Preseason favorite EKU off to 0-2 start

~ The Colonels have an overall record of 1-4 and are in last place in the conference standings.

Just two games into its Ohio Valley Conference schedule, the league's preseason favorite finds itself on life support.

Eastern Kentucky fell to 0-2 in OVC play for the first time since 1960 on Saturday as Jacksonville State routed the host Colonels 28-0.

Although Eastern Kentucky's Danny Hope tried to present a brave front during Tuesday's weekly OVC coaches teleconference, the Colonels (1-4) face some long odds in their attempt to gain at least a share of the conference title.

You have to go all the way back to 1962 to find the last time the OVC champion had more than one defeat.

Asked if believes the Colonels can still be a factor in the league race, Hope said, "I certainly hope so. In football you can never say never. You have to have that attitude, there's no telling what's going to happen.

"You don't want to take the practice fields with as many games as we have left thinking all is lost."

While Eastern Kentucky was dropping its second straight OVC game to begin league play, Jacksonville State was reviving its championship hopes.

The Gamecocks (2-2, 2-1) bounced back from an upset loss at Tennessee-Martin to totally shut down the Colonels.

Jacksonville State held Eastern Kentucky to just 114 yards of total offense -- including a stunning seven second-half yards. Eastern Kentucky crossed midfield only twice and never got inside the Gamecocks' 35-yard line.

The Gamecocks set a Division I school record for fewest yards allowed while posting their first shutout since Oct. 17, 1998, a span of 85 games.

"It was a must game for us. As we said last week, it was pretty much an elimination game," Jacksonville State coach Jack Crowe said. "It was a great win for us, in terms of renewing our drive to contend for a conference championship."

Eastern Kentucky, which suffered its first home shutout since 1998, has been in a severe offensive funk after leading the OVC in scoring offense (31.7 points per game) and total offense (412.3 yards per game) last year.

The Colonels are last in the conference in scoring offense (11.4 points per game) and sixth in total offense (277.8 yards per game). They have been held without a point for six straight quarters as quarterback Josh Greco, the reigning OVC offensive player of the year, has struggled.

"He's very resilient. I think he has a lot thicker of skin than most people," Hope said. "But it's not as much about Josh Greco as it is our team."

In other OVC matchups Saturday, Tennessee Tech (2-3, 2-0) remained at the top of the standings with a 20-14 overtime win at Murray State (1-4, 0-2), and Southeast Missouri State (3-1, 1-1) posted a 19-14 victory over visiting Samford (2-3, 0-2).

For Tennessee Tech's Eagles, it was their first OVC road win since the 2002 season. They had lost 11 consecutive conference games on the road dating back to the 2002 finale at Tennessee State.

The Eagles survived despite five turnovers, a missed field goal and a missed extra point.

"Our players ... fought their tails off tonight through all of that," Tennessee Tech coach Doug Malone told the Cookeville Herald-Citizen newspaper. "I am so proud of them for hanging in there and doing what they did. Any other team I have ever been around would have folded up and went away but we did not."

Outside the league, Eastern Illinois (2-3, 1-0) was routed at Division I-A Hawaii 44-9, Tennessee State (2-3, 1-0) lost to Florida A&M 25-22 in overtime and Tennessee-Martin (4-1, 1-0) rallied past Austin Peay 20-10.

Tennessee-Martin is enjoying its first four-game winning streak since 1991 and this week the Skyhawks cracked the Sports Network's national poll for the first time in school history with a No. 22 ranking.

"Realistically, you're excited for the program ... it feels good for the players to stick their chests out and get some national recognition," Tennessee-Martin coach Jason Simpson said.

Eastern Illinois remains the OVC's highest-ranked squad at No. 20.

Players of the week

Jacksonville State senior tailback Clay Green is the OVC offensive player of the week, rushing for 131 yards and two touchdowns on 24 carries against Eastern Kentucky.

Jacksonville State also claimed the defensive award as senior linebacker LeMarcus Rowell was honored. He had two sacks, two tackles for loss and recovered a fumble in helping shut down the Colonels' offense.

The Gamecocks nearly made it a clean sweep of the OVC's weekly honors as sophomore punter Zach Walden nabbed the specialist award. He averaged 45 yards on six punts, including a school Division I-record 75-yarder.

Tennessee Tech redshirt freshman quarterback Lee Sweeney earned newcomer of the week accolades. The Louisville transfer completed 16 of 28 passes for 251 yards and three touchdowns against Murray State, including the game-winning TD strike in overtime.

This week's games

All four games involving OVC teams this week feature conference matchups.

In a pair of Thursday contests, Jacksonville State hosts Murray State and Tennessee Tech entertains Tennessee-Martin in a battle of undefeated league squads.

Saturday, Southeast Missouri travels to Eastern Illinois and Eastern Kentucky visits Samford.