EIU hopes to avoid blind draw

~ A Jacksonville State victory in this weekend's showdown could turn the conference's NCAA bid into a game of chance.

The potential season-ending Ohio Valley Conference football showdown that people around the league have been talking about for weeks will finally come to fruition.

And, if host Jacksonville State beats Eastern Illinois on Saturday, then the OVC's automatic NCAA Division I-AA playoff representative will likely be determined by a blind draw.

Eastern Illinois (8-2, 7-0 OVC) can end all the suspense by beating the two-time defending champion Gamecocks (6-4, 6-1). That would give the Panthers the outright title.

But if the Panthers don't prevail, then things figure to get crazy -- and also somewhat controversial.

Eastern Kentucky (6-4, 6-1) will be heavily favored to close out its season with a win at Tennessee State (2-8, 1-5).

Barring a Tennessee State upset, a Jacksonville State victory will force an almost unprecedented three-way tie for the OVC title. More than two teams have not finished deadlocked for the crown since 1962, when four squads all went 4-2 in league play.

The OVC's first tie-breaking procedure is head-to-head competition. Eastern Illinois beat Eastern Kentucky, and Eastern Kentucky beat Jacksonville State, so a Jacksonville State win over Eastern Illinois would throw head-to-head out the window.

The next tie-breaker is how each of the three teams did against the rest of the conference starting with the highest finishers, but nobody else beat the trio, so that also goes by the boards.

Which leaves us to the final tie-breaker -- a coin flip, or in this case of more than a two-way tie, a blind draw.

"It's just the way it is. You have to live with it and move on," said Eastern Illinois coach Bob Spoo during Tuesday's OVC coaches teleconference, regarding his thoughts on settling a playoff berth by the luck of the draw.

Said Eastern Kentucky coach Danny Hope, "A lot of things have to happen for it to come down to that ... I don't like leaving it up to chance. You've got hundreds of people who have worked lots of hours, players who have worked for years, and in the end to leave it up to chance, doesn't seem like the best way to handle it."

Of course, Eastern Illinois -- which has clinched at least a tie for the championship -- is the only team that has its destiny totally in its hands because the 21st-ranked Panthers need only one more victory to earn the league's automatic playoff berth.

"That's exactly right. That's it in a nutshell," said Spoo, whose Panthers would probably at least be considered for an at-large playoff bid even if they fail to gain the automatic spot.

If Eastern Kentucky were to lose to Tennessee State, then a Jacksonville State victory over Eastern Illinois forces just a two-way tie for the title and sends the Gamecocks to the playoffs because they would have beaten the Panthers head-to-head.

Potential blind draw aside, Jacksonville State will with a win claim a share of a third straight conference title -- a feat not seen in the OVC since 1988, when Eastern Kentucky finished off three consecutive championships.

"That's the biggest thing to me," said Gamecocks coach Jack Crowe, whose squad has only been in the league three years. "I really put a lot of stock into conference championships. I think that's how you build your program.

"Very seldom has it been done three times [in a row]. I'm ecstatic about the opportunity."

Blind draw logistics

OVC officials on Tuesday revealed the logistics of the blind draw, in the event it is needed.

Jacksonville State and Eastern Illinois are scheduled to begin Saturday's game at 1 p.m., with Eastern Kentucky and Tennessee State not kicking off until 2:30 p.m.

If three teams do finish tied, then the draw will take place in the Jacksonville State athletic offices approximately 15 minutes after the conclusion of the Eastern Kentucky-Tennessee State contest.

Representatives of all three schools affected by the draw have been invited to participate, either in person or via teleconference. One of three envelopes containing cards with school logos will be drawn from a box by OVC commissioner Jon Steinbrecher.

The procedure to break multiple ties where head-to-head results and other criteria does not solve the issue will likely be addressed by the league in the offseason.

Record-breaker

Just a month ago, Murray State redshirt freshman tailback Stevie Chaney was a reserve defensive back, but he switched positions after several injuries hit the Racers' backfield.

It was apparently a wise move, because on Saturday, against visiting Austin Peay, Chaney set school and OVC single-game records by rushing for 310 yards during the Racers' 42-6 nonconference romp. It was just their second win of the season.

Chaney also set a school record for rushing attempts with 41. Among his four rushing touchdowns was a 97-yarder that tied the OVC record for longest run from scrimmage.

Chaney's 310 yards is only the second 300-plus rushing game this season in all of Division I-A and I-AA. The previous OVC single-game rushing record was 308 yards by J.R. Taylor of Eastern Illinois against Florida Atlantic in 2002.

Players of the week

Eastern Kentucky sophomore tailback Mark Dunn is the OVC offensive player of the week. He rushed for 143 yards on 28 carries and scored three touchdowns during a 31-17 win over Tennessee-Martin.

Jacksonville State senior defensive end Gavin Slaughter earned the defensive award. He had his first career interception and ran it back 54 yards for a touchdown with less than five minutes left to break a 20-20 tie against Samford, as the Gamecocks prevailed 26-20.

Also honored were Southeast Missouri junior punter David Simonhoff (special teams) and Murray State's Chaney.

Simonhoff, winning the special teams award for the second straight week and the third time this season, averaged 44 yards on six punts during a 32-24 victory over Tennessee State. He had three punts inside the 20, including a late 54-yarder to the Tigers 5-yard line.

Extra points

* The OVC's top two rushers this season have both eclipsed 1,000 yards with Jacksonville State's Clay Green (1,217 yards) followed by Tennessee-Martin's Don Chapman (1,167).

Green recorded his seventh straight 100-yard game on Saturday as the Gamecocks slipped past Samford. He gained 115 yards on 24 carries.

* Eastern Kentucky senior wide receiver Andre Ralston has moved into third and fifth place, respectively, on the OVC's charts for career receiving yardage (2,906) and receptions (158).