SATURDAY'S SCORES
@Dayton 17,
Eastern Illinois 10
Furman 26,
@Tennessee Tech 0
@#7 Cincinnati 42,
Murray State 7
@#1 Sam Houston 52,
Southeast Missouri 14
Jackson State 38,
Tennessee State 16 (Memphis, Tenn.)
@UT Martin 33, Samford 27
@#20 Ole Miss 54,
#17 Austin Peay 17
DAYTON 17, EASTERN ILLINOIS 10
DAYTON, Ohio - Eastern Illinois was limited to just five offensive plays in the third quarter on Saturday afternoon as Dayton scored 17 points while holding the ball for most of the quarter.
The 17 points were all the offense the Flyers would score on the afternoon but it was enough as they held off Eastern Illinois 17-10. EIU fell to 0-3 on the season while Dayton improved to 1-0 with the Flyers playing their first game in 658 days.
EIU led 3-0 at the half as both teams struggled to manufacture any offense. Stone Galloway drove home a 36-yard field goal for the Panthers points in the opening half. Dayton would miss a 40-yard field goal during its best drive of the opening half.
At the break, Dayton made some adjustments and held the ball for a long drive to open the second half. Jack Cook capped the Flyers long drive with a 10-yard touchdown pass to Jake Chisholm as Cook passed for 122 yards in the game.
On the first play of EIU’s opening second half possession, Dayton forced a fumble to give the Flyers the ball in EIU territory. Cook would score on a 1-yard run with a 4:38 to play in the quarter to put Dayton up 14-3.
EIU would have four plays on its next possession of the third quarter before turning the ball over on a punt. Brandon Easterling’s big punt return gave the Flyers the ball deep in EIU territory. Sam Webster capped Dayton’s scoring with a 31-yard field goal with 31 seconds remaining to put Dayton up 17-3.
EIU would make a change at quarterback in the fourth quarter with Otto Kuhns twice driving the Panthers deep into Dayton territory. EIU came up short on a fourth-and-goal play on a dropped pass with just under five minutes remaining.
Kuhns would then hit Robbie Lofton for a touchdown strike with 19 seconds left in the game. Kuhns passed for 61 yards. Lofton hauled in five passes for 64 yards on the day.
EIU would hold Dayton to 266 yards to total offense but the Flyers took advantage of the short field for two third quarter scores. The Panthers finished with 300 yards of offense but turned the ball over twice in the contest.
FURMAN 26, TENNESSEE TECH 0
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. - Tennessee Tech (0-2) saw another speed bump this week as the Golden Eagles were blanked 26-0 by Furman on Saturday in Tucker Stadium to open the home slate, but there's still a long way to go and conference play still weeks away.
Furman, a historically powerful program in the Southern Conference, didn't put up the offensive numbers to the degree it did last week against North Carolina A&T, collecting two touchdown runs for Devin Wynn – 42 and two yards respectively – as well as four field goals from Timmy Bleekrode, including a 51- and a 45-yarder.
Tech's defense, already missing a couple of key components following last week's loss at Samford, stood as tall as they could against the visiting Paladins, forcing Furman to punt six times in addition to the six scoring drives.
The adversity gave some of the young Golden Eagle defenders a chance to shine as Nyquan Washington had six tackles, Devin Squires and Jalon Baker four, Jayvian Allen and Kanstin Brooks three, while Seth Carlisle led the way with nine, while Jack Warwick added seven.
The offense, on the other hand, struggled to take flight. Behind a solid effort on defense, the Paladins held Tech to six first downs in the contest, the fewest since the Golden Eagles' loss to Chattanooga in 2014. Travis Blackshear intercepted two passes and DiMarcus Clay another, while Seth Johnson forced a fumble. Hugh Ryan led the Paladins with seven tackles.
The Golden Eagles rushed for 23 net yards, led by 32 yards from David Gist, with negative rushes bringing down the overall total. Gist also had 33 yards on four catches to finish with 65 yards of offense out of Tech's total of 121.
Davis Shanley finished the day completing six of his 21 passes for 60 yards, while Willie Miller was 5-for-8 for 38 yards.
For the Paladins, Hamp Sisson was 17-of-29 for 196 yards, including five completions to Joshua Harris for 54 yards and three to Zach Peterson for 52 yards. Wynn, while recording two touchdown runs on the day, totaled 84 yards on 17 totes, averaging 4.9 yards a carry.
#7 CINCINNATI 42, MURRAY STATE 7
CINCINNATI - Despite a stellar first half that saw the Murray State football team lead 7th-ranked Cincinnati in the second quarter and enter the locker room at tied at halftime, the Bearcats proved eventually proved to be too much scoring 42 unanswered points en route to a 42-7 loss at Nippert Stadium in Cincinnati, Ohio.
After a scoreless first quarter that saw Murray State defense limit the Bearcats to just nine yards on three plays, Preston Rice gave the Racers a 7-0 lead on a one-yard rush with 13:41 left in the second quarter. The Bearcats found their way onto the scoreboard minutes later when Heisman hopeful Desmond Ridder found Noah Davis on a fourth-and-goal in the end zone to tie the game at seven.
After halftime, the Bearcats finally took their first lead of the game nearly 35 minutes into the contest on a 13-yard run by Jerome Ford. From there, however, it was all Bearcats as they scored 42 unanswered for the win.
Turnovers plagued the Racers in the contest, as the Bearcats scored 21 points off of three Racer interceptions and two fumbles. Penalties also played a factor in the game, as Murray State racked up 11 penalties for 60 yards including five for 25 yards in the first half alone.
Rice finished the day by going 17-for-29 for 149 yards passing and 21 yards and a touchdown rushing. Redshirt freshman DeShun Britten caught a career-high five passes for 58 yards and a long of 23 to lead the MSU receivers in the game, while Damonta Witherspoon led the rushing attack with 52 yards on 62 carries.
Defensively, Izaiah Reed, Eric Samuta and Devontae McKee led the Racer defense with five tackles each. All five of McKee’s tackles in the game were solo stops, while Saumta added a pass breakup and a forced fumble and Reed logged one of two sacks by the Racers in the game. Scotty Humpich had Murray State’s other sack on the afternoon, while C.J. Barnes added a tackle-for-loss.
#1 SAM HOUSTON 52, SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 14
HUNTSVILLE, Texas - No. 1 Sam Houston (2-0) used a 24-point second quarter and scored the final 38 points of the game in a 52-14 win over Southeast Missouri (0-2) Saturday night at Bowers Stadium.
SEMO gave reigning Football Championship National Champion all it could handle early. The Redhawks twice tied the Bearkats in the first half.
Aaron Alston made a bobbling catch along the near sideline and ran to the end zone on a 43-yard pass play to make it a 7-7 game with 6:33 remaining in the first quarter. The touchdown was Alston's first of the season and fifth of his career.
Keandre Booker later picked off Eric Schmid and ran 31 yards to the SHSU 2-yard line setting up the Redhawks next score, a 1-yard touchdown run by Geno Hess. Hess, who led the FCS in rushing touchdowns last season, brought the contest to a 14-14 deadlock at the 11:01 mark of the second period.
After that, the Bearkats responded with 38 unanswered points to put the game out of reach.
Ramo Jefferson broke free for a 70-yard touchdown run and Jaylen Thomas intercepted a pass off the hands of SEMO running back Zion Custis and dashed 49 yards to the end zone. A 50-yard field goal by Seth Morgan gave the Bearkats a 31-14 advantage at the half.
SEMO, which was shutout in the second half, had some nice plays on special teams. The Redhawks opened the second half with a perfectly executed onside kick. Adam Krause kicked and then recovered the ball at SEMO's 47-yard line.
Then, on a fourth-and-8, Zach Haynes completed a 35-yard pass to Will Weidemann on a faked punt to give SEMO a first down at the Bearkats 23-yard line. SEMO, however, came up empty on each of its drives following those plays.
SHSU finished with 561 total yards to SEMO's 306. The Bearkats picked up 297 yards on the ground.
Jefferson ran for a game-high 153 yards and two touchdowns on 11 carries, while Eric Schmid completed 16-of-28 passes for 243 yards and three touchdowns to lead the Bearkats.
CJ Ogbonna threw for 168 yards and a touchdown on 13-of-27 passes, and Hess ran for 42 yards and his first touchdown of the season on 15 attempts to pace the Redhawks.
Defensively, SEMO had two takeaways. Freshman Bryce Norman from nearby Jackson collected eight tackles and Jacob Morrissey followed with six stops and a game-high two sacks in his first start of the season at middle linebacker.
Trevor Williams posted 12 tackles for SHSU.
The Redhawks fell to 0-5 all-time against #1 ranked teams.
JACKSON STATE 38, TENNESSEE STATE 16
MEMPHIS - Before Saturday night's Southern Heritage Classic, it had been more than 20 years since Eddie George and Deion Sanders shared a football field.
So, in a sense, the two legends made history just by getting together again, Sanders as the head coach at Jackson State and George, of course, as the head coach at Tennessee State.
In the leadup to the game, each coach expressed his respect and admiration for his counterpart – then also smiled and said in the same breath how badly they wanted to beat the other come game time.
George's Tigers showed some promising signs and, for the first the half, stayed within striking distance of Sanders' more experienced bunch. But that's as close as they would get, as Jackson State rode the right arm of freshman quarterback Shedeur Sanders – Deion's son – to a 38-16 victory at Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium in Memphis.
Senior tight end Rodell Rahmaan led TSU with 94 receiving yards, including a 47-yard touchdown catch late in the fourth quarter that could provide Big Blue with a spark heading into next week's home opener against Kentucky State.
TSU quarterbacks Geremy Hickbottom and Deveon Bryant combined to throw for 194 yards and Devon Starling paced the Tigers with 35 yards on the ground.
Otherwise, the night belonged to Shedeur Sanders, a former blue-chip recruit who passed on offers from the likes of Alabama, LSU, Georgia, Florida and Florida State to instead play for his father.
Sanders completed 30 of 40 passes for 362 yards – the third-most in Southern Heritage Classic history – and three touchdowns.
His 14-yard strike to Joshua Lanier opened the scoring, but the Big Blue answered midway through the second quarter when Bryant plunged into the end zone from 2 yards out to bring TSU level.
Tennessee State nearly made it to halftime on equal footing, but JSU added a field goal with 32 seconds to play in the second quarter and then kept its foot on the gas after the break.
Sanders tossed two more touchdown passes in the third quarter, including a 67-yarder to Keith Corbin, and JSU struck for another two scores on the other side of Chayil Garnett's 37-yard field goal early in the fourth.
The Big Blue, though, was undaunted by a four-touchdown deficit and kept fighting until the final whistle – as evidenced by Rahmaan's touchdown with 6 seconds to play.
Then, with an eye for the future, George sent his offense back out for a 2-point conversion attempt. No, an extra two points wouldn't have made much difference on Saturday night. But as George attempts to restore Tennessee State to the program's previous heights, every little bit of added experience can be useful.
As the clock hit zero, George and Sanders greeted each other at midfield, shared an embrace and a quick word, and then embraced again. Sanders may have won the first round between the two College Football Hall-of-Famers, but there will be more meetings to come. And, if George's Tigers continue to build on their foundation, there will be different outcomes, too.
UT MARTIN 33, SAMFORD 27
MARTIN, Tenn. - A large first quarter deficit proved to be surmountable for the University of Tennessee at Martin football team on Saturday evening as the squad overcame an early 17-point hole before picking up a 33-27 non-conference victory in the home opener.
The Skyhawks (1-1) stumbled out of the gates by compounding mistakes which led to five first half turnovers and 17 unanswered points by the visiting Bulldogs. With Samford visiting Graham Stadium for the first time since 2007 when both teams were members of the Ohio Valley Conference, UT Martin turned to its home crowd of 5,869 fans and big plays to spark its rally.
While a quick look at a box score can be deceiving, the Skyhawks were dominant during large stretches. As a whole, UT Martin tallied 469 yards of total offense along with four total touchdowns while the defense limited an explosive Samford team to just 254 yards – including 37 yards on the ground. With the win, the Skyhawks recorded their first victory after trailing by 14 points or more since 2015.
After being held scoreless for the first quarter, UT Martin wasted little time getting on the board in the opening minutes of the second. The Skyhawks needed just two plays to find the endzone as quarterback Keon Howard connected with Peyton Logan with a screen pass on the left side before the running back broke free and scampered 60 yards down the sideline for a touchdown. Following another scoring driving – this time punctuated by a seven-yard rushing touchdown by Howard – the tandem connected again on a nearly identical play as Logan tip-toed down the sideline and into the endzone to give the Skyhawks their first lead of the night at 21-20.
With a new game at hand, UT Martin went into halftime holding a 24-20 advantage after a 31-yard field goal by Tyler Larco split the uprights as time expired in the second quarter.
UT Martin added to its margin in the second half as Zak Wallace polished a long 14-play scoring drive which eclipsed eight minutes by punching in a touchdown from two yards out with 5:13 to play in the third. The team tallied their final points with 9:54 to play in the game as JaQuez Akins got to the quarterback for a sack and a safety in the endzone.
The game took another dramatic turn in the fourth quarter as Samford saw the home team score 19 unanswered points. Wanting to find a final push, the Bulldogs traveled 87 yards over 2:15 before Liam Welch found Montrell Washington for a 24-yard touchdown. With the contest back down to a six-point margin, the Bulldogs hoped for a late comeback but an interception by D'Carrious Stephens with 1:29 to play sealed the victory for UT Martin.
After some early hiccups to start the contest, Howard showed his poise as a veteran graduate quarterback by leading the offense back. Howard completed 18-of-30 passes for 229 yards on the night while throwing for two touchdowns. He also tallied 16 rush attempts for 66 yards while scoring his third rushing touchdown of the year.
The Skyhawks dominated the ground game, out-gaining the Bulldogs by 203 yards. While Howard led the team in carries and yards, Zak Wallace wasn't far behind with 15 carries for 59 yards and a touchdown.
While Logan garnered nine carries of his own out of the backfield, he did the bulk of his damage in the passing game where he recorded four receptions for 122 yards and two touchdowns. His touchdown catches went for 60 and 51 yards, respectively. For the day, he finished with 169 all-purpose yards.
On the defensive end, graduate linebacker John Ford paced the team with seven tackles while Deven Sims and Stephens tallied five stops each. Along with his late interception, Stephens added to his impressive stat total by tallying 1.5 tackles for loss. Rover JaQuez Akins tallied a pair of sacks on the night while forcing a fumble. Transfer Eyabi Anoma brought pressure throughout the contest while tallying four tackles, a hurry and a sack.
Reigning OVC Specialist of the Week Tyler Larco remained busy again tonight, tallying four punts for an average of 42.0 yards while pinning two inside the opponent's 20. He also converted four PATs while booting his 11th career field goal.
#20 OLE MISS 54, #17 AUSTIN PEAY 17
OXFORD, Miss. - Squaring off against an SEC foe is always a daunting task, but one that can do things great and small for a program, win or lose. The scoreboard read Ole Miss 54, Austin Peay 17 at the end of the game, but that doesn't tell the entire story either.
It doesn't mention the part where Draylen Ellis, facing a near-constant rush, remained poised throughout the contest and didn't throw an interception. Or that one of his favorite targets, Drae McCray, hauled in six catches for 87 yards against some of the nation's best defensive backs in just his second collegiate game.
The scoreboard serves its purpose, it tells you who won. It doesn't mention the impact Shamari Simmons and Kordell Jackson had on disrupting Ole Miss, or Koby Perry's nose for the ball and consistency in bringing down its carrier. Yeah, we lost. And losing sucks. But the Govs will be a better football team next weekend because of what went down this weekend.
The Governors got good if sporadic movement during the first quarter, with Ahmaad Tanner picking up 32 yards on five carries and Ellis hitting Tanner for an 14-yard gainer to kick-start Austin Peay's second drive which eventually got into Ole Miss territory. However, a second fourth-down attempt on that drive was denied and the Rebels took over to keep the Govs off the board.
Ole Miss, meanwhile, scored on its first drive—a one-yard toss from Matt Corral to Dontario Drummond—and then scored again on a Sam Williams strip-sack the lineman picked up and carried 33 yards for a touchdown.
Early in the second quarter, the Govs again made a foray into Ole Miss territory on another steady diet of Tanner carries and a timely pass interference call against the Rebels on fourth down, which put the Govs on the Ole Miss 23-yard line. But a loss, a penalty and an incomplete pass put the Govs in a difficult fourth-and-20 position, which ended with Ellis being sacked to snuff out the drive.
Ole Miss scored on the ensuing drive (Corral to Jonathan Mingo for 15 yards), and Austin Peay followed that with a safety on a punt snap which went over Matt Rigney's head and was wisely kicked out of the back of the end zone by the Austin Peay punter over risking a Rebel defender falling on it in the end zone. Corral found Drummond again for a 49-yard score and the Rebels finished their first-half flurry not even two minutes later with another Corral touchdown pass, this one on fourth down to Braylon Sanders.
The Govs closed out the half on a high note, quickly marching into Ole Miss territory on the ensuing drive helped by an Ellis-to-McCray 12-yard hook-up that also earned a roughing the passer penalty to take on 15 extra yards. McCray drew a pass interference penalty two plays later to put the Govs on the Ole Miss 30, and Ellis lofted a high arcing pass to Baniko Harley, who kept his focus and his feet to haul in the pass for his second score in as many games.
After Ole Miss scored on a Corral-to-Mingo 40-yarder, the Govs answered with a march of their own, highlighted by McCray fighting through defensive pass interference to haul in a 51-yard toss from Ellis at the Ole Miss 10-yard line. The Govs would settle for a 30-yard field from Maddux Trujillo to end the drive.
Ole Miss would tack on another score via three-yard Snoop Conner plunge and were marching again before Simmons came up with a big play to snuff out the drive. On a Conner rush, Simmons poked the ball loose near the end zone, then recovered it in the ensuing scrum to give the ball back to the Govs.
Ole Miss tacked on a late field goal, and the Govs closed out the scoring with a nice six-play, 81-yard march that CJ Evans Jr. took the final 40 yards by himself on a winding, weaving run through through and past the second level of Ole Miss' defense. Evans turned in a tidy 105-yard all-purpose performance (74 rushing, 31 receiving) in his own right.
Ellis finished with 226 yards through the air on 22-of-41 passing, while Tanner (18 carries, 70 yards) formed a tidy thunder-and-lightning tandem with Evans on the ground. DJ Render (8 catches, 37 yards) joined McCray and Harley (3 catches, 57 yards) as leading receivers, with the passing game spreading the ball around to seven different targets. Perry and Simmons finished with 11 tackles each, while Jackson recorded the first multi-sack game of his Austin Peay career.