2019 Ohio Valley Conference Football Report Austin Peay | Eastern Illinois | Eastern Kentucky | Jacksonville State | Murray State | Southeast Missouri | Tennessee State | Tennessee Tech | UT Martin September 23, 2019 Ohio Valley Conference FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 215 Centerview Drive, Suite 115 Contact: Kyle Schwartz Brentwood, TN 37027 Phone: (615) 690-6685 OVCSports.com Email: [email protected] Twitter: @OVCSports OVC STANDINGS (In games through September 21) OVC OVERALL W L PCT. PF PA W L PCT. PF PA Home Away Neutral Streak Jacksonville State 0 0 .000 0 0 3 1 .750 134 112 3-0 0-1 0-0 W3 Tennessee Tech 0 0 .000 0 0 3 1 .750 145 144 2-0 1-1 0-0 W2 Austin Peay 0 0 .000 0 0 2 2 .500 119 88 1-1 1-1 0-0 L1 Eastern Kentucky 0 0 .000 0 0 2 2 .500 95 78 1-0 1-2 0-0 W1 Murray State 0 0 .000 0 0 2 2 .500 135 135 2-0 0-2 0-0 W1 Southeast Missouri 0 0 .000 0 0 2 2 .500 117 124 2-0 0-2 0-0 W1 UT Martin 0 0 .000 0 0 1 2 .333 56 93 1-0 0-2 0-0 L2 Tennessee State 0 0 .000 0 0 1 3 .250 127 151 1-1 0-1 0-1 L3 Eastern Illinois 0 0 .000 0 0 0 4 .000 19 113 0-1 0-3 0-0 L4 THIS WEEK’S SCHEDULE LAST WEEK'S RESULTS Saturday, September 28 Saturday, September 21 *#11 Jacksonville State at Austin Peay, 2:00 p.m. (ESPN+) @Indiana State 16, Eastern Illinois 6 *Tennessee Tech at Eastern Illinois, 4:00 p.m. (ESPN3) Eastern Kentucky 35, @Presbyterian 10 *Tennessee State at Eastern Kentucky, 5:00 p.m. (ESPN+) @#23 Southeast Missouri 56, West Virginia State 10 *Murray State at UT Martin, 6:00 p.m. (ESPN+) Arkansas-Pine Bluff 37, @Tennessee State 31 Tennessee Tech 38, @Western Illinois 24 @#10 Jacksonville State 30, North Alabama 12 @Murray State 59, Morehead State 7 @East Tennessee State 20, Austin Peay 14 * Indicates OVC Contest ALL TIMES CENTRAL THIS WEEK’S OVC HIGHLIGHTS/STORYLINES OVC teams were 5-3 this past weekend and wrapped-up non-conference play with a combined 13-11 record vs. FCS opponents...Tennessee Tech won 38-24 at Western Illinois, marking the fi rst road non-conference win for the program since 2013 (Hampton); the Golden Eagles are off to its best start since 2011 (a year the team won the OVC Championship)...TTU also received votes in this week's FCS Coaches Poll, the fi rst time since 2016 they have gotten votes...TTU quarterback Bailey Fisher accounted for 404 yards of total offense and fi ve touchdowns (3 rush- ing, 2 passing) in the win...Jacksonville State's 30-12 win over North Alabama marked its 31st-straight regular season home win...JSU's Josh Pearson caught three touchdown passes and moved into second place on the JSU career list (22); the OVC career record is 35...Jacksonville State is currently ranked No. 11 in the STATS poll and No. 12 in the Coaches poll...Tennessee State's Chris Rowland had a career-high 13 receptions in the Tigers loss to Arkansas-Pine Bluff (it was the fourth-most by a FCS player this season); through four games Rowland has 42 catches, putting him on pace 126 (the FCS single-season record is 136 by EIU's Erik Lora)...Murray State had fi ve takeaways against Morehead State and is now fi rst nationally in fumbles recovered (8), sixth in turnovers gained (10) and eighth in turnover margin (+1.5/game) despite having played two FBS opponents...Murray State played in front of its biggest home crowd in 21 years against Morehead State (11,921)... Jacksonville State currently ranks fourth nationally in average attendance (20,768)...Each Larry Wilhoite of Tennessee State and Seth Carlisle of Tennessee Tech had multiple interceptions last week and four different OVC players have multiple picks in the same game so far this season (last year only two players achieved the feat)...OVC play begins this weekend with four games (Southeast Missouri has a bye)...Included is the return of the ESPN3 Game of the Week with the other three games airing on ESPN+...This season 69 of 72 total OVC football games will air on ESPN Networks, including 52 on ESPN+ and 12 on ESPN3.....This year marks the 150th anniversary of the fi rst college football games. 2019 OVC Football Weekly Release - September 23 • 1 OVC PLAYERS OF THE WEEK OVC MEDIA INFORMATION CO-OFFENSIVE Kyle Schwartz Asst. Commissioner/Strategic Communications Josh Pearson, WR • 6-4, 205, Sr. • Decatur, Ala. • Jacksonville State Phone: (615) 690-6685 Pearson caught seven passes for a career-high 149 yards and three touchdowns as Cell: (615) 775-1937 Jacksonville State topped North Alabama 30-12. The win was the 31st consecutive home E-mail: [email protected] regular season win for the Gamecocks. It marked his third career three-touchdown game Web: http://www.OVCSports.com and moved him into second place on the school's career touchdown list (22). Pearson ONLINE PRESS BOX: The OVC Football Online Press Box is a caught a 12-yard touchdown in the fi rst quarter, a 67-yarder in the second quarter and one-stop shop for gathering information about the OVC and its wrapped up the scoring with a 53-yard touchdown early in the fourth quarter. The senior member schools. Media can access it at www.OVCSports.com/ ranks fi fth nationally in receiving touchdowns (5). footballpressbox or through links at OVCSports.com. SOCIAL MEDIA: Get breaking news about the OVC by follow- CO-OFFENSIVE ing the OVC through Social Media. Check out the OVC sites Bailey Fisher, QB • 5-11, 205, So. • Clayton, Ga. • Tennessee Tech at http://www.twitter.com/OVCSports and http://www.facebook. Fisher accounted for 404 yards of total offense and fi ve touchdowns (3 rushing, 2 pass- com/ovcsports. Also check out www.YouTube.com/ohiovalley- ing) as Tennessee Tech won at Western Illinois 38-24. It marked the fi rst non-conference conference and the league’s blog at OVCExtra.com. road win for the program since 2013 and gives the team its fi rst 3-1 start since the 2011 WEEKLY NOTES: The OVC will release its Players of the season. The sophomore completed 23-of-37 passes for 314 yards, including a 31-yard Week each Sunday afternoon throughout the season. The full touchdown pass in the fi rst quarter and a 17-yard score just before halftime. With his feet weekly notes report will be released each Monday throughout the season by 5 p.m. CT. The report is available via e-mail, and Bailey carried the ball 13 times for 90 yards (6.9 ypc) and scores of 6, 1 and 26 yards. His is posted on the league’s Web site in text and PDF versions. fi nal touchdown, a 26-yard run with 4:47 to play iced the game. Fisher ranks third nation- Statistics are updated after each gameday on the OVC Web site. ally in rushing touchdowns (7), fi fth in total touchdowns (7), 15th in points responsible for (18.0/game) and scoring (11.0 points/game), 25th in total passing yards (979) and 27th 2019 PLAYERS OF THE WEEK in total offense (274.8 yards/game). OFFENSIVE Sept. 1 Bailey Fisher, Tennessee Tech Others Nominated: DeAngelo Wilson, Austin Peay; Daryl McCleskey Jr., Eastern Sept. 8 Zerrick Cooper, Jacksonville State Kentucky; Preston Rice, Murray State; Daniel Santacaterina, Southeast Missouri; Chris Chris Rowland, Tennessee State Rowland, Tennessee State. Sept. 15 Zerrick Cooper, Jacksonville State Sept. 22 Josh Pearson, Jacksonville State Bailey Fisher, Tennessee Tech DEFENSIVE Sept. 29 Seth Carlisle, LB • 6-0, 221, So. • Red Boiling Springs, Tenn. • Tennessee Tech Oct. 6 Carlisle had two interceptions, including one on the fi nal Western Illinois drive of the Oct. 13 Oct. 20 game, as Tennessee Tech topped the Leathernecks 38-24 on the road. His fi rst intercep- Oct. 27 tion of the game came in the second quarter and led to a Golden Eagle fi eld goal as the Nov. 3 team extended its lead to 24-3. Carlisle also added three tackles in the win. He is one of Nov. 10 Nov. 17 four players in the OVC with multiple interceptions in the same game. It marked the fi rst Nov. 24 non-conference road win for the program since 2013 and gives the team its fi rst 3-1 start since the 2011 season. DEFENSIVE Sept. 1 Wayna Moton, UT Martin Sept. 8 Nigel Walton, Murray State Others Nominated: Jack McDonald, Austin Peay; Austin Johnson, Eastern Illinois; Joseph Sept. 15 Kordell Jackson, Austin Peay Sayles, Eastern Kentucky; Traco Williams, Jacksonville State; Scotty Humpich, Murray Sept. 22 Seth Carlisle, Tennessee Tech State; Larry Wilhoite, Tennessee State. Sept. 29 Oct. 6 Oct. 13 CO-SPECIALIST Oct. 20 Jason Pierce, P • 6-3, 215, So. • Powder Spring, Ga. • Jacksonville State Oct. 27 Pierce punted fi ve times for an average of 41.4 yards in Jacksonville State's 30-12 win Nov. 3 Nov. 10 over North Alabama. The senior pinned two of those fi ve punts inside the UNA 2-yard line Nov. 17 and had a long punt of 54 yards. Nov. 24 SPECIALIST CO-SPECIALIST Sept. 1 Antonio Zita, Tennessee State Ty Terrell, RS/WR • 6-0, 203, R-Fr.