Skyhawks plummet to earth in '07 season

~ Southeast searches for first OVC win against last year's struggling conference co-champ.

A lot of things went right for Tennessee-Martin last year as the Skyhawks turned in their best season by far since moving up to Division I-AA in 1992.

The Skyhawks were involved in numerous close games and pulled out most of them on their way to earning a share of their first Ohio Valley Conference title and gaining their first Division I-AA playoff berth.

But UTM has seen a reversal in its fortunes this year.

Despite being nationally ranked in the preseason, the Skyhawks are just 1-7 overall and 1-4 in OVC play.

Yet the Skyhawks are not far from being one of the OVC's better teams. Their four league losses have been by a combined 15 points.

"You look at last season, they won a lot of close games," Southeast Missouri State coach Tony Samuel said. "For some reason, the close games just haven't gone their way [this year].

"They're still a very good football team."

Samuel's squad will try to continue the Skyhawks' struggles today, while at the same time halt its own problems.

Southeast (2-5, 0-4) is last in the 10-team league, while UTM is ninth. The Redhawks have lost four straight games.

As for the Skyhawks, they were one of the nation's top stories on the Division I-AA level last year.

From 1996 through 2004, UTM ranked among the nation's worst programs, with just 11 wins in nine years, including only three OVC victories. The Skyhawks finished either last or tied for last in the league all nine of those seasons.

But in 2005 UTM broke through with a 6-5 record for its first winning season since 1993. Matt Griffin, who built up the program, left for Murray State, and Jason Simpson took over.

Simpson led the Skyhawks to records of 9-3 overall and 6-1 in the OVC last year as he was voted league coach of the year.

"You look at it on paper, watch it each week, there's a fine line between winning or losing," Simpson said. "Last year we were in the same situation, and with our experience, we found a way to win.

"It always comes down to a few plays in every game."

Last week's contest at defending OVC co-champion and nationally ranked Eastern Illinois pretty much typified UTM's season to this point.

Eastern Illinois scored with under two minutes left to inch ahead. UTM, which led 20-7 in the third quarter, completed a pass to the Panthers' 1-yard line as time was running out.

With 1 second showing on the clock, quarterback Cade Thompson -- instead of executing a final play -- tried to spike the ball to stop the clock, but time expired.

"That's kind of been the story of our season so far," Simpson said.

Thompson, UTM's backup signal caller, was in the game because sophomore starter Dexter Anoka suffered a knee injury midway through the fourth quarter.

Thompson marched the Skyhawks 79 yards in the closing moments before time expired.

Anoka, who has had a strong season with 1,340 yards passing on 57.9 percent accuracy -- UTM leads the OVC in passing offense -- is expected to play today, according to Simpson.

The Skyhawks also feature senior running back Don Chapman, the OVC's No. 3 career rusher with more than 4,500 yards.