Tennessee State stands alone in first place -- for now

A rejuvenated offense has helped Tennessee State get an early jump on the rest of the Ohio Valley Conference.

While it might not last long, the Tigers are in first place in the OVC after Saturday's 25-15 victory over visiting Murray State.

The only conference game played so far pitted the teams that finished at the bottom of the nine-team league last year. Tennessee State was eighth and Murray State ninth.

"It was a very important game for us and a huge victory," Tennessee State coach James Webster said Tuesday during the OVC's weekly coaches teleconference. "We had just come off a very emotional loss to Alabama A&M and we had to figure out some way to get these guys up and be ready to play."

Last year, in Webster's first season at Tennessee State, the Tigers had a solid defense but they were done in by an anemic offense that averaged league worsts of 12.4 points and 278 yards per game. The result was a 2-9 record, including a 1-6 OVC mark.

But several Division I-A transfers have pumped life into the Tigers' attack, led by sophomore quarterback Antonio Heffner. Heffner played in seven games at South Carolina last year and started against Auburn.

Against Murray State, Heffner completed 12 of 20 passes for 230 yards and three touchdowns as the Tigers broke a six-game home losing streak dating back to 2004. Tennessee State's defense helped out by forcing five turnovers.

After scoring 20 or more points in just four of 11 games last season, the Tigers have already reached that mark in both their 2006 contests, including a 27-20 loss to Alabama A&M in the opener.

Heffner has thrown for league highs of 436 yards and four touchdowns, completing 56.2 percent (27 of 48). Last year, Tennessee State quarterbacks had nine touchdowns and 14 interceptions.

"I knew for us to get this program to where we wanted it to, we had to get an experienced quarterback, somebody who had been there and done that, played in a big arena," Webster said. "He's a team player, he's a smart player, dedicated to the game of football. He's come in and brought a winning attitude to our football team."

While Tennessee State was opening its conference schedule with a win, Eastern Kentucky was notching a nonleague victory over arguably its biggest rival, beating visiting Western Kentucky 26-21.

It was the Colonels' first win over the Hilltoppers since 1999 and helped ease the sting of last season's 23-21 loss to Western Kentucky decided by a last-second field goal.

"It was a great game to watch and be part of. As usual, it came down to the wire," Eastern Kentucky coach Danny Hope said. "We won a game against our arch-rival. That means a lot to everyone who ever played football at EKU."

Eastern Illinois joined Eastern Kentucky in beating a Gateway Conference team as the Panthers rolled past visiting Indiana State 31-21 despite trailing 9-3 at halftime.

The Panthers piled up 629 yards of total offense in handing the Sycamores their 19th straight loss.

Southeast Missouri State remains the OVC's only undefeated team after the Redhawks held off Division II Missouri-Rolla 44-23 to improve to 2-0 under first-year coach Tony Samuel.

Also Saturday, Samford was hammered 38-6 at Division I-A Georgia Tech and Tennessee Tech lost a late lead during a 30-26 setback at Gardner-Webb.

In a Thursday contest, Tennessee-Martin blanked NAIA program Urbana 28-0. It was the Skyhawks' first shutout in 14 years.

Players of the week

Eastern Illinois senior tailback Vincent Webb is the OVC offensive player of the week. He rushed for 179 yards on 25 carries against Indiana State, becoming the sixth Panthers running back to pass the 3,000-yard rushing mark for his career.

Eastern Kentucky senior linebacker Brandon Rosser is the defensive player of the week. He had 10 tackles, forced a key fumble late in the fourth quarter and had a fumble recovery against Western Kentucky.

Samford senior punter Chris Hicks and Eastern Illinois junior wide receiver Micah Rucker earned specialist and newcomer honors, respectively.

Hicks punted nine times for an average of 46.3 yards against Georgia Tech.

Rucker, a transfer from Minnesota, was honored as the league's top newcomer for the second straight week. He caught six passes for 183 yards and two touchdowns against Indiana State.

This week's games

One team will join Tennessee State atop the OVC standings Saturday, when the only conference contest pits Southeast Missouri State at Jacksonville State.

An interesting matchup of ranked Division I-AA squads Saturday has No. 18 Eastern Illinois visiting No. 7 Illinois State.

Also Saturday, Murray State visits Indiana State, No. 19 Eastern Kentucky travels to Western Carolina, Tennessee-Martin hosts Gardner-Webb and Tennessee State faces Jackson State in Memphis.

There are two games Thursday, with Tennessee Tech traveling to Division I-A Middle Tennessee State and Samford hosting Austin Peay, which will rejoin the OVC in 2007.

Southeast on television

Southeast Missouri's game at Jacksonville State Saturday will be televised live on Charter Cable channel 11 beginning at 2:30 p.m.

The telecast will be originated by CSS that goes into over 4.5 million homes in 11 southeastern states. Charter Cable has arranged to pick up the telecast and provide the live coverage on channel 11 in Cape Girardeau, Gordonville, Jackson, Sikeston, Benton, Bertrand, Chaffee, Charleston, East Prairie, Howardville, Kelso, Lilbourn, Miner, Morehouse, New Madrid, Oran and Scott City.

"This will be a big boost for our program," Samuel said.