught eight passes for 130 yards and two TDs.
Jacksonville State had won 38 of its previous 39 OVC games.
TENNESSEE TECH 40, EASTERN ILLINOIS 29
CHARLESTON, Ill. - There must be something about O'Brien Field when it comes to quarterbacks.
The field saw Tony Romo and Jimmy Garoppolo put up huge numbers. Even Grant Swallows, back in 2001, saw some magic there as he set the Tech single-season touchdown record there.
The record, tied again by Swallows and by Stephen Britton in 2005, stood for 18 years, until Bailey Fisher also found some magic at O'Brien.
The Golden Eagle sophomore threw for a school-record six touchdown passes as Tech improved to 4-1 for the first time since 2011, as well as broke a seven-game losing streak to Eastern Illinois with the last win coming in that same year with a 40-29 victory over the Panthers.
Fisher threw touchdown passes to four different receivers as Austin Hicks and Darrius Stafford each caught a pair, D.J. Wilkes had one as he dove over the end zone, then Tavin Kilpatrick caught the record-breaking pass late in the fourth quarter.
Yet, the sophomore was humble. He wasn't thinking about the touchdown total that was climbing. He was more concerned about the two interceptions he threw and moving on to the next play.
In all, he ended the contest with 269 yards passing on a 22-of-34 effort, adding 29 yards on the ground for 298 yards of total offense, officially cracking the top 10 career-wise in just his 15th career game.
The defense certainly played its part, getting the Tech offense in great position. The Eastern offense couldn't contain Aderick Moore – neither could his uniform as it ripped in the second half – as he ended the game with seven tackles, one for-loss, forced two fumbles, intercepted a ball and returned it 20 yards and hurried the quarterback – all after missing last week's game after an injury against Virginia-Wise.
In all, the Golden Eagles had three takeaways as Tai Carter and Chris Tucker also had fumble recoveries.
Tech finished the game with 328 yards of offense and controlled the ball 31:16. The Panthers (0-5, 0-1 OVC) collected 401 on 94 plays, 22 more than the Golden Eagles ran. EIU quarterback Harry Woodbery ended the game with 334 yards on 34-of-68 passing with touchdown passes to Xander Richards and DeWayne Cooks. Jaelin Benefield also rushed for a team-high 46 yards and two touchdowns.
EASTERN KENTUCKY 42, TENNESSEE STATE 16
RICHMOND, Ky. - Eastern Kentucky University’s football team rushed for 379 yards and the Colonel defense stymied a potent Tennessee State University passing game for three quarters in a 42-16 victory at Roy Kidd Stadium on Saturday.
Senior Daryl McCleskey rushed for a career-best 202 yards and scored two touchdowns for EKU (3-2, 1-0 OVC). He was the first Colonel to eclipse the 200-yard rushing mark since Dy’Shawn Mobley ran for 224 yards against Murray State on Nov. 15, 2014. McCleskey averaged 12.6 yards per carry.
Alonzo Booth carried the ball 12 times for 115 yards and also scored two touchdowns.
Tennessee State came into the game averaging 32 points and 328 passing yards per game. Eastern held the Tigers to 128 passing yards through three quarters while building a 28-16 advantage. Forced to attempt 18 passes in the fourth quarter in hopes of staging a comeback, TSU added 142 to its total and finished with 270 passing yards for the game. Tennessee State came into the contest averaging 462 yards of offense, but was held to 382 on Saturday.
The Eastern Kentucky defense also forced three turnovers.
The Colonels built a solid halftime advantage by scoring three touchdowns and holding TSU to three first half field goals. The touchdown exchange for field goals began after the Tigers hit a 28-yard field goal on the first possession of the game. Facing a 3rd-and-3, Parker McKinney found a cutting Jackson Beerman over the middle for first down yardage, however Beerman broke two tackles and turned it into a 26-yard touchdown reception.
TSU drew within one, 7-6, with a field goal early in the second quarter, but the Colonels had the answer again. McCleskey got the drive off to a good start when he gained 34 yards on 2nd-and-9. Booth took the ball to the seven yard line with a 26-yard run three plays later. McKinney finished off the drive with a 6-yard touchdown run. The extra-point made it 14-6.
Another field goal got the visitors within five but EKU answered right back with a quick touchdown drive. On the fourth play, Booth broke loose for a 40-yard scoring run and a 21-9 Eastern advantage.
McCleskey’s 9-yard touchdown run with 4:08 left in the third quarter gave the Colonels a 28-9 lead. This time it was the Tigers who answered. Te’kendrick Roberson capped a 6-play, 63-yard drive with an 8-yard touchdown run to make it 28-16.
Booth scored on a 13-yard run early in the fourth quarter to stretch the margin to 19, 35-16. The Tigers were trying to keep it interesting, driving to the EKU five yard line on their next possession. However, Corey Glass stripped the ball and Malik Mays picked it up and raced 64 yards in the other direction. Eastern Kentucky couldn’t turn the turnover into points, but by the time TSU got the ball back only 10:27 remained in the game and the visitors still trailed by 19.
McCleskey’s second touchdown was set up by his own 68-yard run to the TSU 17. After Booth picked up six yards, McKinney connected with McCleskey for 10 and then the senior running back carried it home from five yards out. The extra-point set the final score with 5:11 left on the clock.
Daulson Fitzpatrick finished off the defensive effort for the Colonels with an interception and 28-yard return with just over two minutes to go.
McKinney finished 13-for-24 for 131 yards and no interceptions. He threw a touchdown pass and ran for a score. Beerman caught three passes for 46 yards to go along with his touchdown. Aaron Patrick had eight tackles for Eastern, including a pair of sacks. Glass also had eight stops.
Cameron Rosendahl went 20-for-41 for 270 yards with two interceptions and no touchdowns passes for Tennessee State. Chris Rowland had 95 receiving yards on eight catches. Seth Rowland totaled 71 rushing yards.
UT MARTIN 40, MURRAY STATE 7
MARTIN, Tenn. (AP) - John Bachus III threw for one touchdown and ran for another to stake Tennessee-Martin to a 24-0 first-half lead en route to a 40-7 win over Murray State in the Ohio Valley Conference opener for both schools Saturday night.
After losing back-to-back games on the road to No. 11 Florida and Southern Illinois and coming off a bye week, the Skyhawks scored early on a 7-yard run by Terry Williams. Bachus hit Lamarcus Young for a 47-yard score and, following a Ryan Courtright 27-yard field goal, scored from a yard out to make it 24-0 with 6:11 to go in the first half.
Preston Rice fired 28 yards to Rodney Castille to cut the Murray State deficit to 24-7 at intermission, but the Racers were shutout in the second half.
Bachus completed 26 of 40 passes for 312 yards. Peyton Logan carried 14 times for 95 yards, including a 17-yard touchdown run in the second half for UT Martin (2-2, 1-0).
Rice was 17 of 29 for 250 yards passing and a touchdown for Murray State (2-3, 0-1).