SUNDAY'S SCORES
Austin Peay 13, @#7 Jacksonville State 10
@#17 Murray State 41, Eastern Illinois 27
@Southeast Missouri 24, Tennessee Tech 21
@Tennessee State 26, UT Martin 24
AUSTIN PEAY 13, #7 JACKSONVILLE STATE 10
JACKSONVILLE, Ala. - 1979… it was the year the Happy Meal debuted, and it was also the last time Austin Peay State University's football team emerged victorious at Jacksonville State. That changed, Sunday, as safety Kam Ruffin picked off two passes to lead a defense that forced six turnovers and stifled No. 7 Jacksonville State's offense in a 13-10 Ohio Valley Conference victory at JSU Stadium.
Hanging on to a less than touchdown lead for the final 35-plus minutes, Austin Peay (3-5, 3-2 OVC) leaned heavily on its defense in the final half, and it rose to the occasion. That defense capped its performance on Jacksonville State's final three drives: forcing a three-and-out to start, Ruffin picking off a pass on the second, and John Wesley Whiteside falling on the ball after his strip-sack to secure the victory.
And in what some pointed to as a matchup of the league's most prolific offense against the league's most generous defense, the Govs' defense showed what it could accomplish. The Govs held the Gamecocks 154 yards and 20 points below their OVC scoring average.
Behind that stout defensive effort, Austin Peay's offense checked in with two first-half touchdowns. Draylen Ellis found DeAngelo Wilson for a 38-yard touchdown in a first-quarter drive aided profusely by JSU penalties. Then Ahmaad Tanner capped a spectacular 20-play, 75-yard drive with a one-yard touchdown run to cap the Govs' scoring.
Jacksonville State (7-2, 4-1 OVC) scored on the game's opening drive with Josh Samuel dashing into the end zone from three yards out with 13:28 left in the game. However, the Gamecocks would only find the red zone one more time the rest of the way and had to settle for an Alen Karajic 36-yard field goal.
Ruffin led the Govs' turnover cavalcade with his two interceptions, while safety Terrell Vassell and cornerback Jonathan Edwards added an interception each. It was Austin Peay's first four-interception day since 2007 against Murray State. Whiteside and linebacker John McDonald had a fumble recovery each.
Offensively, wide receiver DeAngelo Wilson caught 10 passes for 118 yards and a touchdown – his second straight game with both 100-plus receiving yards and a touchdown. Quarterback Draylen Ellis completed 28-of-53 passes for 211 yards and a touchdown.
Samuel rushed 20 times for 89 yards and a touchdown to lead Jacksonville State's offense. Nicario Harper had an interception and seven tackles to pace the JSU defense.
#17 MURRAY STATE 41, EASTERN ILLINOIS 27
MURRAY, Ky. - The 17th-ranked Murray State football team fought back from a 14-point, third quarter deficit to score 28 unanswered points in Sunday’s 42-27 win over Eastern Illinois at Roy Stewart Stadium in Murray, Kentucky. The win moves Murray State to 5-0 on the season and in sole possession of first place in the OVC with two games remaining.
The first half of the game was fairly even, as the two teams traded touchdowns in the first part of the half and field goals in the latter. Both teams had big defensive stops in the early going with Murray State denying the Panthers twice on fourth down, while Eastern Illinois forced Murray State to punt twice including a three-and-out for zero yards in the second quarter. After Stone Galloway tied the game for EIU on a field goal with 58 seconds to play in the half, the Racers could not complete a drive before the half ended leaving the game knotted at 10.
The third quarter did not start well for Murray State, as the Racers gave up 17 points in the first 5:31 seconds of the stanza. The Racers’ troubles began when Mark Williams picked off Preston Rice’s opening pass of the half and took it 38 yards for the score.
Murray State was able to respond to the pick-six on the next drive in the form of a 58-yard field goal from Aaron Baum that cut the lead to 17-13. After kicking the third-longest field goal in program history at 55 yards earlier this season, Baum is now tied for the second-longest with Stan Watts, who also hit a 58-yarder in 1971.
Any momentum gained by Baum’s kick, however, was quickly lost, as Jordan Smith took the first play of the ensuing Panther drive 80 yards to push the Eastern Illinois lead to 24-13. From there, things went from bad to worse for Murray State as they dropped the kickoff, allowing EIU to recover the ball and tack on a field goal on the following drive, making it 27-13 with almost 10 minutes to play in the third quarter.
After coming up empty on the following drive, Marcis Floyd got the offense a redo by forcing a fumble on EIU’s next offensive play. Three plays later, Rice found DeQuan Dallas from 15-yards out to pull MSU within a touchdown. On the next Panther drive, the defense came up big again, forcing a three-and-out that resulted in another MSU touchdown, a two-yard punch in from Rice after throwing a 38-yard strike to Malik Honeycutt only seconds before.
Murray State ended the quarter with a third fourth-down stop by the defense on the day and began the fourth with two more field goals from Baum of 26 and 37 yard, respectively. Later in the quarter, Malik Honeycutt returned an Eastern Illinois punt 48-yards to set up a four-yard touchdown run by Witherspoon to push the lead out to 12 with under just over three minutes to play. On the ensuing try, the Racers used some razzle-dazzle to pick up the two-points when Baum lobbed the ball in the air and into the waiting hands of his long snapper Chandler Mood for the conversion.
After the touchdown, a Jarad McCray interception and a fourth stop on fourth-down would be all that was needed from the Racers in the final minutes to complete the comeback and move to 5-0 on the season.
Offensively, Preston Rice was 10-for-23 for 192 yards and a touchdown, while Witherspoon rushed the ball 19 times for 72 yards and two scores. LaMartez Brooks was Rice’s main target Sunday, catching the ball four times for 88 yards, while Honeycutt finished with 86 all-purpose yards from his 48-yard punt return and his 38-yards catch in the fourth.
Defensively, Alec Long and Eric Samuta led the team in tackles with eight each, while Long added a solo sack for a loss of 11 yards and a pass breakup. Floyd also had a big game for MSU, finishing with six stops, four of which were solo, and interception with a 33-yard return, a forced fumble and two pass breakups.
SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 24, TENNESSEE TECH 21
CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. - Zack Smith had a career-high 10 receptions for 173 yards and two touchdowns to lead Southeast Missouri (2-4, 2-3) to a 24-21 win over Tennessee Tech (1-4, 1-4) Saturday afternoon at Houck Field.
Smith established new career-highs in both receptions and receiving yards. His 100-yard receiving game was also his second as a Redhawk and first since finishing with five catches for 122 yards vs. Dayton on Sept. 8, 2018.
SEMO stormed out to a 21-0 first-quarter lead with Smith scoring both of his touchdowns in the opening 15 minutes of play.
The Redhawks covered 87 yards in eight plays during their impressive opening drive that ended with Andrew Bunch throwing an 8-yard touchdown pass to Smith with 8:24 to go.
After TTU punted, SEMO began its next possession at its own 39-yard line. Following a 17-yard completion from Bunch to Smith, the Golden Eagles committed a pair of personal foul penalties that moved the ball to their 13-yard line. Moments later, Geno Hess dashed 13 yards to the end zone to increase the Redhawks lead to 14-0.
Bunch then hooked up with Smith for a 61-yard strike, SEMO's longest scoring play of the season, to make it a 21-0 game with two minutes left in the first quarter.
TTU answered with a couple touchdowns to pull to within seven at halftime.
Willie Miller hit paydirt on a 1-yard run to polish off a 13-play, 80-yard drive with 6:25 remaining in the second quarter.
Following a SEMO punt, Miller threw a 19-yard touchown pass to Jordan Brown on the Golden Eagles' ensuing drive to narrow the Redhawks lead to 21-14.
After a scoreless third quarter, TTU had the ball inside SEMO's 20-yard line. On second-and-10 at the Redhawks 18, Lawrence Johnson stripped the ball from Miller and Bryson Donnell recovered.
SEMO went to work at its own 10-yard line following the big turnover and quickly got to the 43-yard line with a 33-yard completion from Bunch to Smith. The drive resulted in a 23-yard field goal by Kenny Doak that gave the Redhawks a 24-14 advantage with 10:28 left to play in the fourth quarter.
The Golden Eagles forced a turnover of their own when Bunch fumbled and Jamaal Thompson recovered at SEMO's 39-yard line.
Five plays later, Smith hooked up with Jordan Brown for a 26-yard touchdown to close SEMO's lead to 24-21 with 3:20 left.
That was as close as TTU would get as the Redhawks managed to run out the clock.
Bunch completed 18-of-24 passes for 259 yards and two touchdowns.
Smith averaged 17.3 yards per catch on his career day.
Hess ran for a game-high 89 yards and one touchdown on 18 carries.
Defensively, Lawrence Johnson led the way with a career-best 12 tackles. It was Johnson's second double-digit tackle effort in three games.
Miller threw for 166 yards and two touchdowns, and ran for 65 yards and another score to pace TTU.
TENNESSEE STATE 26, UT MARTIN 24
NASHVILLE - Tennessee State used a strong three quarters to propel themselves to a 26-24 win over UT Martin at Hale Stadium on Sunday afternoon.
The Tigers received another big day from redshirt-freshman Devon Starling on the ground. The running back carried the ball 26 times for 134 yards and a touchdown. The score came late in the second quarter on a 65 yard jaunt down the middle of the field to give TSU a 23-7 lead.
The Big Blue managed just a 33 yard Antonio Zita field goal during the second half as Starling missed time in the later quarters due to cramping.
TSU totaled 204 yards rushing on the day, including scoring plays by Deveon Bryant and Sabree Curtis. The Tigers crossed the goal line on their second possession as Curtis punched it in from six yards out. Bryant entered on the next drive and broke free for a 32 yard scamper into the end zone.
Zita helped build a 17-7 advantage with a 51 yard field goal with under a minute to play in the first period.
The defense continued to put pressure on the Skyhawks as Emmanuel Baez led the charge with two sacks and a forced fumble. The front line finished the day with three sacks, six tackles for loss and four quarterback hurries. The constant pressure from the front seven helped create three interceptions by the defensive backfield.
In the fourth quarter, John Bachus and the Skyhawks stormed back with 17 points. Bachus finished the game with 306 yards on 27-of-47 pass attempts. His final attempt on the last play of the game was batter down by James Green.
The win improved the Tigers to 2-3 on the season and 1-1 in the race for the Sgt. York Trophy. A win at Tennessee Tech next week would bring the trophy back to Nashville for the first time since 2013. TSU has won a share of the traveling trophy for the last two seasons and three of the last four.