Redhawks to encounter UTM

~ The Skyhawks nearly beat OVC-leader Jacksonville State

Tennessee-Martin's chances of winning the Ohio Valley Conference football championship are not good since the Skyhawks already have two league losses.

But the Skyhawks would be leading the OVC minus a couple of plays. That's how well UTM has performed so far.

"They're that good," Southeast Missouri State coach Tony Samuel said. "I thought at the end of last year they were really strong. I thought they'd be one of the teams that could win this thing."

Southeast will get a look at the Skyhawks on Saturday when the Redhawks visit Martin, Tenn., for a 2 p.m. kickoff. The game originally was scheduled to begin at 6:30 p.m.

The defending OVC champion Redhawks (2-5, 2-3 OVC) are in a three-way tie for sixth place in the nine-team conference.

UTM (4-3, 3-2) is in fourth place, just a half-game out of second and likely thinking about what might have been.

The Skyhawks led Jacksonville State, the only squad without a league loss, by 13 points in the fourth quarter Sept. 1. The host Gamecocks scored a touchdown with 38 seconds left to win 24-23.

Tennessee-Martin also was ahead of second-place Tennessee Tech on Oct. 1 before the visiting Eagles scored a touchdown with just more than a minute left to pull out a 34-31 victory.

Jacksonville State and Tennessee Tech are the only OVC teams nationally ranked.

"We've lost three games by seven points," said UTM coach Jason Simpson, whose squad also suffered a 33-30 nonconference defeat at South Alabama. "Effort wise I think we've come to play every week. The execution has been lacking in the games we've lost."

The Skyhawks left no doubt in their first two OVC victories, both at home, blistering then-nationally ranked Murray State 48-26 and destroying Austin Peay 61-23 behind a school-record six touchdown passes by junior quarterback Derek Carr.

UTM had a closer call last week on the road, holding off Eastern Illinois 24-23 to move above .500 in conference play.

"We were very, very fortunate," Simpson said. "Eastern Illinois gave us all we could handle. We got a few breaks."

The Skyhawks have the look of an OVC powerhouse. They lead the league in scoring offense (40 points per game), total offense (451.6 yards) and total defense (313.9 yards), while ranking second in scoring defense (19.3 points).

UTM is second nationally in scoring offense, tackles for loss (9.4 per game) and sacks allowed (0.43 per game).

"They're very explosive and they've probably got one of the better defenses we'll see," Samuel said.

Carr is having another big season to put himself in the conversation for OVC offensive player of the year. He threw for more than 2,500 yards last season.

Carr has completed 58.5 percent of his attempts (127 of 217) for 1,658 yards, with 16 touchdowns and seven interceptions. He ranks second in the OVC in passing efficiency.

Carr's favorite targets are senior Stephen Shiver and junior Quentin Sims.

Shiver has 31 receptions and averages 14.6 yards per catch with four touchdowns. Sims has caught 26 passes for a 14.7-yard average and leads all OVC receivers with seven touchdowns.

Junior tailback Jason McNair, the OVC's fifth-leading rusher, has gained 596 yards and scored five touchdowns while averaging 5.5 yards per carry.

"Their quarterback is very good, very accurate, and they can run the ball," Samuel said.

Southeast, like UTM, is coming off an OVC win. The Redhawks broke a two-game losing streak by holding off visiting Austin Peay 17-13 last week.

The Redhawks look for another strong performance in their final road game of the season. They end the campaign with three consecutive home dates.

"You always want to finish strong," Samuel said. "It's a big game, our last road game. We need to go over there and play well."