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Conference play is fully underway now and there are three OVC matchups on the schedule this week with Lindenwood hosting Southeast Missouri in the "Game Ball Brawl," Tennessee State hosting UT Martin for the "Sgt. York Trophy" and Eastern Illinois traveling to Gardner-Webb. In non-conference action, Charleston Southern will host nationally-ranked South Carolina State.
Saturday, October 10
*Southeast Missouri at Lindenwood, 1:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
*Eastern Illinois at Gardner-Webb, 2:30 p.m. (ESPN+)
*UT Martin at Tennessee State, 2:30 p.m. (ESPN+)
#21/21 South Carolina State at Charleston Southern, 5:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
Southeast Missouri Redhawks (2-3, 0-0 OVC) at Lindenwood Lions (1-3, 1-1 OVC)
Saturday, October 10 • 1:00 p.m. CT
Harlen C. Hunter Stadium (6,000) • St. Charles, Mo.
Video (ESPN+): https://bit.ly/3TH17cJ
Live Stats: https://bit.ly/3BtZfYV
Series Record: Series tied 2-2
Last Meeting: Lindenwood won 30-13 (11/22/25)
Noteworthy: The "Game Ball Brawl" rivalry takes place for the fifth time on Saturday. SEMO won the first two meetings in the series while Lindenwood has won each of the past two seasons. Both teams are coming off open dates ... SEMO is 7-4 in games after the bye week under head coach Tom Matukewicz and has posted wins after the bye in each of the past two seasons ... Following its game two weeks ago, punter Teagan Cobb was named OVC Special Teams Player of the Week after running in a score off a fake field goal attempt ... Lindenwood is the least penalized team in the OVC and through four games this season has only lost one fumble and had one interception ... In its last matchup, the Lions faced its second FBS opponent of the year, falling 29-3 at Eastern Michigan. It was kicker Will Graham who connected from 44 yards to account for the team's scoring.
Eastern Illinois Panthers (1-4, 0-0 OVC) at Gardner-Webb Runnin' Bulldogs (2-4, 1-0 OVC)
Saturday, October 10 • 2:30 p.m. CT
Spangler Stadium (8,500) • Boiling Springs, N.C.
Video (ESPN+): https://bit.ly/3VOEJ1M
Live Stats: https://bit.ly/4hGCjJQ
Series Record: Gardner-Webb leads 2-0
Last Meeting: Gardner-Webb won 21-10 (10/11/25)
Noteworthy: Eastern Illinois travels to Gardner-Webb for the third all-time meeting between the teams. GWU has won both of the first two meetings ... Eastern Illinois is playing its third-straight road game and is coming off its bye week. Each of the last two EIU opponents have been Top 5 ranked FCS foes ... EIU has forced at least one turnover in eight-straight games dating back to last season. The Panthers are 29th nationally in turnover margin ... Gardner-Webb's defense limited Charleston Southern to just 178 yards of offense in last week's 12-10 win in the rain. LB Tre Yanez was named National Defensive Player of the Week after 13 tackles (2.5 for loss) ... Tye Holsey made the biggest play in the win over CSU, recording a safety with 5:56 to play to secure the win. He finished the game with five tackles, including 1.5 for loss.
UT Martin Skyhawks (1-4, 0-0 OVC) at Tennessee State Tigers (1-4, 0-1 OVC)
Saturday, October 10 • 2:30 p.m. CT
Nissan Stadium (69,143) • Nashville, Tenn.
Video (ESPN+): https://bit.ly/3VnJrDG
Live Stats: https://bit.ly/3b4F8CT
Series Record: Tennessee State leads 18-17
Last Meeting: UT Martin won 26-7 (11/8/25)
Noteworthy: The Sgt. York Trophy is on the line in Nashville on Saturday. Named after Alvin C. York, the most noted soldier of World War I and a Tennessee native, it has been contested among OVC schools from the state of Tennessee since 2007 ... Overall this is the 36th meeting between the schools. The Skyhawks have won five in a row to close TSU's lead in the all-time series to one game. TSU holds a 14-5 advantage for games played in Nashville ... UTM will play its fourth-straight road game, this time coming off its open date. The Skyhawks are 12-5 when coming off its bye week since 2006. ... Redshirt freshman QB was named the OVC Rookie of the Week after the team's game at Austin Peay ... TSU is in Nashville for the first time since Week 0 and playing at Nissan Stadium for the first time in 2026 ... The Tigers held a 21-10 advantage over Western Illinois after Cam Bulluck caught his second touchdown of the game on Saturday before eventually falling 28-21. Freshman Rymen Mosley recorded his first career interception in the contest.
#21/21 South Carolina State Bulldogs (5-1, 0-0 MEAC) at Charleston Southern Buccaneers (2-3, 0-2 OVC)
Saturday, October 10 • 5:00 p.m. CT
Buccaneer Field (4,000) • Charleston, S.C.
Video (ESPN+): https://bit.ly/4zaFl05
Live Stats: https://bit.ly/4yj3OjM
Series Record: South Carolina State leads 8-1
Last Meeting: Charleston Southern won 31-24 (9/27/25)
Noteworthy: Charleston Southern welcomes South Carolina State to Buccaneer Field for the second-straight year. A season ago Ke'Marion Baldwin scored with 1:03 to play to lift CSU to a 31-24 victory and its first-ever win over SCSU in nine total meetings ... Charleston Southern has two non-conference games remaining this season, hosting the Bulldogs this week and then playing at Clemson next week ... Hakeem Watters had a 62-yard touchdown run against Gardner-Webb, his second run of 59 or more yards this season. He is averaging 7.2 yards per carry in 2026 (which would rank eighth nationally if he had enough attempts) ... Kicker Matt Rolader is 4-for-4 in field goal attempts this season, with all four makes coming from 48 yards or longer (48, 48, 50, 52) ... South Carolina State had opened the season 5-0 and was ranked as high as No. 12 before a three-point loss to The Citadel last week. The Bulldogs are ranked No. 21 this week. The team has rushed for 1,494 yards in six games, which ranks them fifth nationally (249.9 yards/game).
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