Murray State clings to shot at playoff berth

Murray State still has plenty of work to do in order to gain an NCAA Division I-AA playoff berth, but the Racers at least received an unexpected shot in the arm over the weekend.

Southeast Missouri State University's 35-21 win at Eastern Kentucky Saturday eliminated the Colonels from a shot at the Ohio Valley Conference championship -- and eliminated the possibility of a three-way tie for the title.

That's important because in the event of a three-way tie where no team holds head-to-head advantages over the other squads, a coin flip is used to determine the OVC's automatic playoff qualifier.

So Murray State stands as the only team left with a chance at tying leader Eastern Illinois. The Racers, 5-4 overall, are 3-1 in the OVC. The Panthers, 7-2 overall, are 5-0 in the OVC as they have won 13 straight conference games and have clinched at least a share of their second straight league title.

With Murray State likely to roll past Tennessee-Martin this week, the OVC title would be on the line Nov. 23 when Eastern Illinois visits Murray, Ky. A Racers victory would give them the OVC's automatic Division I-AA playoff based on them having beaten the Panthers.

"Thank you," Murray State coach Joe Pannunzio said to Southeast coach Tim Billings during the OVC's weekly teleconference Monday afternoon.

When addressing the media, Pannunzio said, "It was good for us. I'm excited for Tim. He has done a great job. Obviously it helps us out a lot, but that doesn't help us this week."

Pannunzio was adamant that he and his players haven't started thinking about Eastern Illinois. He said the Racers are focused on Tennessee-Martin, even though the Skyhawks have lost 40 straight OVC games.

"For us to even think about the last game would be crazy," Pannunzio said. "We haven't won a road game yet and Tennessee-Martin has improved. Last year in the third quarter, heck, they were beating us 17-7, so we have a big week ahead of us."

Murray State gaining the OVC's automatic playoff berth probably would be good for the league because Eastern Illinois is the only conference team that has a solid chance of gaining an at-large berth.

The Panthers, ranked third nationally, almost certainly would still be invited to the 16-team field, giving the league two playoff teams. Otherwise the OVC probably would be relegated to having just one playoff squad for the fifth time in six years.

Around the conference

Southeast's dominating performance in Roy Kidd's final home game as Eastern Kentucky's coach -- the Indians outgained the Colonels 463 yards to 194 -- left an impression on most of the league's coaches, including Eastern Illinois' Bob Spoo.

"I certainly knew they had the potential to do that, but to play them down there, it's tough on the road to do that," Spoo said. "Boy, to shut them down the way they did. To hold them to 60-some yards rushing (67), they sure did a great job in winning that game."

Southeast improved to 7-4 overall, finished conference play at 4-2 and clinched at least third place, which would match their highest OVC finish. Eastern Kentucky fell to 7-4 and 3-2.

In other action last weekend, Eastern Illinois beat Tennessee-Martin (2-8, 0-4) 55-43, Murray State rolled past Tennessee State (2-8, 1-3) 51-27 and Tennessee Tech (3-7, 0-4) ventured outside the league and beat Samford 51-44 to break a five-game losing streak.

Eastern Illinois led 55-13 after three quarters before clearing its bench and allowing 30 fourth-quarter points.

"I wanted to protect some of our starters. We might have been too hasty," Spoo said. "But a win's a win. That's what you're out there for."

Marty Mishow covers Southeast and the OVC for the Southeast Missourian.